NFL
KANSAS CITY, Mo. \u2014 The Buffalo Bills<\/a> had every reason imaginable to lose Sunday.
They were up against the defending champion Chiefs<\/a> on the road, at a place Kansas City seldomly loses. The Bills also were going for a third-straight regular-season win at Arrowhead Stadium, which is even rarer.
The Chiefs lose even less often after a regular-season loss. Since 2019, they had won 14 of their 16 games immediately following a regular-season loss, outscoring opponents 28.6 to 20.2. That includes a 3-0 mark after losses this season.
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What\u2019s more, the Bills were drowning in a sea of AFC wild-card hopefuls at 11th in the conference. And all the while, they saw one of their highest-paid players getting arrested<\/a> and accused of domestic assault plus their head coach face public scrutiny for comments made in a 2019 team meeting<\/a>.
Yet, there the Bills were, in victory formation by the end of Sunday\u2019s game. Somehow, despite a brutally disappointing first 12 games, the Bills pulled off the most unlikely victory of their final five games.
And they hope it\u2019s the catalyst toward a playoff push that will still take more doing. Here\u2019s what stood out from Sunday\u2019s 20-17 win<\/a>.
As several of Buffalo\u2019s games have unraveled, a big piece of the 2023 puzzle has been the defense struggling in tight games. Immediately after Week 12\u2019s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>, the Bills\u2019 defense ranked 31st in the NFL<\/a> both in EPA and third-down conversion rate when either tied or ahead one score in the fourth quarter and overtime, according to TruMedia. And Buffalo headed down a similar path to begin the second half Sunday.
The defense, as it had done in several outings, put together a good first half \u2014 almost unexpectedly, given some of the talent disparity at key positions. On the Chiefs\u2019 initial drive of the second half, Patrick Mahomes<\/a> and company seemed to have made critical adjustments, looking more like their usual, explosive selves. The Chiefs collected four first downs and averaged 8.3 yards per play on the way to a touchdown to cut the deficit to three. It\u2019s a movie Bills fans have seen many times before in 2023: When an opponent figures it out, the Bills can\u2019t respond and a close loss ensues. The Bills\u2019 offense even played into the usual plot as the Chiefs settled in after the Bills reached 17 points and forced a punt on the Bills\u2019 next three possessions. Not only did they punt, they could barely stay on the field. Over that three-drive stretch, the Bills ran only 12 total plays, collected one first down and averaged a horrendous 1.1 yards per play. Even on the Bills\u2019 go-ahead field-goal drive late in the game, they averaged a mere 3.9 yards per play.
Christian Benford jars it loose and the Bills recover!
\ud83d\udcfa: #BUFvsKC<\/a> on CBS
\ud83d\udcf1: Stream on #NFLPlus<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/pWMED8S30C<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/JgX2Hs07NF<\/a>
\u2014 NFL (@NFL) December 10, 2023<\/a>