How about these Buffalo Bills!?! Everyone had this Bills vs Chiefs Week 5 matchup circled on their calendars, and it delivered in a BIG way. Josh Allen vs Patrick Mahomes: Round 3 was a statement game for Buffalo. Allen played his best game of the season, scoring 4 touchdowns in a rainstorm to lead the Bills to a 38-20 victory.
The defense proved that they could be just as good against Mahomes as against their previous weaker opponents. There was no stopping Buffalo on Sunday night despite an hour-long weather delay and some downright awful officiating. Super Bowls aren’t won in October, but this game put the Bills in the driver’s seat to be the 1 seed in the AFC.
Key Takeaways from Bills vs Chiefs
The Good
Josh Allen
Allen finally met the moment and delivered an incredible performance in Kansas City. He marched down the field and scored a rushing touchdown on the first drive, then added 3 more through the air. He completed 15 passes for 315 yards, along with 8 rushes for 61 yards, excluding kneel-downs.
Despite the wind and rain, Allen was deadly with the deep ball. He had a perfect passer rating on throws more than 20 yards downfield, going 5/6 for 213 yards and touchdowns to Emmanuel Sanders and Dawon Knox. His 61-yarder to Stefon Diggs should have been a touchdown, too, but Diggs lost track of the safety and got caught celebrating.
His rushing output was vital to keep the offense moving. Of his 8 carries, 5 resulted in a first down or touchdown. When Josh Allen plays at this level, the Bills are unstoppable.
Dawson Knox
Dawson freaking Knox. The Bills drafted Knox as a long-term athletic project out of Ole Miss back in 2019. He showed flashes over his first two years but had a lot of growing pains too. Now he is the team’s leading touchdown scorer and one of Josh Allen’s favorite targets. He is one of the best athletes in the league at tight end and showed that on his 53-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.
Knox’s breakout is the biggest driver of the Bills’ offensive success this season. His presence prevents defenses from loading up on coverage players as Pittsburgh did. Keeping him on the field allows the run game and pass protection to flourish and maintains the threat of explosive pass offense.
Emmanuel Sanders
Sanders has been an absolute stud on the field this season. He has 329 yards and 4 touchdowns so far. His ability to uncover in the intermediate range is a perfect match for Allen’s biggest area of strength. Most importantly with Sanders, his maturity and experience has lifted the Bills locker room. The team was able to stay level-headed through the early lead and uncomfortable weather delay. Sanders was surely a big part of that mental strength.
Defense
This was a thoroughly dominant performance from the whole defensive unit. The Bills held the Chiefs to their lowest scoring output this season — without their best player, Matt Milano — and forced 4 turnovers. Patrick Mahomes completed 33 passes but only gained 272 yards through the air. Star weapons Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce could not make an impact for the majority of the game.
Jerry Hughes had 9 pressures, and rookie Greg Rousseau was a force in the run and pass game. Rousseau had a pivotal red-zone interception in which he used his length to tip a Mahomes pass to himself. Jordan Poyer tallied two pass breakups, and Micah Hyde intercepted a Tyreek Hill drop which he returned for a touchdown.
Newly-extended Taron Johnson led the team with 12 tackles and had a pass breakup as well. AJ Klein and Siran Neal filled in for Milano and performed admirably. The Bills didn’t blitz Mahomes once but still generated pressure and kept Mahomes flustered. This season, defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has been on an absolute tear, and Bills vs Chiefs Week 5 is just his latest masterpiece.
The Bad
Special Teams
Punter Matt Haack has been on the wrong side of average this season. He had one good punt but failed to flip the field in his other opportunities. Isaiah McKenzie fumbled a return attempt but luckily was able to jump back on the ball. The coverage unit allowed over 30 yards per return on kickoffs. Kicker Tyler Bass was a bright spot, but the unit was otherwise disappointing.
Missed Opportunities
Nothing came back to bite us, but the Bills left some points on the board early. After their first touchdown drive, the kick coverage unit forced a turnover. The offense took over in field goal range but moved backward and ultimately had to punt. Later in the first half, Stefon Diggs lost sight of the defender and got tackled celebrating on his deep reception. The offense stalled and kicked a field goal. Those are the kind of missed opportunities that usually lead to a loss against the Chiefs.
The Ugly
Weather
Buffalo has played back-to-back games in the pouring rain. They faced an hour-long rain delay in the Bills vs Chiefs Week 5 matchup on Sunday night. Nobody can control the weather, but the Bills can control if their stadium has a dome. Bad weather is an equalizer, so it’s not an advantage when we are the better team.
Officiating
The refs in this game thought they were the stars of the night. In total, this game saw 17 accepted penalties for 158 yards. The flags disproportionately hurt the Bills on Sunday night. There were multiple phantom holding penalties on our offensive line and defensive backs.
More egregious holds were routinely ignored when committed by Kansas City. Ed Oliver was called for roughing the passer on a critical fourth-down stop by the defense, but he was pushed by a Chiefs’ lineman directly into the legs of Mahomes. The Chiefs used the gift to score a touchdown on that drive. The officials called a hold on Mitch Morse on a Josh Allen first down run when they were trying to create a dagger drive to put the game out of reach. Video replay showed that Morse was not even engaged with any defenders on the play.
Everyone will point to a roughing the passer on Frank Clark the following play that negated a Josh Allen interception. He picked up Allen and drove him to the ground with all his body weight. It’s the correct call of a dumb rule, and if you want to nitpick that call, you have to acknowledge that the previous incorrect holding is the only reason that play ever happened.
What’s Next?
The Bills head to Nashville to take on the 3-2 Titans on Monday Night Football next week. The extra rest will be valuable after the emotional, extended Bills vs Chiefs Week 5 game. The Titans have been pretty disappointing this year, even dropping a game to the Jets. The Bills should take care of business without too much trouble, but they certainly won’t overlook this game.
Check back in later this week for the preview. Go Bills!
One Last Note
Some fans are starting to question how quiet Cole Beasley has been on the field the past two weeks. He also deactivated his Twitter after Sunday night which only increased the speculation. There is no reason to read into these things. Buffalo is all about catering the game plan to the opponent. The opportunities haven’t been there for Beasley lately, but he is still a valuable asset and his number will be called many more times this season.
As for Twitter, Beasley said last year that getting rid of social media allowed him to focus on the game and elevate his play. He has been hyper-focused on the vaccine issue and was frequently voicing his opinion on Twitter and fighting with people in the comments. He likely deactivated so that he can avoid the distraction and refocus on football. No need to panic just yet.
Once again, Go Bills!
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