By CHUCK POLLOCK, Sun Senior Sports Columnist
It shouldn’t have been a surprise … we already knew the regular-season numbers.
Since Sean McDermott became Bills coach in 2017 his regular-season record against the Chiefs is now 5-1, 4-0 with Josh Allen at quarterback including Sunday’s 28-21 victory at Highmark Stadium.
We also know that McDermott is 0-4 in the playoffs against his mentor, Kansas City coach, Andy Reid.
But this year is different.
Buffalo, after winning the AFC East five straight years, is chasing New England in the division.
The Patriots are 7-2 and own a head-to-head win over the Bills. Buffalo is 6-2 and has a game at Foxboro in December but the Pats have the easiest remaining schedule in the league while the Bills still must face Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, albeit both in Orchard Park.
The real damage Sunday afternoon was to the Chiefs.
That loss dropped them to 5-4 behind the Broncos (7-2) and Chargers (6-3) with less than half the schedule to play.
BUFFALO won on Sunday afternoon because quarterback Josh Allen played a near-perfect game. He went 23-of-26 passing — the best completion percentage, 88.5, in franchise history — for 273 yards with a touchdown pass to tight end Dalton Kincaid and two 1-yard sneaks for TDs. And, in true complementary fashion, running back James Cook rushed a career-high 27 times for 114 yards, his fifth 100-yard effort in eight games.
AFTER THE game, Allen mused about beating a Kansas City team that has made it to five Super Bowls winning three of them.
“They’re what you want your franchise to be for the last eight years,” he said. “Any time you play the best and you come away with a victory, there’s a lot to be happy about.
“But as I said earlier this week, things are never as good or as bad as they appear to be. We still have things to clean up, starting tomorrow.”
Still, he admitted having a special feeling from the time the game started.
“I can’t speak for other quarterbacks,” Allen said, “but early in the game you get what I call ‘slotted’ where the ball is coming out of your hand as good as you want. I’ve been working really hard the last few weeks to get that feeling back and it was there today.”
MEANWHILE, Allen’s opposite number, Patrick Mahomes, had one of his worst days.
He finished 15-of-34 passing , the worst completion percentage of his career, being sacked three times and throwing an ill-timed interception, picked off by Buffalo’s rookie first-round draft choice Maxwell Hairston that ended the Chiefs final possession.
“Everybody knows Mahomes’ greatness and what he’s meant to this sport,” Allen said . “You never know what’s going to happen with the ball in his hands, but I’m proud of how our defense played there at the end.”
He added, “We feel like this is more of who we are. Let James go and do what he does, be able to run some play-action, finding completions, and when we need to drop back, especially on third down, we’ve got the guys capable to go make plays for us.”
COACH SEAN McDermott was particularly impressed with his team’s effort against one of the NFL’s elite teams and quarterbacks.
“Patrick is a once-in-a-lifetime player,” McDermott said. “So difficult to beat. When he stands back there and he’s not affected, it’s almost like seven-on-seven.”
Meanwhile, since the second half of the Bills loss in Atlanta, Buffalo’s defense has given up a combined 33 points in 10 quarters.
So what’s different?
“Attitude,” McDermott maintained. “That’s the key step in everything … attitude – understanding how we want things done. Attitude on the field. Not that it was bad, just that it’s at another level right now.
“You’ve got to be nasty if you want to play good defense. If you’re not tough as a defense, what do have? You want to play finesse defense, that doesn’t work.”
Notes from the Bills 28-21 victory over Kansas City, Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium.
— The game’s lone takeaway was recorded by first-round draft choice, cornerback Maxwell Hairston, who intercepted Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes late in the fourth quarter.
— Bills quarterback Josh Allen extended his NFL record 47 games with a touchdown pass and a rushing score, a pair more than former Carolina QB Cam Newton. Incredibly, Allen’s two rushing TDs gave him 72 for his career and pushed him past Earl Campbell on the NFL’s all-time list for rushing scores.
— Tight end Dalton Kincaid’s 23-yard touchdown reception was his fourth of the season. Ty Johnson’s 3-yard TD rush was his first of the campaign.
— The Chiefs first sack of Allen was shared by edge rushers George Karlafkis (his fifth) and Ashton Gillotte (his first). The second went and third were on consecutive plays in the fourth quarter by cornerback Trent McDuffie, his first, and linebacker Leo Chanel (1 1/2).
— Buffalo’s first sack of Mahomes was cornerback Christian Benford’s first of the campaign. The second was shared by edge rushers Michael Hoecht and Greg Rousseau (his third). The third sack of Mahomes was shared by Hoecht (2 1/2) and edge rusher Joey Bosa (3 1/2).
Later, Hoecht left the game with a non-contact Achilles injury and is lost for the season.
— The Chiefs punter/holder is Matt Araiza, the Bills sixth-round draft pick in 2022. Buffalo released him when he was charged in a sexual abuse case. However, after Araiza was exonerated , Kansas City signed the player once known as the “Punt God” two years ago.
— Inactive for the Bills were nickel back Taron Johnson (groin), defensive tackle DaQuan Johnson (calf), wid receiver Joshua Palmer (knee/ankle), linebacker Shaq Thompson (hamstring), cornerback Brandon Codington, offensive tackle Chris Lundt and edge rusher Landon Jackson.
