A thriller. An instant classic.
There will be a lot of phrases and terms to describe the Buffalo Bills' 42-36 overtime loss of the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night in the AFC Divisional Round. It's certainly the greatest game I've ever been a part of, or even witnessed live.
But with being so great also comes plenty of heartbreak for Bills fans.
Here is the final Arrow Up/Arrow Down column of the 2021 season:
ARROW DOWN:
Last 13 seconds
With 13 seconds left and the Bills just needing to keep the Chiefs out of field goal range, they first elected to kick the ball deep instead of putting it short of the goal line and forcing the Chiefs to return it and run time off the clock.
Even though Kansas City started at their own 25-yard line after the touchback, they still moved the ball 44 yards in just two plays.
The Bills played passive, allowing Tyreek Hill to catch a pass in front of them for 19 yards. Then, with just eight seconds left, they inexplicably allowed Travis Kelce a free release off the line of scrimmage with no inside help for cornerback Levi Wallace. Kelce ran almost completely free down the middle of the field, caught the ball and was tackled at the 31 yard line for a 44 yard gain.
That gave the Chiefs the 49-yard field goal attempt they converted to send the game to overtime.
Overtime
The defense was gassed. The team was deflated. But they allowed the Chiefs to go 75 yards in eight plays and four-and-a-half minutes to end the game. They allowed plays of 10, 18, and 26 yards on that drive, and then the final eight-yard touchdown pass to Kelce.
Lack of Stefon Diggs
The Bills scored 36 points, so not throwing it to Diggs obviously didn’t kill their offensive output. However, it’s head-scratching to wonder why he was only targeted six times, coming away with only three catches for just seven yards.
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Third down defense
The Chiefs converted 8-of-13 third down chances (61.5%). The Bills couldn’t get them off the field enough, especially in the first half where Kansas City was 5-for-6 (83.3%).
Lack of Dawson Knox
Knox dropped a pass on the second play of the game, then was targeted only three more times the entire contest, finishing with just two catches for only nine yards. Just a little more involvement from Knox may have been the difference of extending an extra drive.
Rushing outside of Josh Allen
After running the ball so well for the last several weeks, the Bills could not really get anything going on the ground outside of Allen runs. He was their leading rusher and had the most carries.
Devin Singletary and Isaiah McKenzie were the only other players to run with the ball, and they combined for just 13 carries for 41 yards, averaging just 3.15 yards per-carry.
552 yards allowed!
Understandably, the Kansas City Chiefs have a very good offense with dynamic players. It's hard to keep them in check, but the Bills defense allowed 552 total yards, and 477 yards in regulation. They just couldn't get enough stops or slow Kansas City down most of the night.
The Chiefs rolled up 182 yards rushing and an averaged 6.7 yards per-carry. Patrick Mahomes completed 75% of his passes for 378 yards and three touchdowns.
All of these numbers are way too high.
Tackling
One of my keys to the game coming into Sunday's game was tackling. The Chiefs love to get their players the ball in space and allow their playmakers to use their speed and make plays. Tackling them is paramount.
The Bills did not do a good job of it most of the night. Far too many missed tackles that turned into big plays, or extended them to allow shorter third down conversion attempts.
Punt return sequence
With the Bills trailing 23-21 and having to punt from deep in their own end early in the fourth quarter, Matt Haack got off a punt that traveled 54 yards all the way to the Chiefs' 31-yard line. Tyreek Hill returned it 13 yards, but there were offsetting penalties on both teams. An illegal chop block against the Chiefs would have forced them to start the drive from inside their own 20-yard line. However, Bills gunner Taiwan Jones also ran out of bounds untouched, resulting in offsetting penalties and the down to be replayed over.
Sure enough, on the re-punt, Haack only booted it 46 yards and Hill brought it back 45 the other way. That set the Chiefs up at the Bills' 16-yard line, and putting them in positions for a field goal.
ARROW UP:
Josh Allen, Josh Allen, Josh Allen
I wrote his name three times because he was that good.
Allen was simply incredible, completing 27-of-37 passes (73%) for 329 yards and four touchdowns. He added another 68 yards rushing and just 11 carries, averaging 6.2 yards per-carry.
Whenever the chips were down, Allen came up big. He was fun to watch, and proved why he's one of the elite quarterbacks in the game right now.
Gabriel Davis
Davis had one of the greatest playoff performances in NFL history, catching eight passes for 201 yards and four touchdowns. He is the first player to ever catch four touchdown passes in a NFL playoff game. He was sensational, especially late in the game when the Bills needed it, and Allen looked to him.
Fourth down aggressiveness
Bills head coach Sean McDermott decided right from the beginning of the game he was not going to play this game the way he did last year's AFC Championship Game, by being conservative.
On the very first drive, the Bills faced a 4th-and-2 from midfield and McDermott elected to go for it. They converted. Later that same drive, it was 4th-and-goal from the one-yard line. They went for it, and scored a touchdown.
Fourth down conversions
McDermott’s aggressiveness was rewarded. They converted those two early fourth downs, but then two more late in the game, as well, when they had to go for it to keep the game alive. Overall, the Bills finished 4-for-4 on fourth downs.
Red zone offense
The Bills were 3-for-3 in the red zone. Every time they were inside the Chiefs’ 20-yard line, they converted it into a touchdown. They scored five different times, all touchdowns. No field goals.
The fourth quarter
The fourth quarter was simply incredible. There were 28 total points scored, including 25 with less than two minutes to play! The lead changed hands three times before it was ultimately tied up by a Chiefs field goal to send it to overtime.
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