Final score: Chiefs rolled by Bills, lose 38-20 on Sunday Night Football

For the fourth time in the last six games, the Kansas City Chiefs have lost. For the second time in that span, it was a blowout. The Buffalo Bills came into Arrowhead Stadium and stifled the Chiefs’ offense, forcing four turnovers and holding them to 13 points until late in the fourth quarter — all on the way to a 38-20 victory..

The loss dropped the Chiefs to 2-3 — still alone at the bottom of the AFC West. They trail the Bills and the Los Angeles Chargers by two games in the AFC playoff standings - and without a tiebreaker against either team. They face a long road to get back into contention.

The Bills won the toss, deferring to the second half and forcing the Chiefs to take the ball first. Two runs put them in a third-and-4 right away, which was converted by a quick pass to wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Mahomes missed a wide-open Travis Kelce on the next play, setting up a third-and-10; Mahomes scrambled to convert. Two third-down conversions later, they were set up in the red zone before getting into a third-and-12. An accurate pass to Hill in coverage was dropped, leading into the Chiefs settling for a field goal.

Starting the game down 3-0, Buffalo gained chunk plays via passes and rushes by Josh Allen. They quickly got into the red zone, where they used a designed run for Allen to score from nine yards out. They had a 7-3 lead midway through the first quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Byron Pringle coughed up the ball and allowed the Bills to take over at Kansas City’s 34-yard line.

The Bills got into a third-and-11, but a pressure by defensive end Mike Danna forced an intentional grounding penalty; the Chiefs got past the lost fumble unscathed.

After a touchback, Mahomes scrambled and found Kelce for two first-down conversions right off the bat to end the first quarter.

On third-and-5, Mahomes was swallowed up in the pocket and could barely get a pass out, but a defensive holding penalty bailed them out. A scrambling Mahomes found Josh Gordon for a first down and his first catch with the team on the next play. They advanced inside the five-yard line, once again using pre-snap acting to get the defense confused — and it worked. A five-yard throw to Pringle earned a 10-7 lead with 10 minutes left in the half.

To respond, the Bills used a few chunk plays through the air to get into Chiefs territory; the last one went 35 yards to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who beat cornerback L’Jarius Sneed to the end zone. Buffalo held a 14-10 lead.

With seven minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Chiefs tried to get a drive going — but a stuffed run on third-and-2 forced them to punt.

The Bills took the ball and got into a third down, where Allen had all day to scan the field and found Stefon Diggs for a long gain to get into the red zone. A tackle for loss by rookie Nick Bolton, a pass breakup by cornerback Rashad Fenton and a misfire by Allen followed the big play — leading to a Buffalo field goal.

Trailing 17-10, the Chiefs took over from the 40-yard line with three minutes left in the half. Mahomes scrambled up the middle for 23 yards to start the drive. A few plays later, the Chiefs faced fourth-and-5 — and decided to go for it. Even with unlimited time in a clean pocket, Mahomes couldn’t find an open receiver. Kansas City turned it over on downs.

Two plays later, Allen made the Chiefs pay with a 53-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dawson Knox; he beat safety Dan Sorensen, who relaxed his coverage and allowed Knox to get behind him. The Bills’ lead stretched to 24-10.

With over a minute left, the Chiefs tried to get into scoring position. As the clock ticked to 30 seconds, the Chiefs got deep into Buffalo territory; the biggest play was a 26-yard sideline catch by Mecole Hardman. An offensive pass interference penalty on Gordon pushed them back, and they couldn’t recover. They settled for a successful field goal to go into the half.

After a one-hour rain delay, the Bills received the second-half kickoff leading 24-13. They had two short runs, then failed to convert the third-down play when cornerback L’Jarius Sneed broke up a pass intended for Diggs.

Taking over, Kansas City got to their own 39-yard line and into a third-and-4; a pressured Mahomes couldn’t find an open receiver while left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. held. The Chiefs punted back to the Bills.

Buffalo started off hot with a huge pass to Knox for 41 yards over Rashad Fenton’s coverage. The defense tightened up, though, stopping two plays at the line of scrimmage before forcing an incompletion with a blitz on third down.

On the following possession, Edwards-Helaire took a screen pass for a first down — but went down with an injury on the play. A few plays later, a short pass to HIll bounced off his hands and into the grasp of safety Micah Hyde — who returned it for a touchdown.

Losing 31-13, the Chiefs quickly got into a fourth-and-5, which it failed to convert when wide receiver Mecole Hardman dropped a pass. However, a penalty for roughing the passer bailed them out. Soon after, Kelce took a quick throw over the first-down marker. A big reception by Hill got them closer to the end zone — but on the next play, Bills defensive end Gregory Rousseau tipped a Mahomes pass into the air and intercepted it.

Buffalo took over, but couldn’t get anything going. Two stops at the line of scrimmage were followed by a Fenton pass breakup on Diggs.

With little time left in the third quarter, the Chiefs took over, looking to cut into the 18-point deficit. A deep pass attempt to Kelce drew defensive pass interference, setting the offense up deep in the red zone as the third quarter ended.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Mahomes quickly tossed a lateral pass to Kelce on the goal line to earn the touchdown; they narrowed the score to 31-20 with 13 minutes remaining in the game.

Buffalo took possession at the 15-yard line, not getting anything going on the first two plays. On third-and-9, an Allen scramble converted before it was called back for holding. On third-and-19, Fenton intercepted a deep pass — but a roughing the passer penalty on defensive end Frank Clark negated the stop. The defense managed to get to third-and-4, but Allen scrambled for the first down — hurdling Sneed in the process.

With under 10 minutes remaining, the Bills marched into Kansas City territory by way of big gains through the air. Allen inched them closer with a first down scramble to get to the 11-yard line. A few plays later, Allen found Sanders in the end zone to extend the lead to 38-20.

The Chiefs’ offense took over, slowly going downfield with a very slim chance of coming back. They got into the red zone with about four minutes to go, but a fumbled snap that got kicked back deep behind the line of scrimmage was eventually recovered by the Bills.

With the game in hand, Buffalo ran out the clock.

Injuries

Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire went down awkwardly after a play in the second quarter. He was later ruled out with a left-knee injury.

Special teams

Starting kick returner Byron Pringle fumbled the second kickoff he received, resulting in the Bills taking over from the Chiefs’ 34-yard line.

Kicker Harrison Butker converted a 38-yard field goal attempt. He also made a 54-yard field goal in the wind and rain before halftime to lessen the deficit to 11 points — hit both of his point-after kicks.

Special teams ace Chris Lammons had an inconsequential offsides penalty on a punt return.

Statistics