The Chiefs couldn’t pull the rabbit out of the hat this time.

Many late heroics got the Chiefs off to a 9-0 start, but Bills quarterback Josh Allen scored the late touchdown on Sunday and the Bills sent the Chiefs home from Buffalo with a 30-21 loss, ensuring no team would come to the table. the NFL this season.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he hopes the loss will provide “fuel” for a team that has been under pressure from its opponents for much of the season.

“They’re a good football team, so there’s nothing to hang your head on,” Mahomes said. “We feel like we can play better, so we’re going to get back to work and try to use this as a spark so that we can ultimately become a better football team. The undefeated thing was cool, but that’s not our ultimate goal. . . . I hope it’s an advantage. I’m not going to say that I or we are relaxed, but at the same time I feel like we just came away with these wins at the end of the game. I think it will push us to have more urgency, especially at the beginning of football games, especially with the offense, and that comes from me and turning the ball over on the first drive. That’s something you can’t do in big games like this.”

The Chiefs can take solace in knowing that they have dropped other regular season games to the Bills in the past, but have bounced back to win in the playoffs. That scenario could play out again this year, and Mahomes has no reason to doubt his team’s ability to pull through when it counts.