EVERYONE DESEREVES SOME AMOUNT OF BLAME FOR THE BILLS’ SEASON ENDING LOSS TO CHIEFS
For the fourth time in the last five seasons, the Buffalo Bills have had their season come to an end against the Kansas City Chiefs, who defeated the Bills 32-29 in the AFC Championship game yesterday, in Kansas City.
There is plenty of time to dive into all of the reasons why this season was a success for Buffalo and why they are set up for more of that same success moving forward as we head into the off season, but for now, it's our chance to look back at the AFC Championship Game and ask why it went the way it did. When you perform an autopsy on the Bills' season ending loss yesterday, you find that there is blame to be shared by every facet of the organization.
We begin with the coaching staff, and something that I find inexcusable is the lack of preparedness that Buffalo came out with on both sides of the ball. The first drive of the game was Buffalo's. They received the opening kick and then didn't give the ball to a running back on any of their first three plays. It began with a Josh Allen keeper for four yards before the quarterback threw nearly two interceptions, both of them, luckily for the Bills falling incomplete, but a three and out to start the game at Arrowhead is not what Buffalo drew up at all, I'm sure.
Then flip the page on defense, Buffalo gives up 10 yards a play for a 90-yard Kansas City touchdown drive that set the tone in the opening quarter, 7-0 KC.
Something that falls on the shoulders of both Sean McDermott and offensive coordinator Joe Brady was Buffalo's insistence on finding Keon Coleman downfield for Jump ball opportunities. It's the reason that they traded down in the draft with Kansas City to get Coleman early in the second round this past summer, they loved his athleticism and his ability to catch one on one passes on that first offensive drive, one of Allen's two thrown balls that were nearly picked off was to Coleman, who was in triple coverage. That was very uncharacteristic for Josh Allen, who has taken what the defense has given him all season, a reason why the Bills made it this far in the first place. Coleman ended the day with just one reception on four targets for 12 yards, as Buffalo got the ball back, down 7-0.
Another issue arose, as Buffalo couldn't stop taking penalties. For some reason, two penalties were called pre-snap on Alec Anderson, who is brought in as an extra Offensive Lineman for certain sets. He neglected to report as an eligible receiver for two plays in the opening half. That is simply unacceptable, especially in a championship game you cannot afford your opponent anything for free. On that second offensive drive, Buffalo found their running rhythm, but then the second big issue with the coaching staff yesterday, their conservative attitude bit them in the butt yet again
Head Coach Sean McDermott, since he has come to Buffalo, has been a defensive minded, conservative coach, kicking field goals over keeping the offense on the field in big time situations. Going back to the first time these two teams met in the postseason five years ago, Buffalo has always settled for field goals in the first half, never setting the tone and overall, never setting a precedent that the Bills were there to take Kansas City's dynasty and end it themselves. KC hadn't lost a home game all season, like Buffalo. So, if you were going to go into Arrowhead Stadium and come away with a win, you needed to set that precedent from the start of the game. Coach McDermott elected to send out Tyler Bass and the field goal kicking team, who, to their credit, knocked down a 50+ yarder to bring it within four points. Even still, that energy was felt on the opposing sideline immediately: Buffalo was timid.
As the Bills made it 7-3 in the first quarter, it was the second Buffalo defensive drive that the wheels started to fall off the wagon. Once their starting corner, Christian Benford, went down with an injury, the problems arose, and this is where we turn our attention to Brandon Beane and the front office.
The Bills General Manager has made fools of the league time and time again for drafting players like Matt Milano with late-round picks, but two of his biggest draft fumbles were on full display yesterday in KC, the first being the aforementioned trade down with Kansas City, where both teams took wide receivers in the 2024 draft. The Bills took Keon Coleman, the Chiefs took Xavier Worthy, who was the feature for the KC offense, and a key reason why they walked away with the victory.
The second drafting mishap for Brandon Bean was CB Kaiir Elam, taking him 23rd overall in the 2022 NFL draft. The first-round cornerback has never played as a starter for the Buffalo Bills. He lost his job outright going into the 2022 season to Benford, who was taken in the sixth round of that draft. When Benford went down last night, it was the first rounder who got his chance in a major moment, matched up one on one with Xavier worthy Elam, who has been known as a man to man, cornerback was embarrassed and the AFC Championship game as Kansas City and head coach Andy Reid picked on Elam all night long. He simply could not keep his own on the field yesterday, a reason why Buffalo has sheltered him so much. KC saw it right away and attacked that mishap from Brandon bean very well could have been the difference in yesterday's game. Worthy caught the go-ahead touchdown in the second quarter for KC, putting the Chiefs back on top 14-10. Worthy would go on to lead Kansas City in receiving yards all game. That touchdown was one of his six total catches for 85 yards.
