Allen and the Bills pull back the Chiefs' curtain
The last unbeaten team in the NFL loses in Buffalo, thanks to the frontrunner for MVP.
That annoying clink you heard on Sunday evening came from the champagne glasses of the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Every time the last undefeated NFL team loses, the alumni get out the record player and the Metamucil and start the party. Mercury Morris, who passed away earlier this year, had a bottle of Dom Perignon on call, available to the next team to win every game, including playoffs. He and his mates cared about this much more than the current players do. Whatever happened to the concept of records being made to be broken?
The ‘72 Dolphins went 14-0 and then won three postseason games. Today a team would have to win 17 regular season games, under the flattening rules of the salary cap, and then win at least three games in the playoffs to silence them. It’s apples and oranges, or maybe prunes.
Kansas City carried a 9-0 record into Buffalo Sunday and left with a 30-21 defeat. They found themselves in a hornet’s nest and the result certainly stung, but they also weren’t scaring anybody. Their cloak of invincibility was already tattered. They could have lost to Tampa Bay two weeks before, but won in overtime. They could have lost to Denver the previous week, but won on a blocked field goal. This was their first loss since Christmas Day 2023, when they were treated rudely by the Raiders. After the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, Andy Reid told Raiders’ coach Anthony Pierce that it was the best medicine they could have swallowed.
This one illustrated the limits of Kansas City’s sturdy but overworked defense. The Chiefs gave up six explosive plays to the Bills (9-2) and had only one, and that one came in the first quarter. The Bills converted nine of 15 third downs. They mounted an 83-yard touchdown drive to take a 23-14 lead. With all that, Patrick Mahomes’ retort was a 70-yard drive and a second TD pass to Noah Gray. When the Bills got the ball with 7:53 remaining, coach Sean McDermott felt the cold breath of comebacks past, of Mahomes getting Kansas City into field goal position with 13 seconds remaining, with a 2-point lead. He knew he had the better team on this particular day. He also knew he had to show he really believed it.
So when the Bills got to the Chiefs’ 26 yard line and faced fourth-and-two with 2:27 left, there was no serious thought of summoning kicker Tyler Bass. Not when it meant giving Mahomes the chance to get the football back, and turn it into a grenade. McDermott went for it. The risk was considerable, but maybe he wasn’t as fearful because kicker Harrison Butker was out of the Chiefs’ lineup. Or, more likely, McDermott realized that Josh Allen was still in his.
“I just felt like there’s been too many games where Andy and Patrick have come back,” McDermott said, “and you kick a field goal and they score a touchdown, or it’s overtime and they get the ball first and score. They’re just way too good to not go for it right there.”
Allen rolled to his right and took a perfunctory look downfield. Linebacker Drue Tranquill followed Amari Cooper to the same side of the field. Then Allen tucked and ran, and Tranquill was out of position, just wide enough to let Allen get the only step he needed. Allen bounced off a couple of Chiefs and spun into the end zone. First down, touchdown, game, set and match. Mahomes threw an interception to Terrell Bernard, and the Bills had vanquished the wickedest witch in their lives, at least for one week.
“The outside world takes him for granted,” tackle Dion Dawkins said of Allen, but that’s probably because it’s difficult to relate to a 6-foot-5, 250-pound quarterback with winged feet and heat-seeking intent. This year the Bills were not everyone’s favorite to win the AFC East because receivers Stefon Davis and Gabe Davis had left, along with safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, pass rusher Leonard Floyd, center Mitch Morse and cornerback Dane Jackson. When that happens, you learn just how well you’ve drafted in the past, and general manager Brandon Beene is being rewarded for picking Bernard, pass rusher Greg Rousseau, running backs James Cook and Ray Davis, and safety Christian Benford, a sixth-round pick from Villanova. Then Beene called Cleveland and picked up Cooper, 30, the former No. 1 receiver with the Cowboys who still knows the routes.
All of that maneuvering could only work if Allen became more circumspect. Since he sees no need to protect himself, he had to protect the ball. He was the last starting quarterback in the league to throw an interception this year, waiting until the eighth game. He now has five, but he had 18 last year.
