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    • Josh Allen and Sean McDermott shine in win over Chiefs
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    Josh Allen and Sean McDermott shine in win over Chiefs

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    ORCHARD PARK – Moments after the Buffalo Bills put the finishing touches on their signature win of 2024, NBC’s Chris Simms said on the pregame show for Sunday Night Football: “Finally, there’s a supporting cast for Josh Allen here in Buffalo. That’s what makes them different. That’s where Buffalo is having a harder time this year.”

    Okay, maybe Simms was caught up in the moment with recency bias floating through his mind, because Allen has had some pretty good supporting casts in Buffalo, especially when there was a guy named Stefon Diggs who caught a million of his passes over the last four seasons .

    Yes, Allen had plenty of help in pulling off a thrilling 30-21 win over the no-longer undefeated Kansas City Chiefs at tempestuous Highmark Stadium, but the biggest moment of the game didn’t require a supporting cast.

    Allen made the play of the night as the Bills attempted to convert a critical fourth-and-2 at the Kansas City 26 with 2:27 left in the game. If the Bills hadn’t made it, Patrick Mahomes could have done what he did more times than a calculator could count: leading the Chiefs on another crushing, game-winning drive, needing only a field goal. to pull it out.

    But Allen was having none of that. He dropped back to pass and pretended to quickly look at Ty Johnson on the left side because he saw the Chiefs were in coverage. Then he looked to his right and saw Khalil Shakir and Amari Cooper in the same area, both covered.

    Problems, right? Are you kidding?

    Allen simply tucked the ball away, found a crease through the line and once he got into the secondary he just ran past everyone, avoiding four Chiefs who seemed to have opportunities to tackle him before he got into the end zone crashed for the touchdown that put the game away. .

    “I’ve said this before since I’ve been a Bill, like when Josh leaves, sometimes I just find myself looking, like, ‘Wow, he’s different,’” Shakir said. “And while that’s going on in my head, let me just follow the play. When he left today I started screaming. I couldn’t stop screaming. My mind went completely blank, a bit of a blackout. Man, he’s a dog. He’s a great leader, a great guy. I love that guy.”

    It’s a play that will be repeated from here to eternity, one of those Allen-esque plays that only he and a few other quarterbacks in the NFL can make.

    Allen knew the situation. He had to get the first down, but he also had to get the touchdown, because if the Bills had finally stalled and punted, a five-point lead probably wouldn’t be enough.

    “Yeah, I mean, any time you give the ball back to Pat, that offense with the game on the line, I’ll tell you what, they like their chances in that situation,” Allen admitted. “Fourth and second, appreciate the coach for his confidence in us. I was just trying to create the piece and keep it alive, there was a crease and just trusting the feet.

    This is how I assessed the accounts:

    PASS OFFENSE: A-

    Perhaps the most impressive aspect of this win was how Allen consistently survived despite so many third-and-longs. This wasn’t a great day at first and second, mainly because the Bills just couldn’t get any traction on the ground. But Allen fought his way out of trouble and ultimately gained 13 of the Bills’ 24 first downs through the air.

    He finished 27 of 40 for 262 yards with one touchdown on a nice catch and run by Curtis Samuel as Allen beat a blitz. He also had a horrific interception on a fourth-and-3 gamble at the Chiefs 34, a play that should never have happened because the Bills should have attempted a field goal at that spot.

    Amari Cooper’s return was helpful as he had two catches for 55 yards, both plays leading to Bills TDs, but for the final 2.5 quarters he was completely taken away by star Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie. Samuel’s TD was one of the few big plays he made in his breakout game, and Shakir continues to make the big plays in the biggest moments as he had eight catches for 70 yards. Dawson Knox also came on for Dalton Kincaid and had four for 40.

    RUNNING VIOLATION: C

    Allen kept this mark because without his 55 yards on 12 attempts, capped by his mad dash to the end zone, this would have been a much lower mark. Not that Buffalo’s struggles in the run game were unexpected, as these Chiefs’ defense is as good as it gets against the run game.

