The Chiefs couldn’t pull the rabbit out of their hat this time.
A lot of late heroics propelled the Chiefs to a 9-0 start, but Bills quarterback Josh Allen scored the late touchdown on Sunday and the Bills sent the Chiefs home from Buffalo with a 30-21 loss that ensured no team will run the table in the NFL this season.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said that he hopes the loss provides “fuel” for a team that has been squeezing by their opponents for too much of the season.
“It’s a good football team, so there’s nothing to hang your head on,” Mahomes said. “We feel like we can play better, so we will get back to work and try to use this as a spark so that we can be a better football team in the end. The undefeated thing was cool, but that’s not our ultimate goal. . . . I’m hoping that it is a benefit. I’m not going to say I or we relaxed, but at the same time I feel like we were just coming away with these wins at the end of the game. I think it’s going to spark us to have more urgency, especially at the start of football games, especially with the offense, and that comes from me and turning the ball over on the first drive. It’s something you can’t do in big games like this.”
The Chiefs can take solace in knowing that they’ve dropped other regular season games to the Bills in the past, but bounced back to win in the playoffs. That scenario could be in play again this year and Mahomes has no reason to doubt his team’s ability to pull through when it counts the most.