“The Josh Allen experience has been phenomenal, man,” Cooper said, but for the outside world to fully get it, Allen has to get to a Super Bowl and preferably win it. That’s what inoculates quarterbacks from the condition of being human. They don’t give MVP trophies in November, even though Allen would deserve it.
The Bills get a bye and then play the 49ers at home before they visit the Rams and Detroit. They still trail the Chiefs in the battle for homefield, and the Chiefs have the Chargers and Houston at home, and end the season with trips to Pittsburgh and Denver. Homefield didn’t mean much to Buffalo last year when the Chiefs won a playoff game there, with icicles forming on Reid’s mustache. Then again, last year seemed old and irrelevant on Sunday afternoon. Kind of like 1972.
Otherwise:
Pittsburgh 18, Baltimore 16
— When Lamar Jackson throws interceptions and Derrick Henry loses fumbles and Justin Tucker misses two field goals, life is not normal for the Ravens. But it is fairly normal when they play the Steelers, who have beaten Baltimore in seven of their last eight meetings and are 3-1 when Jackson starts for the Ravens. In this one, the Steelers won without a touchdown but got six field goals from Chris Boswell, who launched three of them from 50 or more yards. T.J. Watt took pains to call Boswell the best kicker in the NFL, indicating he’s a little tired of hearing that Tucker is. Tucker missed from 47 and 50 yards.
— Henry only carried 13 times and gained 65 yards, and Jackson was 16 for 33 with 207 yards, and a season-low passer rating of 66.1. Isaiah Likely lost a fumble at the Baltimore nine when he was stripped by ex-Raven Patrick Queen, and rookie linebacker Peyton Wilson spectacularly intercepted Jackson in the fourth quarter and set up the sixth Boswell field goal for an eight-point lead. Jackson hit Zay Flowers for a 16-yard TD with 1:11 left but was tackled on a rather hopeless sweep for the 2-point conversion.
— Russell Wilson is 4-0 as the Steelers starting quarterback and hit 23 of 36 passes. He’s found quick chemistry with George Pickens, who caught eight for 89 yards. The Steelers (8-2) are a game-and-a-half ahead of Baltimore (7-4) in the AFC North. But Pittsburgh has a brutal 10-day stretch, beginning Dec. 15, when they go to Philadelphia and Baltimore and play Kansas City at home.
L.A. Chargers 34, Cincinnati 27
— When the Chargers hired Jim Harbaugh, something had to give. Harbaugh had been a habitual winner. The Chargers have habitually fallen short. They got off to a 6-3 start, but their knack for fumbling away success would surely resurface. It did Sunday night when they let a 27-6 lead dangle too long and watched the Bengals devour it. But at the end, J.K. Dobbins bolted for a 29-yard touchdown and a win that might finally block the evil spirits.
— Joe Burrow hurled three touchdown passes, two to JaMarr Chase, to get the Bengals (4–7) even with L.A. H e went 28 for 50 for 356 yards and three touchdowns, after he’d thrown it 56 times for 428 yards the week before. With 7:35 the Bengals got into position for a 48-yard field goal, but Evan McPherson missed it. They got it back and couldn’t move, and Justin Herbert connected with Ladd McConkey for 27 yards before Dobbins broke loose.
— Herbert had a brilliant first half but was 7-for-22 in the second. McConkey, the rookie from Georgia, got six catches for 123 yards. Tee Higgins caught nine of the 13 balls Burrow snet him and totaled 138 yards. The Bengals have lost two one-point games this year and another in overtime. Meanwhile, the Chargers prepare for a Brother Bowl, with John Harbaugh bringing the Ravens to l.A.
Seattle 20, San Francisco 17
— Geno Smith is 34 years old on the calendar but he’s in prime-time in quarterback years. With 0:18 left and no time outs available, Smith went on a brash quarterback scramble and scored a 13-yard, game-winning touchdown that the 5-5 Seahawks needed like oxygen. He outflanked linebacker DeVondre Campbell and cut to the left side of the end zone.
