Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills end Kansas City Chiefs’ pursuit of perfection

To those of you who didn't tune in to watch the Buffalo Bills take down the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11, you missed out. From the outset of Sunday's game, we were reminded how every matchup between the two teams seems to come down to the final possession. Well, that wasn't the case for the eighth matchup in this series.

The Bills walked off the field at Highmark Stadium holding a 9-2 record and just a half game behind the Chiefs. Most importantly, Buffalo now owns a head-to-head tiebreaker over these vaunted Chiefs, who were previously unbeaten and at times cocky about the fact.

In the end, Josh Allen did Josh Allen things to completely take over the game when the chips were down. Here are a few of my thoughts as we head into the bye week...

Josh Allen's greatness transcends NFL MVP award Allen doesn't need an NFL MVP award to prove his greatness to anyone, but he damn sure deserves one. Allen transcends the ideals so many seek out in quarterback perfection. He's the best of Bills Mafia personified, and he quickly puts negative plays in the rearview mirror. The likeable QB next door off the field, is an absolute gladiator on it.

It wasn't Allen's most memorable day from a stats perspective, but that's what makes his game scary. He finished 27-of-40 for 262 yards with one touchdown and one interception; adding 12 runs for 55 yards and a touchdown run that broke his second-place franchise tie with Hall of Fame running back OJ Simpson for rushing touchdowns.

With 58 rushing touchdowns at this point, even Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas' franchise-record 65 rushing touchdowns may not be safe for another season. Allen's an unstoppable force.

Allen's improbable touchdown run was a moment that will be talked about for weeks to come. Ahead 23-21 and facing a 4th & 2 with just 2:26 left in regulation, head coach Sean McDermott made the wise decision to trust Allen. Facing favorable odds, Allen tucked the football and ran 26 yards to the end zone, decimating Chiefs defenders, one after another. Allen owned the Chiefs in the most critical moment — when failing to convert on fourth down meant KC took the ball back only in need of a go-ahead field goal. It's anyone's guess how things would have played out in that scenario. I'd say that Allen's play in that moment is the "chief" reason Buffalo won.

Dealt the less-than-ideal odds of playing without his starting right tackle, Allen was hurried in the pocket on most downs. But the line did just enough to hold up and allow him to escape pressure to a check down or better most plays. There's little stopping Allen once he's made his mind up, and he decided that it was his job to take some of the pressure of his offensive line.

Once again, Allen put the team on his back and willed them to victory — there is no equal to Allen's ability to completely take over a football field, not from Patrick Mahomes, or Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, or even Christian McCaffrey. Allen is his own brand of amazing, and the Chiefs are left to figure out what went wrong.

The Buffalo Bills have a "30" habit For the eighth game this season, the Bills have put up 30 or more points on their opponent. In fact, they're currently riding a streak of five straight games with 30 or more points. Incredibly, most of those totals aren't propped up by defensive or special teams points. When asked what point total I felt Buffalo needed to hit for a win in Week 11, I immediately stated "30."

At halftime, it was 16-14 in favor of the Bills, and it appeared they might have gotten themselves into a low-scoring scrum. That seemed even more likely when the third quarter ended with the same score. That is, until a 14-point fourth quarter hit the Chiefs square in the chin. Suddenly, Buffalo had hit that 30-point mark and Mahomes was left scrambling to find an answer to his team's two-score deficit.

The Bills are now 8-0 when they score 30-plus points in a game this season, and the first team since 2022 to score 30 on KC. It's a simple formula that they need to continue leveraging in the weeks to come. Games against the San Francisco 49ers , Los Angeles Rams , and Detroit Lions await them following the Week 12 bye.

Buffalo Bills' defense is built for the second half The Bills didn't stumble out of the blocks against the Chiefs like they'd done against other teams this season. Buffalo was energized early and unleashed a chaotic defensive wave on Mahomes' to steal KC's first possession. But eventually Mahomes figured enough out to give his team a one-point lead — which became their last lead of the game.

