KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Hopefully you put on a pot of coffee Sunday night.
The Buffalo Bills’ prime-time showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs dragged into Monday morning because of a weather delay at halftime. Lightning was followed by heavy rain, forcing the game to be stopped and sending fans scurrying to the concourses for cover.
The delay totaled one hour, 15 minutes and featured a torrential downpour that continued into the second half.
The Bills, however, were undaunted, holding the Chiefs to seven points after halftime in a statement-making, 38-20 victory in the rematch of last season’s AFC championship game. Buffalo moves to 4-1 and has won four consecutive games since a season-opening loss.
Josh Allen had plenty of highlights, but more important than that the Bills’ defense answered the legitimate questions about the level of competition they had faced so far after dominating three backup quarterbacks. The Bills' defense forced four turnovers.
While the Chiefs amassed 392 yards, their 20 points were well less than their season average of 33.5 per game.
The Bills led at halftime, 24-13, powered by three total touchdowns from Allen.
Allen completed just 7 of 14 passes in the first half, but those completions went for a whopping 219 yards, aided by a 61-yard connection with receiver Stefon Diggs and a 53-yard scoring pass to tight end Dawson Knox. Allen’s average of 31.3 yards per completion in the first half made him the 12th player since 1991 to top at least 31 yards in that category, and the first since Cleveland’s Baker Mayfield on Dec. 29, 2019.
Allen’s 46 rushing yards through the third quarter also gave him a single-game high this season.
So, how did the Bills pass the time during the delay?
By eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and orange slices in a locker room that players complained was too hot, according to the NBC broadcast. The sandwiches had too much peanut butter on them, but the orange slices were “fire.”
Safety Micah Hyde said the players were just hanging out during the delay. "We like being with each other," he said.
2. Knox had a huge game. The Bills’ third-year tight end entered with a single-game career high of 67 receiving yards, set Sept. 22, 2019, against Cincinnati. Knox blew past that total in the first half with just two catches for 76 yards, the second of which went for a touchdown. On that throw, Allen rolled to his right and displayed impressive arm strength to get the ball deep down the right sideline to a wide-open Knox, who made his fifth touchdown catch of the season, extending his single-season best in just the fifth game of the season.
Knox is the first tight end in Bills history with a touchdown in four consecutive games and the first receiver to do so since Sammy Watkins in 2015.
Knox added 41 more yards on a catch in the third quarter, giving him 117 for the game on just three catches at that point.
3. Jordan Poyer started a new streak. The Bills' safety returned to the starting lineup a week after sitting out the team's Week 4 victory against the Houston Texans because of an ankle injury. That ended a streak of 60 consecutive starts, which ranked third among all players at his position.
"It feels good. Feels great, actually. I'm ready to play," Poyer said Friday. "Just listening to the trainers and getting the best advice from our doctors. They thought it was best for me to recover from it. I'm back ready to play, though."
Poyer's return came at a good time. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is the best player in the NFL at his position, and gave the Bills fits in both of Kansas City's wins over Buffalo last year, including the AFC championship game.
"Obviously, Kelce has been in this system a long time," Poyer said. "The talent that he has plus the knowledge of football that he has ... he's just a really good football player."
The Bills did a fairly solid job against Kelce through the first three quarters, limiting him to five catches for 56 yards.
In addition, nickel cornerback Taron Johnson was back in the lineup for the Bills after missing Week 4 because of a groin injury. Johnson, however, was injured again with 4:31 remaining in the third quarter, although the nature of the injury was not specified.
Late in the third quarter, cornerback Levi Wallace was also looked at by athletic trainers, although he was able to walk off the field under his own power.
4. Matt Milano was inactive for the Bills. The linebacker was questionable for the game because of a hamstring injury suffered in Week 4 against Houston, but was on the inactive list announced about 90 minutes before kickoff. Milano practiced on a limited basis Friday, providing at least some hope he'd be able to play, but the team elected to play it safe.
