The Buffalo Bills got their revenge on the Kansas City Chiefs. Josh Allen and Co. went to Arrowhead Stadium and whooped the home team 38-20 in a game that was delayed more than an hour due to severe weather at halftime and was not as competitive as the final score.
The Bills improved their record to 4-1 with the victory, while the Chiefs dropped to 2-3 and last place in the AFC West. Allen threw for three touchdown passes and ran for another, while the Buffalo defense held Patrick Mahomes to just 5 yards per attempt and intercepted him twice.
The Chiefs lost Clyde Edwards-Helaire to a knee injury during the game, and Travis Kelce later left the field after taking a huge hit from Bills safety Micah Hyde. It's safe to say the two-time defending AFC champions have some things to work on at the moment.
Here are some takeaways from Buffalo's big prime-time win:
Why the Bills won
They were basically a carbon copy of the Chiefs in peak form. Maybe even better. Let's start with the offense: Allen didn't throw it a ton compared to other outings, but when he did, he was a big-play machine, lasering deep shot after deep shot against a helpless Kansas City secondary to put the Chiefs on their toes early. On the ground, he was just as good, running hard to lead Buffalo in that regard, either pounding through or leaping over red defenders. This was an MVP-type night from him, with Dawson Knox, Stefon Diggs and Emmanuel Sanders chipping in with huge catches. Defensively, Sean McDermott's squad was just as impressive, making Mahomes uncomfortable for much of the night. Sure, they allowed No. 15 to sniff a comeback in the second half, but not for long, containing the Chiefs' weapons and rendering their rushing attack almost nonexistent. All in all, it was a total-package performance from the Bills, perhaps solidifying them as favorites in the AFC.
Why the Chiefs lost
A week after scoring touchdowns with video-game ease against the Eagles, Mahomes and Co. looked unusually out of sync at Arrowhead. Sometimes, drops were the culprit. Other times, Mahomes himself threw off-balance for no good reason. They flashed some red-zone creativity and looked primed for a potential shootout early, but they just never got into a rhythm. Edwards-Helaire struggled before leaving with a knee injury, so Mahomes was the only real threat on the ground, and not even Tyreek Hill or Travis Kelce could find much room deep downfield. As for their defense, it came up with a key stop or two, but it also looked like the absolute sieve it is for chunks of play. Tyrann Mathieu was left to watch with his arms up in frustration as Allen torched the secondary in each quarter, and Daniel Sorensen found himself on the wrong end of maybe a half-dozen deep balls.
Turning point
Down just seven points after holding the Bills to a field goal, the Chiefs dialed up a fourth-and-5 play from Buffalo's 32 with just two minutes left in the first half. But Mahomes couldn't connect with Kelce, so the Bills took over and proceeded to score in two plays, with Allen launching a 53-yard touchdown to Knox. That one put Buffalo up 24-10 ahead of the break, burying the Chiefs for the duration of the rainy evening.
Play of the game
Allen's connection with Knox was electric against the Chiefs, and this deep shot down the right sideline was a sight to behold:
What's next
The Bills (4-1) will be back in prime time in Week 6 on "Monday Night Football", when they're set to visit the Titans (3-2), who are fresh off a rout of the Jaguars. The Chiefs (2-3), meanwhile, will hit the road to take on Washington (2-3), which just fell to the Saints on Sunday afternoon.