Buffalo's defense once again adjusted at halftime, allowing just seven points in the second half. In the first half, there was a clear point of emphasis by KC to attack Buffalo with a quick passing game featuring rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy. But Worthy was blanked in the second half, and he wasn't the only one to struggle against the Bills' defense. Tight end Travis Kelce finished with two catches (four targets) for eight harmless yards. In fact, apart from Worthy's first half, the Chiefs' passing game was about as anticlimactic as Tyson vs. Paul.

When Buffalo needed to get pressure on Mahomes, they did so well — and they allowed him zero rushing lanes. In total, the Bills gave up 78 rushing yards on 17 carries in a close game. On a day when Mahomes found passing options limited, it's curious that head coach Andy Reid didn't turn to the run more. There must have been something Buffalo did that told him to stay away from it. That's winning defense in 2024.

Everybody eats well with the Buffalo Bills Welcome back, Amari Cooper. Congratulations, Curtis Samuel! A yeoman's effort, Ryan Van Demark! The Bills have been up against it with injuries this season, which plays like a broken 78 at this point. As recently as the Thursday Night Football postgame show, all anyone could talk about was the Chiefs and their injuries. Yet they had no additional news on that front ahead of Week 11. Whether forgetting about Buffalo or just in full belief of their depth, few if any gave the Bills' injury situation a single thought outside of the fan and media base.

Going up against Kansas City without wide receiver Keon Coleman, tight end Dalton Kincaid, and right tackle Spencer Brown seemed like a losing proposal in ways. Thankfully, Amari Cooper suited up and showed out, catching a pair of field-stretching passes with ease. As for Samuel, he looked much more like the versatile weapon promised when the Bills announced his signing — and he scored his first touchdown as Bill. Hopefully there's more of the same to come from both of them, as it's likely to stress any defense when having to defend against a productive Cooper, Samuel, Khalil Shakir, and Mack Hollins. That's before evening mentioning adding Coleman, Kincaid, and Dawson Knox in the mix.

This offense isn't the same vintage as the Stefon Diggs era, but it might actually be stronger. Instead of relying on a mountain of production from one player and hoping they avoid injury, the Bills have a wealth of options to leverage during any given game, and to mitigate injury concerns. Fans may miss the prolific connection between Allen and Diggs, but it was a wise more to diversify Allen's passing options.

Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes continues to thrill NFL fans There's no better ticket available than a seat to watch Allen and Mahomes trade offensive blows. Sunday gave football fans more of the same, with plays by both that leave a person breathless.

That touchdown run by Josh Allen is straight out of a movie script. Only this time, Mahomes had no answer for it.

Rarely will you find Mahomes unable to respond to adversity, but the nine-point deficit inside of two minutes proved impossible, and he played like that was the case. Ultimately Mahomes walked off the field defeated after throwing a wildly errant interception to linebacker Terrel Bernard in the closing seconds.

It's likely Allen and Mahomes meet again in January, and both have proven capable of winning home or away. Time will tell if either side gave up too much key information ahead of the playoffs, or if they actually held a lot back.

Buffalo Bills and head coach Sean McDermott turning heads Almost no one had this team at 9-2 and a half game out of first place overall in the AFC. Fewer than that predicted the Bills would win the AFC East, and potentially lock it up with weeks left in the regular season. But that's exactly where these scrappy Bills are, thanks in large part to the leadership from head coach Sean McDermott and the rest of Buffalo's coaching staff.

Players buy in, and the Bills play gap-sound, well-disciplined football. That's allowed the Bills to go toe to toe against almost every team they've faced this season. We won't know if it's their year until it is, but there's a lot to love about these Buffalo Bills, and outsiders would be wise to take note of their championship-level DNA.

Will McDermott make good on past errors and do enough to get his team over the playoff hump? We'll find out in due time.

Buffalo Bills Week 11 Game Balls The Bills got it done in the trenches. The defensive line as a whole made life difficult for Mahomes, and we saw a more consistent batch of pressure from all angles. As for the offensive line, everyone in front of Josh Allen did enough to overcome a ferocious Chiefs front seven.

This game will be remembered for Allen's incredible touchdown run, but it's fair to wonder if the Bills win without the type of play we saw from both lines.