A.J. Klein started in Milano's place and made the first two defensive tackles of the game for the Bills.
5. Efe Obada returned – at a new position. The Bills' defensive lineman played for the first time since Week 1. Obada lined up at defensive tackle during the first half. He was used inside because the Bills made defensive tackles Harrison Phillips and Vernon Butler Jr. healthy inactives. The Bills' other two inactives were running back Matt Breida and offensive tackle Tommy Doyle.
6. Penalties were a huge problem early. The Bills couldn't get off the field on their first defensive series, mainly because of penalties. Cornerback Siran Neal, who played specifically to defend Kelce, was called for a defensive holding, but that penalty was declined. Later on the drive, defensive end A.J. Epenesa jumped offside to turn third and a little more than 5 yards into third-and-inches, leading to a Kansas City first down. The most costly, however, was a defensive holding against Tre'Davious White, which negated an incompletion on third-and-7 and gave the Chiefs a first down at the Bills' 28-yard line.
The penalties also were a problem on offense. Left tackle Dion Dawkins was flagged for holding on a third-and-1 carry by Zack Moss that would have given the Bills a first down inside the Kansas City red zone. On the next play, quarterback Josh Allen was called for intentional grounding and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders was whistled for illegal motion. Those two penalties pushed the Bills out of field goal range.
The Bills ended the first half being penalized five times for 42 yards, but they weren't alone in drawing flags. The Chiefs took six penalties for 40 yards. The cavalcade of flags continued into the third quarter.
7. Special teams made a big play. The Bills' squandered a drive, thanks to the penalties by Dawkins and Allen, that came after Neal forced a fumble with a big hit on Chiefs kick returner Byron Pringle. The fumble was recovered by linebacker Andre Smith. That was the good for the special teams in the first half. The bad came after the Bills' third touchdown, when Tyler Bass kicked the ball out of bounds.
8. The defense made a big fourth-down stop. The Bills came into the game allowing fourth-down conversions just 25% of the time, holding opponents to 2 of 8 in such situations. That number improved to 2 of 9 when they got off the field in the second quarter. With the Bills facing fourth-and 5-from their own 32-yard line coming out of the two-minute warning, Poyer broke up a pass intended for Kelce over the middle. The Bills went ahead, 24-10, just two plays later when Allen found Knox. It was the first time this season that the Chiefs have gone for it on fourth down.
The Chiefs later cut their deficit to 24-13 at halftime with an impressive 54-yard field goal by Harrison Butker with 2 seconds left in the first half.
The Bills extended their lead to 31-13 in the third quarter when safety Micah Hyde had a pick-six of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill had Mahomes’ pass bounce off his hands and into the waiting arms of Hyde, who took it 25 yards to the house for his first career pick-six.
The defense appeared to make another fourth-down stop in the third quarter when Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw incomplete. The Bills, however, were penalized, with defensive tackle Ed Oliver being called for a personal foul for appearing to hit Mahomes below the knee.
The defense once again stepped up, though, as rookie Greg Rousseau made one of the best plays of the Bills’ season. With the Chiefs having made it inside the Bills’ 10-yard line, Rousseau tipped a first-and-goal pass by Mahomes and ultimately came down with the interception.
9. Chris Jones was inactive for the Chiefs. Kansas City's star defensive lineman, who was downright unblockable during last season's AFC championship game, missed Sunday's contest because of a wrist injury. Additionally, the Chiefs were without starting cornerback Charvarius Ward. Kansas City's other inactives were offensive lineman Austin Blythe, tight end Noah Gray and wide receiver Daurice Fountain.
10. The Chiefs played a pair of Buffalo natives. Defensive end Demone Harris, who was promoted from the practice squad Saturday, and tight end Jody Fortson were both in the Kansas City lineup. Fortson, who switched from wide receiver to tight end, came into Sunday's game with four catches for 20 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Fortson was not targeted in the first half. Fortson played at South Park and Erie Community College. Harris played at Bishop Timon and the University at Buffalo.
