The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Buffalo Bills, 26-17, behind a ferocious rushing game on Monday night as Kansas City moved to 5-1 on the season.
The Chiefs racked up 245 total yards on the ground – their most since the 2012 season – and made some clutch plays late to bounce back from last week’s loss with a victory.
Leading by six points with just over four minutes left and facing a third-and-12, Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes found wide receiver Byron Pringle for 37 yards over the middle of the field to move Kansas City into Buffalo territory.
Mahomes then converted another third down with his legs three plays later, eventually setting up a 30-yard field goal by Harrison Butker that essentially secured the victory.
Mahomes completed 21-of-26 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns in the contest, firing an 11-yard scoring strike to tight end Travis Kelce on Kansas City’s second drive of the game.
The score put the Chiefs in front following an early field goal by Buffalo and also made some history, as Mahomes tallied his 16th straight regular-season game with a passing touchdown to set a franchise record.
That connection was then back at it a drive later when Mahomes hit Kelce for a 12-yard touchdown strike on third down to re-claim the lead after Buffalo found the end zone a drive prior.
Buffalo later nearly tied things up in the closing seconds of the second quarter, but kicker Tyler Bass’ 52-yard field goal sailed wide right and Kansas City carried a three-point advantage into halftime.
That score held through much of the third quarter until Chiefs’ tailback Darrel Williams broke free for a 13-yard touchdown on fourth-and-short to push Kansas City ahead by double-digits.
Williams’ run put an exclamation point on the Chiefs’ dominating ground attack that carried the ball 46 times – the most ever by an Andy Reid coached team. Rookie tailback Clyde Edwards-Helaire was responsible for the bulk of that production, tallying 161 rushing yards in his top statistical game as a professional and the best individual rushing performance by a member of Kansas City since 2017.
The Chiefs added to their lead with a field goal a drive later, but Buffalo managed to pull within six points when Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen found wide receiver Cole Beasley for an 8-yard touchdown with just over six minutes remaining.
That set the stage for Kansas City’s final offensive drive, and as Mahomes found Pringle for 37 yards on third-and-12, the rest was history.
The victory included an impressive, bounce-back performance by the Chiefs’ defense after last week’s loss, as Kansas City yielded just 206 yards of total offense. The Chiefs, meanwhile, possessed the ball for more than 37 minutes and racked up over 450 yards, powering their way to a road win over one of the top teams in the AFC.
The Chiefs return to action this Sunday as they travel to Denver to take on the rival Broncos.