— Brock Purdy’s TD pass to Jauan Jennings put the 49ers ahead by four, and they stopped Zac Charbonnet on fourth down to regain the ball and control, or so they thought. But Coby Bryant made two plays to stop San Francisco’s possession, and Smith took the Seahawks 80 yards for the win, as he converted two third down passes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
— It was the third home loss for the 49ers (5-5), who can’t get to full strength. They didn’t have George Kittle for this one, and didn’t have Nick Bosa on the final drive. Jennings caught 10 of the 11 balls Purdy threw him, but Smith-Njigba answered him with 10 catches for 110 yards.
Green Bay 20, Chicago 19
— At last Caleb Williams was going to graduate. He was leading the Bears toward a game-clinching field goal, at least, as he overcame a third-and-19 with passes of 16 and 21 yards to fellow rookie Rome Odunze. With :35 to go, Rochon Johnson gained two yards to the Packers’ 28, and the Bears waited until :03 to go to line up Cairo Santos for a 46-yarder. Then it was blocked by Green Bay’s Karl Brooks, and the season of the Bears’ discontent continued.
— Jordan Love had put Green Bay ahead with a 60-yard pass to Christian Watson that set up Love’s one-yard plunge. That followed a 39-yard TD run by DeAndre Swift that put Chicago up 19-14. With new offensive coordinator Thomas Brown in charge, Williams ran nine times for 70 yards and hit 23 of 31 passes with no interceptions.
— The Packers (7—3) only had the ball for 23:39 and only ran it 17 times. But they were 3 for 5 in the red zone and the Bears (5–5) were one for two, and that’s often the difference.
Detroit 52, Jacksonville 6
— This was like one of those SEC body-bag games, with Jacksonville playing the part of Tennessee-Martin or Nicholls State. The Lions set franchise records for yards (645) and victory margin (46), and their margin of 475 yards was the third highest ever in the NFL.
— The Lions were five-for-five in the red zone. Jared Goff, who took the fourth quarter off, threw 11 passes to Amon-Ra St. Brown, and St. Brown caught them all. The Lions’ touchdown drives ranged from 64 to 93 yards. Etc.
— With Mac Jones back at quarterback, the Jaguars possessed the ball for 20 minutes, after holding it for 21:48 and 17:41 in their previous two games. Jacksonville is 2-9 with four consecutive losses, and they’re winless when they don’t score 32 points, none of which is good news for coach Doug Pederson, who had Jacksonville in the playoffs two seasons ago.
L.A. Rams 28, New England 22
— The Rams (5-5) had only 51 snaps but scored four touchdowns and had five explosive plays. After they were held without a touchdown by Miami, they leaned on Matthew Stafford for four TD passes, including a remarkable 12-yard catch by Puca Nacua. Nineteen of Stafford’s 27 passes went toward either Nacua or Cooper Kupp. The pair caught 13, for three touchdowns and 229 yards.
— L.A.’s offensive line has been a riddle all season, and riddled with injury, too. On this day they gave up no sacks and no tackles for loss. Rookie Braden Fiske sacked Drake Maye, who fumbled to Kobie Turner, and that set up Nacua’s short touchdown on the next play, for a 14-7 lead. Fiske had two quarterback hits and two tackles for loss.
— The Patriots (3-8) were down 28-12 at one point. Maye, in his fourth start, hit 30 of 40 passes for 282 yards but New England was 2-for-5 in the red zone. The Patriots, once so fearsome in Foxboro, have lost 10 of their past 12 at home.
Denver 38, Atlanta 6
— Sean Payton used to terrorize the rival Falcons when he coached the Saints, and he continued that habit Sunday from the Denver sideline. The Broncos were 4-for-4 in the red zone and scored touchdowns in three of their four first-half possessions to lead, 21-6. The Falcons never did score a touchdown and fell to 6-5. But then Denver, also 6-5, is 4-0 against the NFC South, and has scored 125 points in those wins.
— Bo Nix had a season (and career) high 145 passer rating, the third time in four weeks he’s been over 100, and he’s only thrown two interceptions after he threw four in Weeks 1 and 2. He found 10 different Denver receivers and completed 28 of 33. Nick Bonitto had two of Denver’s four sacks and the Broncos had eight tackles for loss, as they played like a defense should, with safeties named Locke and Key.
— Kirk Cousins was mercifully removed from this debacle, as the Falcons already had one foot into the bye week. They had been leaning on their running game, but ran for only two first downs Sunday, and their longest run was a nine-yarder by Bijan Robinson.
