ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Andy Reid’s message after the game was simple. Too many little mistakes will get you beat.
Reid voiced those words in the locker room just minutes after the Chiefs’ first loss of the season, a 30-21 defeat to the Buffalo Bills. Well before the game’s biggest moment — when Bills quarterback Josh Allen produced his magnificent 26-yard rushing touchdown on fourth down just ahead of the two-minute warning — the Chiefs committed error after error after error, thwarting their comeback attempt.
“The main thing is if you have a few mistakes there, they can get capitalized on,” Reid said after the game. “They did a nice job on that last drive. We’ve got to take care of business on those.”
Two things can be true at the same time. The Bills were more disciplined and consistent with their execution, especially on offense, as they snapped the Chiefs’ 30-game streak of holding opponents under 30 points. The Chiefs also struggled with fundamentals — a lack of communication, poor open-field tackling and costly penalties.
Chiefs defensive players were visibly frustrated in the locker room after the game. Cornerback Nazeeh Johnson struggled in coverage, surrendering nine receptions for 103 yards, including a touchdown, on 12 targets as the nearest defender, according to Pro Football Focus. Safety Chamarri Conner made the defense’s lone highlight, an interception, but he had several lowlights in the second half that led to the Bills’ two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
“We’re going to use this moment to get better,” Conner said. “We’re going to come back stronger. I know this team will respond great. We’ve got a lot of dawgs in this locker room. That’s not our worry at all. We’re ready to get back to work.”
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Late in the third quarter, the Chiefs trailed the Bills by 2 points when Allen faced a third-and-9 snap from Buffalo’s 18-yard line. Chief defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo didn’t blitz Allen, instead having the secondary play man-to-man coverage. Instead of staying attached to receiver Curtis Samuel, Conner grabbed his left arm before the ball arrived, committing a pass-interference penalty.
A few plays later during the Bills’ drive, Allen declined to throw an intermediate pass into the Chiefs’ zone coverage. Instead, he completed a short swing pass behind the line of scrimmage to receiver Khalil Shakir, who made Conner miss an open-field tackle near the sideline (below). Instead of a 5-yard gain, Shakir gained 22 yards, which proved to be Allens’ longest completion of the second half.
(NFL Pro)
“Personally, I felt like I played (badly),” said Conner, who missed a season-high four tackles, according to Pro Football Focus. “They like to throw the little checkdowns and we’ve just got to be able to get downhill and make that tackle.”
The Bills ended their possession by picking on Johnson. With the Bills running a mesh concept, Samuel scored on a 12-yard touchdown reception as Johnson ran into receiver Mack Hollins.
“They did a nice job with (pass) protections most of the time,” Reid said of the Bills offense scoring the touchdown against the Chiefs’ Cover 0 blitz. “When they didn’t, (Allen) moved around and made some nice throws. We’ve got to tighten up in those situations and make sure we’re just a little bit better.”
Meanwhile, the Chiefs’ offensive players realized they wasted two opportunities to take the lead in the third quarter.
“The margin for winning and losing in this league is small and it’s on us and we’ve just got to be cleaner,” right guard Trey Smith said. “Anytime you miss an opportunity, you’re going to be pissed off about it. The devil is in the details. The cleaner we can be, the better we’ll be.”
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The Chiefs’ first drive of the third quarter stalled when they failed to gain a yard on third-and-1. Even with an additional lineman, guard Mike Caliendo, the Chiefs failed to push the Bills’ defensive line backward for running back Kareem Hunt, who was stopped for no gain.
The next drive, which proved to be the last time the Chiefs had a chance to take a lead, was disrupted by mistakes from several players. On second-and-4 from the Chiefs’ 49-yard line, Mahomes dropped back and noticed that two receivers, rookie Xavier Worthy and veteran DeAndre Hopkins, ran the same hitch route on the right side of the field (below). Reacting to the improper spacing, Mahomes scrambled to his left, which led to left tackle Wanya Morris committing a holding penalty against defensive end Greg Rousseau.
(NFL Pro)
Instead of a third-and-1 snap in Bills territory, the Chiefs couldn’t overcome Morris’ penalty.
Mahomes acknowledged that the offensive mistakes in the first and third quarters didn’t support the defense’s effort.
“I have to have a better sense of urgency throughout the entire game,” Mahomes said.
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Regarding his first interception, he said, “I saw (tight end Noah Gray) wide open and I just got hit and threw it three feet over his head. I just can’t do that. I think it’s going to spark us to have more urgency, especially at the start of the games.
“Turning the ball over on the first drive is something you can’t do in big games.”
For the first time this season, rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamataia, the Chiefs’ second-round pick, was inactive Sunday as a healthy scratch. Undrafted rookie Ethan Driskell was in uniform as a backup in place of Suamataia.
In Week 10, in the Chiefs’ comeback victory over the Denver Broncos, Suamataia struggled in pass-blocking snaps in place of Morris, who aggravated his right knee injury early in the second quarter but returned in the fourth quarter.
“Kingsley will be OK,” Reid said Monday. “Sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward. That’s what we felt we needed to do there.”
(Top photo of Chamarri Conner and Curtis Samuel: Gregory Fisher / Imagn Images)
