Chiefs Avoid Winning. Go to 4-and-2
Laddie Morse
It should not surprise anyone who has been following the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills, that the Bills beat the Chiefs in Arrowhead by a score of 24-to-20. The Chiefs appeared to be on a collision course with losing. It seemed that no matter how hard they tired to take control of this game, they could not. In the end, QB Superman Patrick Mahomes was pressured by Bills DE Von Miller and threw a side armed pass that was intercepted, and that was the game. Although K.C. was playing in the 4:25 ET window it had the feel of a prime time game, and although the Chiefs usually come out on top in those kinds of game, today, they seemed to do everything in their power to keep from winning.
A Defensive Battle
I had predicted the score of Chiefs 41 and the Bills 28. While the Bills nearly came through on their end of the deal, the Chiefs whiffed… by 21 points (three TDs). The reason –> both teams have very good defenses. Brandon Kiley of BK Sports Talk said:
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“The Chiefs defense – without Willie Gay Jr. and two starters in the secondary – held the Buffalo Bills to 24 points, 4-for-11 on 3rd down, 1-for-3 on 4th & 2-for-4 in the RZ. They did their job.”
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In the offseason the Bills signed DE Von Miller. He won a Super Bowl with the Rams this past February and another Lombardi with the Broncos in Super Bowl 50. Miller appeared to be the difference in this game. He had 2 of the Bills 3 sacks, also had 2 Tackles For a Loss (TFL) and four (4) tackles. His last sack was at a very difficult time but it was also his 2 QB Hits that forced Mahomes into throwing too early, and the last one forced an INT.
Here’s a look at one of Von Miller’s sacks of Patrick Mahomes in this game:
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On the Chiefs side of the defensive ledger, LB Nick Bolton was again a force to be reckoned with. He had 13 tackles in all and that now gives him 60 total tackles in 6 games this season. If he continues this, he’s on pace to have 170 Tackles this season. If Nick Bolton continues this he will end up in the top five of all players in the NFL in Tackles. Last year, in 2021, only two LBs had more than that. Here’s a Nick Bolton Tackle for a loss in this game versus the Buffalo Bills:
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Missing Tyreek Hill?
While on the surface, it looks like K.C. is missing Tyreek Hill who was their home run hitter when it came time to make big plays in big moments. However, seven different wide receivers caught passes for the Chiefs. WR JuJu Smith Schuster had 5 receptions for 113 yards with a 42 yard reception and averaged 22.6 yards per catch. Here’s his 42 yard TD (seen below). JuJu makes quite a move to get free after three Bills try to tackles him. He’s become a favorite target of Mahomes:
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Also, Travis Kelce is still Travis Kelce. He had 8 catches, to lead all Chiefs receivers in this game, and gain 113 yards. While Kelce had no TDs in this game, Hardman had one and here it is:
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Player of the Game
The Player of the game is QB Josh Allen. Although Patrick Mahomes had 338 yards passing to Allen’s 329, Mahomes threw 2 INTs and 2 TDs while Allen has 3 TD passes and zero INTs. Yes, Allen was in on one fumble near the end of the Bills first drive, but after that, he was excellent. He was only sacked once compared to Mahomes 3 sacks and his rating of 117.6 was much better than Mahomes rating of 85.2.
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Offensive Line Issues
While the Bills defensive lien had a very good rotation, the Chiefs offensive linemen looked like a colander with water streaming through. Was that due to the Bills defensive linemen or the Chiefs OL? Let’s begin wit the Right Tackle position.
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I think Charles Goodman of Chief Wire is right on the money. Not only was Andrew Wylie getting beat liek a drum, but so was every other position along the line. No one was perfect in this game. Even Center Creed Humphrey had a penalty called on him for being downfield too soon on an RPO. Sure, he may have not known when the play would be a pass play, but it’s his business to know. Not all play was bad by the OL. Orlando Brown had a breat play that helped lead to a TD. Here’s Harold R. Kuntz:
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“Appreciate the Offensive Line effort here,
especially Orlando Brown on the Chiefs TD.”
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The TD he’s referring to is the TD pass to JuJu Smith Schuster (shown above) in which Brown not only flattens DE Ed Oliver but gets his helmet off in the process.
Setting Things Right
Harrison Butker must have been downright mad for a week. When Matt Wright kicked the Chiefs record long field goal last weekend, Butker must have been telling himself, I’ll get that record in my name asap. So, what’s he do? He kicks a 62 yard FG this week!
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Did you notice that Butker turned around as soon as he kicked it… because he knew it was good!?!
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Play of the Game
With :56 seconds on the clock and the ball in his hand, Patrick Mahomes throws an INT to Taron Johnson. That appeared to lock it up for Buffalo.
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Quote of the Game
From Lexi on twitter comes this quote:
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“As we go into today’s game… let’s remember how genuinely
blessed we are to watch these 2 quarterbacks battle it out.
In my opinion, the 2 best currently in the game right
now (Mahomes being 1 of course).”
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Tweet of the Game
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Injuries Update
Yes, this is a bright side to the game…
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Song of the Game
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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