As Buffalo failed on another offensive possession, three and out late in the second quarter, Kansas City took advantage of another weakness of Buffalo's yesterday: special teams' coverage on punts. While Sam Martin was booming the football with his leg, the bill's Coverage team got lost a few times, most notably at the end of the first half, when they gave up a 41 yard return to set up just a 34 yard drive for the Chiefs to take a two score, 21-10 lead, with just over two minutes left in the first half, At the end of a long drive that went 73 yards in just 92 seconds.
It felt like since the opening decision to kick a field goal on the first drive, Buffalo was chasing points the rest of the night. The Bills elected to go for two at the end of that drive, trying to make it a three-point game, but failed. The Bills trailed at the break, 21-16.
Credit Buffalo's defense, while they did give up 33 yards on that opening drive to start the third quarter, they got a big-time sack from Matt Milano, leading to a Kansas City punt. What was it that ignited Buffalo's comeback drive after that punt? James Cook. In a 12 play, 80-yard drive that lasted seven minutes of football time, James Cook and the Buffalo rushing attack was the catalyst. Cook made a tremendous effort at the goal line on fourth and goal from the one to reach across the white chalk and punch Buffalo on top 22-21 late in the third. But again, the Bills and Coach Sean McDermott felt like they needed to take a three-point lead, so they went for two again, and Josh Allen was sacked. Two failed 2-point conversions.
Buffalo, with a one-point lead, got the ball back in the fourth quarter, but a controversial stop on fourth and one in Kansas City territory ended Buffalo's drive with 13 minutes left in the game. That is way more than enough time for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to march down the field and take a 29-22 lead. In fact, they only needed two and a half minutes to do so. How? Because Buffalo's defense couldn't make tackles in the open field. Juju Smith Schuster shook away from Cole Bishop, the rookie safety, and got an extra 15 yards after the catch to set up that Kansas City touchdown for the lead. It was Mahomes who ran in the football for 10 yards to give the Chiefs the advantage. Mahomes ended the game with 11 carries for 43 yards and two
touchdowns. Clearly, something Buffalo's defense was either not prepared or not capable of doing was shutting down Patrick Mahomes with his legs.
Yet again, Josh Allen led a comeback drive in the fourth quarter that took four minutes and went 70 yards. The Bills tied the game at 29 after Allen found Curtis Samuel on fourth and goal, the extra point from Tyler Bass tied it with just over six minutes left in regulation time.
Credit the Bills' defense forcing an incomplete pass on third and goal and Kansas City settled for a field goal and a three-point lead with 3:33 remaining in the game, 32-29 Chiefs.
Buffalo gets the football with three and a half minutes and all three timeouts to work with. Then the Bills' starting running back wasn't on the field to start the biggest drive of the night. James Cook, who had over 85 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, didn't get a single snap on the final drive of the game. Ty Johnson got the first hand off of this crucial drive and lost a yard on it.
Fast forward: Fourth down and five to go from Buffalo's 47 yard line. They had the entire two minute warning to plan a play that was Buffalo's go-to... What was Joe Brady's "gotta have it" play?
An orbit from Khalil Shakir pre-snap showed that the Chiefs were in man-to-man coverage on one side of the field, in fact, leaving Shakir open all by himself on the left. But as Steve Spagnola, Chiefs Defensive Coordinator, sent two cornerbacks on a blitz from the right, Allen, under duress, had to chuck it down field, looking for Dalton Kincaid. He was open, and Kincaid slid back trying to make a catch, but it went through his arms and fell incomplete, effectively ending the Bills' season.
There are plenty of people to "blame" for this loss, but I'm not sure that there's anyone on this Monday that Buffalo would like to see canned. Personally, I don't think there should be any firings from this game. The Bills overachieved all season, and I won't go into all the reasons Bills fans should be happy with this performance. Just take the time that you need today to mourn the loss of another season and the chance at a Super Bowl. We can dive into that later on in the off season, but unless the Bills think there is another culture-setter HC candidate still out there, their best decision is to hang on to Sean McDermott and try to ease him into a more progressive mindset when they get into these big games.
From the jump again, I say if they had gone for it on the first drive of the game, if they had gone for it in the first quarter, on fourth and five, perhaps they get the first down and perhaps they score a touchdown and tie it at seven, then the Bills aren't chasing four points that they seemed to be chasing the rest of the game. Even when they had the lead, they were still chasing points.
Hopefully Sean McDermott learns his lesson after that loss, but it's tough to say that he will. I'm a firm believer in “people are who they show you they are,” and Sean McDermott has shown us who his conservative self is, time and time and time and time again. Four straight losses to Kansas City in the playoffs. When the games matter most, the Bills shy away from the moment.
The Bills have a lot of reasons to look forward to next season, which will be the final year at 'old' Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
The Kansas City Chiefs will head on to play the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans in the Super Bowl in two weeks' time.
