KANSAS CITY, Mo. – This time, the Buffalo Bills’ defense got it done.
Handed a lead with less than 2 minutes to go Sunday against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, the defense was faced with a daunting task: Stop Patrick Mahomes. We’ve all seen that movie before, but this time, there was a twist. It came in the form of an inspired stand by the Bills, allowing them to escape with a much-needed, 20-17 victory that kept the team’s playoff hopes alive.
Three previous times this year, the defense took the field in a similar situation after being handed the lead. The result in those games: Loss in overtime to the Eagles. Loss to the Broncos. Loss to the Patriots. So if you were feeling rather uneasy about their prospects of pulling out a win against Mahomes and Co., you were well within your rights. That nauseating feeling bubbled up again after Mahomes completed a 19-yard pass to rookie receiver Rashee Rice with 1:28 remaining to move the ball to the Bills’ 49-yard line. Here we go again, right?
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Two plays later, the Chiefs appeared to take the lead on a play that would have been an all-time NFL highlight. Mahomes completed a pass to Travis Kelce, who then threw a lateral all the way across the field to receiver Kadarius Toney, who raced the remaining 24 yards to the end zone. Toney, however, was lined up offside on the play, and that 5-yard penalty erased the unbelievable.
“In the moment I thought it was one of the best plays I’ve ever seen and he’s done that before, but fortunately it came on our side,” said Bills safety Jordan Poyer.
Added head coach Sean McDermott: “To be honest, I wasn’t sure. We were in man to man. I thought someone was yelling, ‘We got picked,’ and then as the play unfolded, I think it was Kelce that was wide open there and the play after he caught the ball was, I’ve never seen a play like that, not in the NFL.
“But, thankful and, you know, then, I saw the referees signaling that direction. So, I didn’t know if it was a pick or what it was, and then it turned out to be the offsides there.”
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Given a second chance, the Bills’ defense got it done. On second-and-15, Mahomes threw incomplete. On third-and-15, defensive tackle Ed Oliver deflected a pass to force another incompletion.
“That’s what they paid me for — to impact the game like that late in the game,” Oliver said. “We need to get off the field and all the guys just rushing together and just getting after Mahomes. I know he was a little flustered at the end. So that’s exactly what we get paid to do.”
Both teams then took a timeout to heighten the drama. The question of whether “Fourth and 15” would enter the lexicon of disastrous Bills losses loomed. Instead, defensive end Leonard Floyd got sufficient pressure off the left edge, forcing Mahomes to throw incomplete and allowing the Buffalo offense to run out the clock on a win that improved the team to 7-6 with four games to play.
That keeps the team’s playoff aspirations alive, and perhaps just as importantly, just might give the team something to rally around.
McDermott had a week from hell, with an article published by the Go Long website that brought to light comments he made in 2019 that praised the “communication” of the hijackers who committed the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001.
“I think that’s a bunch of (expletive) what they did to him,” Oliver said. “That was (four) years ago, my rookie year. Whoever, whatever leak or whatever, I think you’re a coward for one, because everything is supposed to stay in house. So I got his back on everything. I know he’s a good guy. I know he’s a great guy, actually. So you know I don’t have much to say beside whoever, you know what I’m saying, that’s just (expletive) up (expletive).”
After the game, Bills General Manager Brandon Beane presented McDermott with the game ball in the visiting locker room. In doing so, Beane said, “We got this man’s back. Tough (expletive) week.”
“We all know Sean’s character,” Poyer said. “We all know who he is, everybody inside the building. So everything outside of that building really doesn’t matter at all, no matter what. I don’t know who his name is, wanting to write an article about whatever, it doesn’t matter. The media is for y’all to pay attention to. We’re worried about what we’ve got to get taken care of, and the next one is Dallas.”
At his postgame press conference, McDermott praised his team’s focus during a week with plenty of distractions.
“I couldn’t be more proud of a group, I really couldn’t at this point in the regular season,” he said. “To a person, they didn’t flinch. They were focused, they supported one another and they supported me. And I don’t take that for granted at all.”
At 7-6, the Bills are still in 11th place in the AFC standings — one of six teams at 7-6 — but they live to fight another day – alongside their head coach.
“It’s hard when someone is speaking on your character and you don’t really got no control over it,” cornerback Taron Johnson said. “I’ve seen his character time and time again. I’ve been on this team for six years. He’s a high-character guy. I definitely felt like we had a chip on our shoulder today. I know we wanted to play hard for him. I mean, we do that every game, but it was just in the back of our heads.”
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2. A.J. Epenesa made a huge play, but it came with a big price. The fourth-year defensive end tipped Mahomes’ pass in the air on the Chiefs’ opening possession, then came down with the interception to stop a promising Kansas City drive that had reached the Buffalo 30-yard line. Epenesa, however, suffered a rib injury on the play. After first being announced as questionable to return, Epenesa came back in after spending some time in the sideline medical tent. However, as the first quarter came to an end, he was downgraded to doubtful to return, and ultimately didn’t come back. Epenesa now has eight passes defensed and two interceptions on the season.
That was the first of two takeaways for the defense. In the fourth quarter, cornerback Christian Benford stripped Rice, with Taron Johnson recovering the fumble.
“You’ve got to take the ball away against Kansas City,” Johnson said. “They’re a really good team, obviously you’ve got one of the best quarterbacks in the league, so just making sure when we have opportunities to take the ball away, we do it.”
3. Von Miller made an impact late. The Bills chose to dress Miller and use him against the Chiefs, despite his arrest over the bye week on a charge of domestic abuse in his native Texas. Early on, Miller again failed to make much of an impact, as has been true most of the season. However, he had a big play in the fourth quarter when he had a strong rush off the right side for the Bills, forcing Mahomes into an incomplete pass on third down.
Jay Skurski grades the Buffalo Bills in their 20-17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs then had to settle for a tying field goal instead of potentially going ahead with a touchdown. On second-and-15 on Kansas City’s final drive, Miller recorded his second quarterback hit of the fourth quarter on an incomplete pass by Mahomes.
4. Dawson Knox was having a strong game, but took a killer penalty. Returning from a stint on injured reserve following wrist surgery, the Bills’ tight end finished with three catches for 36 yards. All three catches produced first downs, but with the Bills driving on their opening possession of the third quarter, he was flagged for holding on a first-and-10 play from the Kansas City 16-yard line. That stalled the drive, and the team settled for a 31-yard field goal by Tyler Bass that extended their lead to 17-7.
5. Micah Hyde’s stinger flared up. The Bills’ safety needed medical attention twice in the second quarter. Hyde was hurt making a tackle on Chiefs receiver Kadarius Toney, but with the Bills using a timeout, was able to stay in the game. Just three plays later, however, Hyde was involved in a tackle of the Chiefs’ Jerick McKinnon. He once again needed help from the team’s athletic training staff, and although he was announced as being questionable to return to the game with a stinger, he never did come back in. Taylor Rapp, who missed the team’s Week 12 game against the Eagles with a neck injury, replaced Hyde in the lineup.
Rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid visited the X-ray room inside Arrowhead Stadium after the win to have his right shoulder examined.
“Just football,” Kincaid said. “Collision sport, bumps and bruises along the way. Just do what you can to get healthy for next week.”
“No,” Kincaid said when asked if he was worried the injury could impact his availability for next week.
6. Damar Hamlin was inactive. The Bills’ safety was a healthy inactive for the 10th time this season. Defensive tackle Poona Ford was inactive for the eight time this season, and fifth game in a row. Offensive linemen Alec Anderson and Germain Ifedi were the Bills’ two other healthy inactives for the game, as they have been all season.