Bills hand Chiefs first loss of season with Allen’s late-game heroics

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – The Buffalo Bills knock off the previously unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs 30-21 as Josh Allen’s 26-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter seals the game.

Leading by two with just over two minutes to go, the Bills were tasked with a 4th & 2 from inside field goal range. Instead of going up by five points, Sean McDermott put the ball in Josh Allen’s hands. Allen produced his signature play of the season, roaming out to his right before cutting up field for the first down. Allen was not done there, swerving in and out of traffic and breaking a pair of tackles to score and give Buffalo a two-possession lead.

Allen finished 27-for-40 through the air for 262 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Patrick Mahomes ended the day with 196 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and two interceptions.

The win puts the Bills at 9-2 heading into the bye week and a half-game back of the Chiefs in the AFC standings.

FINAL STATS

Buffalo Bills

Josh Allen-27/40, 262 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 12 carries, 55 yards, 1 TD

James Cook-nine carries, 20 yards

Khalil Shakir-eight catches, 70 yards

Curtis Samuel-five catches, 58 yards

Terrel Bernard-eight tackles, 1 INT

Kansas City Chiefs

Patrick Mahomes-23/33, 196 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT

Kareem Hunt-14 carries, 60 yards

Xavier Worthy-four catches, 61 yards

Travis Kelce-two catches, eight yards

DRIVE-BY-DRIVE BREAKDOWN

FOURTH QUARTER

-Terrel Bernard seals the deal by intercepting Patrick Mahomes on 4th & 13.

-Josh Allen rushes for 26 yards on 4th & 2 to re-take a nine-point lead with 2:17 left in the fourth quarter.

-Buffalo converts on a 3rd & 9 to get inside the Chiefs 35-yard line. Khalil Shakir makes the 10-yard catch, but gets hurt on the play. Buffalo leads by two points with 3:11 to go.

-The Chiefs respond with their own long drive, going 10 plays for 70 yards, facing zero third downs on the drive which was capped off with another Noah Gray touchdown catch. Bills lead 23-21 with 7:53 left to go.

-Buffalo capitalize off of late third-quarter momentum as Josh Allen found Curtis Samuel in the midrange before Samuel did the rest and found the endzone to give Buffalo a 23-13 lead with 12:51 left in the fourth quarter.

THIRD QUARTER

-To close out the third quarter, Josh Allen found Khalil Shakir in the flats and the Bills slot receiver scampered for 22 yards to put the Bills at the KC 27-yard line.

-Buffalo’s offense was sparked for the first time in the second half on 3rd & 9 when Allen targeted Curtis Samuel. The pass fell incomplete, but Samuel was draped on the play as Buffalo picked up 22 yards thanks to a defensive pass interference penalty with 2:29 in the third quarter.

-The Chiefs start a drive inside their own 20, drive 31 yards, but punt for the second time in the third quarter as Buffalo took over with 3:54 left in the frame.

-Buffalo picked up the first first down of the second half at the 10:11 mark of the third quarter as Josh Allen found Dawson Knox for seven yards to convert on a 3rd & 3. However, the momentum was short-lived as the Bills punted four plays later.

-The Chiefs responded with their own three-and-out

-The Bills opened the third quarter with a three-and-out

HALFTIME STATS

BUF QB-Josh Allen: 15/23, 167 passing yards, 1 int

KC QB-Patrick Mahomes: 10/16, 98 yards, 2 TD, 1 int

BUF WR-Amari Cooper: 2 catches, 55 yards

KC WR-Xavier Worthy: 4 catches, 61 yards, 1 TD

BUF RB-James Cook: 2 rushing TD

KC RB-Kareem Hunt: 7 carries, 24 yards

SECOND QUARTER

-Tasked with a two-minute drill, Buffalo moved quickly. On the first play of the drive, Josh Allen went to Dawson Knox for five yards. Then on the other side of the two-minute warning, the Bills went to running back Ty Johnson for eight yards. Allen kept the momentum going with a 21-yard shot to Samuel before another run by Johnson– this one for five yards. Allen found Khalil Shakir for four yards before Buffalo’s second timeout was taken. Johnson had his number called again for six yards before Shakir went for two then Mack Hollins got involved with a 12-yard catch and run out of bounds that stopped the clock. At the 10-yard line, Allen threw his first incompletion of the drive which was followed up by a one-yard loss on a screen play to Shakir. The Bills settled for a field goal to take a 16-14 lead at halftime.

