ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Kansas City Chiefs enter their bye week going through another unusual experience this season.
After their 28-21 loss Sunday to the Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs exited Highmark Stadium with a 5-4 record and on the outside of the AFC playoff picture, the first time that has happened entering their bye week since quarterback Patrick Mahomes became the team’s starter in 2018.
Sunday also marked the fourth time this season that the Chiefs lost a one-score game.
“We’ve had great moments and we’ve had bad moments,” Mahomes said. “We’ve got to be more consistent as a team, I’ve got to be more consistent and we’ve been in a lot of these tight, close games in our history, but they’re not going our way.
“How can we deal with that adversity? You can only learn from so many losses. You’ve got to learn from it fast.”
After their bye week, the Chiefs will play a pivotal game against the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos (7-2).
“It’s going to be an uphill battle when we get back, but I think our guys are up to it,” Mahomes said. “There’s no easy games coming up. There’s no more chances that we can really take losses. We’ve got to be better as a team.”
Mahomes, who entered Sunday with a league-leading 17 touchdown passes, had his worst performance of the season against the Bills, finishing with 250 passing yards and an interception.
The biggest reason for his struggles was a lack of protection from the offensive line compared with previous weeks. Although the Bills were without five defensive starters, they pressured Mahomes on 52.6% of his dropbacks, according to Next Gen Stats. And when they sent four or fewer pass rushers, the Bills pressured him on 44% of his dropbacks, the highest rate Mahomes has faced this season against a standard pass rush.
“It was nothing crazy, just [them] bringing more linebackers and smaller players than your traditional D-lineman,” Chiefs right guard Trey Smith said. “They’ve dealt with a lot of injuries, so they had to have a little bit of a different rush plan.”
When pressured, Mahomes completed just 3 of 16 passes for 61 yards and an interception. Overall, he completed 15 of 34 passes, the first time in his nine-year career that he was held under 50% passing, a streak of 142 games (including playoffs) that was an NFL record to start a career.
“They had a really good plan, and they have good pass rushers,” said Mahomes, who was sacked a season-high three times. “When they’re playing man-type coverages, and [we’re] trying to get some guys open down the field, they did a good job of pushing the pocket. I have to be better at working [within] the pocket, finding different lanes to step up through. I’ve got to be more consistent with that.”
Entering Sunday’s game, the Chiefs were allowing just 16.4 points per game, the second fewest in the league. The Bills surpassed that in the first half, scoring 21 points to take a comfortable lead. Quarterback Josh Allen beat the Chiefs’ secondary by targeting tight ends Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox, who combined for seven receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown.
The Chiefs also couldn’t make the Bills one-dimensional. James Cook III finished with 114 rushing yards, the most the Chiefs have surrendered to a running back this season.
“A few broken tackles can lead to that,” Chiefs pass rusher Chris Jones said. “They utilize Cook a great deal in their offense. They had very, very good playcalling in utilizing Cook. We didn’t execute on our end.”
The speed of Cook and the success of Allen — the star QB completed 88.5% of his passes, the highest percentage in Bills history (minimum 15 attempts) — also showcased that the Chiefs’ pass rush still needs help, which could be an area of focus for general manager Brett Veach ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
“There’s still room for improvement,” Jones said. “If we plan on winning, especially the front four, we’ve got to affect the quarterback. We’ve got to. It makes it easier for the defense, and it makes it easier for the backend. We’ve got to take advantage of one-on-one [matchups]. When we get a single block, you’ve got to win. That’s huge going forward. We’ve got to emphasize on winning our one-on-ones.”