    James Cook scored two touchdowns, one on a great play where he punched through contact near the goal line to reach the end zone, but he finished with just 20 yards on nine carries because he had nowhere to go.

    Sure, the Bills missed RT Spencer Brown and Ryan Van Demark was outmatched at times, but across the board the Bills struggled to create space. The other defenders, Ty Johnson and Ray Davis, combined for just 29 yards on eight attempts.

    PASS DEFENSE: A-

    Overall, the Bills did a good job limiting Mahomes’ effectiveness as he finished 23 of 33 for 196 yards. They intercepted him twice, on the first pass he threw of the game by Taylor Rapp, and on the last by Terrel Bernard. However, he also threw three TD passes, two to Noah Gray and one to Xavier Worthy. The Bills sacked him twice, one each by Von Miller and Bernard.

    Worthy caught all four of his passes for 61 yards on the Chiefs’ first TD drive and was never heard from again. DeAndre Hopkins did almost nothing against Christian Benford, making three catches for 29 yards. Benford made a big play clearing the ball on a deep pass to Hopkins in the third quarter, and instead of being in Bills territory, the Chiefs ended up punting.

    And best of all, Travis Kelce was muted with two catches for eight yards as the Bills performed well in their various zone coverages and he could never find the openings he usually finds.

    RUN DEFENSE: B+

    Kareem Hunt finished with 60 yards on 14 carries, 17 of which came on one run in the fourth quarter on the TD drive that brought the Chiefs within 23-21. But he never really got going and, like the Bills, the Chiefs often found themselves in tight stretch situations. The Chiefs had just 18 other rushing yards, none from Mahomes, which shows how well the Bills did at keeping him in the pocket.

    Bernard led the Bills with eight tackles, while Taron Johnson and Rapp each had six. The middle of the Bills defensive line didn’t show up on the stat sheet, but they held the point of attack well enough against a very good Chiefs interior trio.

    SPECIAL TEAMS: B+

    Tyler Bass just can’t exactly instill confidence in Bills fans. After a couple of really good plays, he pushed an extra point wide right, his fourth failure of the season, and for a long time it felt like that one point was going to be big and might have happened if Allen hadn’t scored the final touchdown. Otherwise, he made his other three PATs and a 33-yard field goal, and also placed all five of his kickoffs in the end zone for touchbacks.

    Brandon Codrington had 56 yards on four punt returns, including a big 25-yarder that gave the Bills a great drive start in the second quarter, though they ultimately squandered it when Allen threw his pick. His lone kickoff return went 23 yards.

    Punter Sam Martin averaged 39.3 net on three kicks, two of which were caught inside the twenty, while the other was returned just eight yards by the dangerous Mecole Hardman.

    COACHING: B+

    Once again, give Sean McDermott credit for beating his mentor Andy Reid. This is the fourth straight year the Bills have beaten the Chiefs in the regular season and no team in the NFL has done that to Reid. Yes, the big test comes in January when they meet again, but enjoy the win here.

    McDermott had a terrible challenge early in the game, but it was the first half and not that meaningful. But he also made smart decisions in a few spots, none bigger than the final TD drive, when he knew a field goal wouldn’t save him and he went for it.

    Joe Brady’s insistence on early downs became problematic because it led to so many tough third downs. For example, the run call to Ty Johnson right before the Allen TD made no sense. Still, he went toe-to-toe with the Chiefs’ stellar defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, and the Bills put up 30 points, the first time the Chiefs have allowed 30 since their Super Bowl victory over the Eagles at the end of the 2022 season .

    Defensively, Bobby Babich did well with the pass rush package to contain Mahomes and also provided some timely blitzes to mix things up.

    Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades, including 35 years as a full-time beat writer for the D&C, and has written numerous books on the team’s history. He can be reached at [email protected], and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

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