Round 10 went to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.
In a heavyweight fight against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, the Bills tied up the series 5-5 in the Allen-Mahomes rivalry.
While it stacked another win for Buffalo, Allen’s fifth straight win in the regular season over Mahomes means nothing.
The reigning MVP is 5-1 versus Mahomes in the regular season and 0-4 in the postseason.
The Buffalo Offense’s Simplified Formula
For the most part, Buffalo ran a variation of the same three plays against Kansas City:
- Stretch zone for James Cook
- Screen pass to Khalil Shakir
- Occasional play-action pass to Dalton Kincaid
Cook had 27 carries for 114 yards, recording his fifth 100+ rushing yard performance of the season. Buffalo’s offensive line continuously found the gaps on their stretch zone plays to open up lanes for Cook.
Shakir led the way for wide receivers, catching seven passes for 43 yards. While they weren’t the sexiest numbers, the screen game to him worked all evening and Kansas City never keyed in on the concept.
Kincaid had his second 100+ receiving yard performance, living off play-action concepts that resulted in him getting wide open passes, including a touchdown on Buffalo’s opening drive.
Perhaps this game’s playbook was an appetizer. Since these two teams are bound to face off in January again, Buffalo emptied a small portion of the tank to not give Kansas City too much information.
Buffalo’s simplified offense said, “it means nothing if we went with a decoy gameplan away from our strengths.”
Reason for Concern
Allen went 23-of-26 passing while the Buffalo defense held Mahomes to his lowest completion percentage of his career, limiting him to 15 of 34 (44 percent) and the Bills only won by a touchdown.
Mahomes had arguably his worst game of his career and still had a chance to tie the game on the final play.
Meanwhile, Allen had another day at the office and his defense was one miracle play away from blowing it.
Prior to Sunday, in the previous five regular season matchups, Buffalo has held Kansas City to 20.8 points per game. They gave up just 21 points yesterday.
Conversely, in four playoff games, they have surrendered 34.8 points.
The rookie Maxwell Hairston picked off Mahomes late to put Buffalo in the four-minute offense. Buffalo has intercepted Mahomes eight times since 2020; they have yet to intercept Mahomes once in four postseason games.
Buffalo has sacked Mahomes three times in four playoff games. They took him down three times on Sunday afternoon.
As outstanding as Buffalo was generating sacks and collecting a crucial turnover, the defense must replicate that same success in January, since they are bound to square off again.
Buffalo kept pace in the AFC East with New England while Kansas City fell much further out of the No.1 seed playoff picture.
One thing’s for sure: Kansas City will not go out quietly, Buffalo will need to keep checking their mirror because objects in mirrors are closer than they appear.
To be the man, you must beat the man — when it matters most.
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