Arrowhead Pride
Meeting for the 10th time in six seasons — the first teams to do that since the Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers battled for AFC supremacy from 1972 to 1977 — the (5-3) Kansas City Chiefs are on the road to face the (5-2) Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.
The Bills have lost two of their last three matchups, while the Chiefs are seeking their fourth straight win against a team they haven’t beaten in the regular season since October of 2020. Kansas City is bringing the league’s seventh-ranked scoring offense to face the NFL’s ninth-ranked defense, while Buffalo’s fourth-ranked offense will try to score against the defense that has given up the second-fewest points this season.
Buffalo opened the game with a well-balanced, 13-play, 66-yard scoring drive that chewed nearly seven minutes off the clock and ended with a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Josh Allen to tight end Dalton Kincaid. The Bills overcame an early special teams penalty, as linebacker Dorian Williams was flagged for offensive holding on the opening kickoff, forcing Buffalo to start from its own 16-yard line. From there, Allen kept the offense in rhythm with a series of short throws — including multiple completions to wide receiver Khalil Shakir — and steady gains on the ground by running back James Cook. Cook’s biggest play came on a 17-yard run around the right end, pushing the ball into Kansas City territory. Facing third-and-5 at the Chiefs’ 34-yard line, Allen found running back Ty Johnson in the flat for a nine-yard gain to extend the drive. After a setback on a four-yard loss by Cook, Allen hit wide receiver Curtis Samuel for six yards to bring up third-and-8. On the next snap, Allen fired deep to the right sideline, where Kincaid made the catch and walked in for the touchdown.
On their first possession, the Chiefs went three-and-out and failed to capitalize after Buffalo’s long scoring drive. Running back Kareem Hunt picked up three yards on first down, but quarterback Patrick Mahomes followed with two incompletions — one over the middle to wide receiver Marquise Brown, and one short right intended for Rashee Rice on third-and-7. Matt Araiza punted 37 yards to the Bills’ 27-yard line, where Khalil Shakir returned it three yards to the 30.
Buffalo moved the ball into plus territory on its second possession but came away with nothing after the Chiefs’ defense came up with a fourth-down stop near midfield. Running back James Cook jump-started the drive with back-to-back runs of eight and seven yards to move the chains. Quarterback Josh Allen followed with a series of short completions — including a dump-off to Ty Johnson and a five-yard strike to tight end Dalton Kincaid on third-and-7 to set up a manageable fourth down. But on fourth-and-2 from the...