Minnesota 23, Tennessee 13
— The Vikings completed their sweep of the AFC South with this one, as Sam Darnold broke his 1-game slump. Darnold went 20 for 32 with two touchdowns, and hit Jordan Addison with a 47-yard touchdown. Andrew Van Ginkel, one of the better free agent acquisitions in the league, had two sacks, as did Pat Jones, who also hit quarterback Will Levis five times.
— Brian Flores’ defense held Tennessee (2–8) to 294 net yards. Ninety-eight of those came when Levis hit Nick Westbrook-Ikhine down the right sideline, tying the longest play in Titan/Oiler history. Westbrook-Ikhine is an undrafted receiver from Indiana who Inhas five TD catches in the Titans’ past nine games.
— That play cut Minnesota’s lead to 16-10. Darnold responded with a 65-yard drive that ended in a 3-yard TD pass to Cam Akers. The drive was prolonged when Jarvis Brownlee was whistled for illegal contact, just as Jeffrey Simmons was sacking Darnold on third-and-11. It wasn’t their best game, but the Vikings are still 8-2, one game off Detroit’s NFC North pace.
Indianapolis 28, N.Y. Jets 27
— Was it Anthony Richardson’s last chance to be the Colts’ quarterback? Probably not, because No. 4 overall draft picks get a lot of slack. But it was probably his best chance, and after he was benched for two games, Richardson led the final drive and scored the game-winning score with 0:46 left. Before that, Richardson hit Alec Pierce with a 39-yard pass and hit Josh Downs for 17. Known for scattershot passing, Richardson was 20-for-30 with no interceptions.
— Aaron Rodgers and the Jets had a final shot, but Kwity Paye got his only two sacks of the game to end it. The Jets had taken advantage of a fair-catch interference penalty to get a 58-yard, go-ahead field goal from Anders Carlson with three minutes left. Rodgers had one of his better games this year, going 22 for 29, and Breece Hall ran for a touchdown and caught another.
— The Colts got a strong game from edge rusher Laiatu Latu, their first-round pick from UCLA. Latu had three quarterback hits and two tackles for loss. Indianapolis is 5-6 with Detroit next, but its final three games are against Tennessee, the Giants and Jacksonville.
Miami 34, Las Vegas 19
— With Scott Turner as the new play-caller, the Raiders only had one turnover and converted eight of 14 third downs. Gardner Minshew hit 30 of 43 passes for 282 yards, throwing 16 times to rookie tight end Brock Bowers and completing 13. But after Minshew narrowed the deficit to 24-19 with a TD pass to Ameer Abdullah, Tua Tagovailoa put the Dolphins back in front by 12 on the next drive, hitting Jonnu Smith for a 57-yard score.
— Tagovailoa had a season-high passer rating of 127.8 by completing 28 of 36 without an interception. He set the theme with the first drive of the game, which consumed 24 plays and 8:13 before it ended with a 1-yard TD to Smith. Minshew marched the Raiders back down the field and had a first-and-goal on the 10, but a sack by Zach Sieler forced a field goal.
— Since Tagovailoa returned from a concussion, the Dolphins are 2-2 in his starts with a one-point loss to Arizona and a three-point loss to Buffalo. They’re 4-6, and have two games left with the Jets and games against Cleveland and New England in their final seven.
New Orleans 35, Cleveland 14
— Darrren Rizzi is 2-0 as the Saints’ stand-in coach, and Marques Valdez-Scantling scored on a 71-yard pass, his third TD since Rizzi took over. Taysom Hill, perhaps the NFL’s best utility man, ran for touchdowns of 75, 10 and 33 yards, and also caught eight passes for 50 yards.
— The Browns (2-8), desperately hoping to get to the 17th game in one piece, got a huge game from Jameis Winston, who hit 30 of 46 passes for 395 yards, two scores and no interceptions. Jerry Jeudy snagged six of those for 142 yards, and Nick Chubb continued his rehab with 50 yards in 11 carries. But the once-proud Browns’ defense gave up 473 yards.
— Derek Carr was sharp for the Saints, going 21 for 27. The Saints (4–7) have a bye next week, which means they will have gone three weeks without losing.