-The Chiefs drove 40 yards on nine plays with the longest play of the drive being the second–a Patrick Mahomes pass to Noah Gray for 14 yards. The Chiefs faced a 3rd & Goal from the two-yard line but Mahomes once again found Gray, this time for a score as the Chiefs hold a 14-13 lead with 2:51 left in the first half.

-Buffalo began a drive in Kansas City territory but failed to capitalize on the opportunity as Josh Allen threw an interception on 4th & 3. The Chiefs take over in Bills territory with 7:25 to go in the first half.

-The Bills forced their second three-and-out as Von Miller took down Mahomes with 9:56 in the second quarter.

-Buffalo picked up where they left off after the Chiefs’ first touchdown drive. Buffalo converted on a pair of third downs, one thanks to a KC defensive penalty. Josh Allen called Amari Cooper’s number once more, this time for 24 yards as the Bills drove inside the 10-yard line. Once again, James Cook had his number called and scored from six yards out as Buffalo took a 13-7 lead with 10:08 left in the second quarter.

-On the first play of the second quarter, Kansas City took the lead as Patrick Mahomes found wide receiver Xavier Worthy for a 10-yard score. The extra point gave the Chiefs a 7-6 advantage with 14:53 left in the second quarter

FIRST QUARTER

-The Chiefs took over with 5:20 left in the first quarter and converted on 3rd & 1 for their first first down of the game. Patrick Mahomes then found Xavier Worthy for a 31-yard shot to put the Chiefs in Bills territory. KC once again converted a 3rd & 1 and then later a 3rd & 4 as the first quarter came to an end.

-Buffalo’s second drive began with a 3rd & 9 conversion thanks to a pass from Josh Allen to Khalil Shakir. Two rushes of minimal gains then a throwaway from Allen forced the Bills to punt for the first time with 5:20 left in the first quarter.

-On Kansas City’s second drive, the Bills defense forced a three-and-out as Terrel Bernard sacked Patrick Mahomes on third down.

-James Cook punched it in from three yards out to make it 6-0 Bills with 10 minutes to go in the first quarter.

-On the Bills first drive, they first faced a 3rd & 6 early that was picked up with a deep ball to wide receiver Amari Cooper that put Buffalo in KC territory. Four plays later, the Bills once again faced a third down and this time it was Josh Allen finding Curtis Samuel short of the sticks, but the crafty wideout made a man miss to keep the drive alive.

-The Bills kicked off to the Kansas City Chiefs to open the game which ended up with a touchback. The Chiefs picked up seven yards on their first play from scrimmage before Patrick Mahomes sailed his first pass of the game right to Bills safety Taylor Rapp. AJ Epenesa was called for unnecessary roughness to push the Bills back 15 yards, but Buffalo did retain possession.

PREGAME

The Bills come in with an 8-2 record while the Chiefs are unbeaten with a 9-0 mark and sit in first place in the conference.

Buffalo announced its inactive list prior to the game with starting right tackle Spencer Brown listed as out while wide receiver Amari Cooper, who was out the last two games, is active. Tight end Dalton Kincaid is also out while practice squad tight end Zach Davidson was elevated for Sunday’s game.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes have met on the gridiron seven times prior to Sunday’s contest. Mahomes leads the series 4-3 overall while Allen holds a 3-1 advantage in the regular season, meaning Kansas City is 3-0 against the Bills in the playoffs since the 2020-2021 season.

Follow along with this post for quarter-by-quarter updates.