By Matt McMullen – Chiefs.com Reporter
The Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Buffalo Bills, 20-17, on Sunday in another close game that came down to the final moments, but despite overcoming a double-digit deficit early in the game, the Chiefs’ rally ultimately came up short.
“It was a heck of a football game down to the end,” said Head Coach Andy Reid. “Very disappointed that it ended the way it did…Defensively, I thought we played well. Offensively, you know, we’re getting better – really both sides of the ball – we’re getting better…We’ve got a good team that we’re going to go play this next week, and so we’ll learn from this and we’ll move on, but again, disappointed.”
The fact that Kansas City was in a position to win the game in the end was impressive in its own right as the Chiefs trailed by 14 points early in the second quarter. Kansas City went on to outscore Buffalo by a mark of 17-6 the rest of the way though, holding the Bills out of the end zone on seven consecutive drives following Buffalo’s strong start.
That impressive defensive effort included an interception by rookie safety Chamarri Conner, whose first career takeaway set up Kansas City’s first score of the day – a 7-yard rush by tailback Jerick McKinnon – in the closing moments of the second quarter.
The Chiefs were then back in the end zone on their first drive of the second half when quarterback Patrick Mahomes found rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice for a 4-yard touchdown, pulling Kansas City within three points, before the Chiefs completed the comeback with a 27-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
That tie held for the next several minutes of play, but Buffalo managed to re-claim the lead with a 39-yard field goal immediately following the two-minute warning. Kansas City then briefly appeared to pull back ahead on a wild play that featured tight end Travis Kelce catching a 25-yard pass before lateraling the ball to wide receiver Kadarius Toney, who broke free for a 24-yard touchdown. The play was nullified due to an offensive offsides penalty, however, and Kansas City’s bid to take the lead came up short.
Mahomes, who finished the game with 271 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception, commented on the Chiefs’ mindset heading into the final four games of the season following the loss.
“Just like this last week, you move on, you watch the film…You learn from it, learn from your mistakes…and then you move on,” Mahomes said. “I mean, obviously, the division has gotten tighter now. We have to do whatever we can to flip the script on our season, and that [begins with] going to New England and trying to play a legendary coach and a football team that’s playing better football these last few weeks. It’s going to be a great challenge for us, but I was proud of how the guys played today, and hopefully, we can just move on and keep it going and try to flip the script on the rest of the season.”
In some good news, Coach Reid had no injuries to mention following the game.
The Chiefs will now aim to turn things around this upcoming Sunday as they travel to New England to take on the Patriots.
