Game Recap

Bills 20, Chiefs 17 | Final score, game highlights + stats to know

Dec 10, 2023 at 08:01 PM

Patrick Warren

Contributing Correspondent

The Buffalo Bills earned a much-needed road victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in a 20-17 thriller at Arrowhead Stadium.

In the sixth meeting between Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, the Bills quarterback threw for 233 yards, a touchdown and one interception. He added 32 yards and a score on the ground.

Defensive end A.J. Epenesa started the game off with a bang, tipping a pass during the Chiefs' opening drive from Mahomes at the line of scrimmage and securing it for his second interception of the season.

The Bills took an early 14-0 lead thanks to the connection between Allen and running back James Cook, who scored the game's first touchdown on a wheel route out of the backfield. The second year running back caught Allen's pass in stride and front flipped into the end zone to put the Bills in front.

Tight end Dawson Knox made an early impact after spending six weeks on the injured reserve list, catching an 11-yard pass from Allen to pick up a first down on the Bills' scoring drive.

Knox finished with three receptions for 36 yards in his first game since the Bills' Week 7 loss to the New England Patriots. Cook led the offense with 83 receiving yards, a single-game career-high, and averaged 9.4 yards per touch.

On their second scoring drive, the Bills faced fourth-and-1 on the Kansas City 14-yard line but the offense stayed on the field. Allen took the snap, rolled to the right and evaded the Chiefs pass rush before finding Kincaid for the crucial first down. Two plays later, Allen charged forward and met a swarm of defenders at the 5-yard line but muscled his way into the end zone — thanks to some help from the offensive line — to put the Bills up two scores.

The Chiefs got on the scoreboard after Allen's only interception of the game, a desperate heave which Chamarri Conner picked off for his first career interception. The Chiefs subsequently drove 52 yards before running back Jerick McKinnon took it in for Kansas City's first touchdown of the game.

Allen led a field goal drive to start the second half, to which the Chiefs answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive that ended with short touchdown pass from Mahomes to rookie receiver Rashee Rice. After a Bills punt on the following drive, it looked like the Chiefs would continue to capitalize on their second-half momentum until Christian Benford forced Rice to fumble and Taron Johnson secured the loose ball to set the Bills up in Chiefs territory.

The Bills defense held the Chiefs to their lowest total points scored since their Nov. 20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Their final three drives resulted in a field goal, a punt and a turnover on downs to seal the win.

In their final possession of the game, the Bills offense marched 48 yards downfield to set up a go-ahead field goal for Tyler Bass. On third down early in the drive, Allen made an incredible, flat-footed throw to Deonte Harty to get into Chiefs territory. After Allen took a sack on third down later in the drive to set up what would have been a long field goal attempt, an illegal contact called against the Chiefs allowed the Bills to get in position for a go-ahead field goal.

On what could have been a game-winning drive, the Bills defense stood strong against the Chiefs. After Travis Kelce caught a long pass from Mahomes and lateralled it to Toney, who walked in for a touchdown, it looked like the Bills would have to answer with a touchdown of their own.

But a flag that was thrown near the line of scrimmage proved otherwise. Toney had lined up offsides and the touchdown was wiped off the board.

A pressure from edge rusher Von Miller forced an incompletion on second down, Ed Oliver tipped Mahomes' pass at the line on third down and Leonard Floyd pressured Mahomes to throw an errant pass on fourth-and-15 as the Bills secured the road victory over the reigning Super Bowl champs.

Buffalo improves to 7-6 on the season and will face the Dallas Cowboys at home next Sunday at 4:25 p.m.

Key stats and facts to know

Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes are now even in their career series with three wins each.
With his interception on the first series, A.J. Epenesa became only the third Bills defensive lineman with multiple interceptions in a single season. Epenesa is one of 12 Bills defensive linemen with two or more interceptions in a career.
With his first quarter touchdown pass to Cook, Allen became the first quarterback in Bills history to have four consecutive seasons of 25+ passing touchdowns. He also joined Newton and Murray as the only players to record 25 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns in a single season, becoming the fastest to do so (13 games).
With Allen's second quarter rushing touchdown, he tied Newton for the most rushing touchdowns in an NFL quarterback's first six seasons with 48. He also tied Murray for the most games with a rushing and passing touchdown in a single season with nine.
Allen's interception in the second quarter extended his career-long streak of games with an interception to nine games.
Dalton Kincaid surpassed Charles Clay for the second-most receptions in a single season by a Bills tight end with 61.
James Cook's 64 receiving yards in the first quarter marked a career-high in receiving yards in a single game for the second year running back. Cook finished with 141 yards and a touchdown.
Sean McDermott improved to 7-0 after the bye week during his time as the Bills head coach. He also now has the series lead against Andy Reid, who he worked under in Philadelphia.

Kansas City Chiefs vs Buffalo Bills, Regular Season, December 10, 2023 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

SCORING PLAYS

3:43 1Q | BUF 7 KC 0 | Josh Allen pass short left to James Cook for 25 yards, TOUCHDOWN

11:50 2Q | BUF 14 KC 0 | Josh Allen run short right for 6 yards, TOUCHDOWN

1:19 2Q | BUF 14 KC 7 | Jerick McKinnon run short left for 7 yards, TOUCHDOWN

8:38 3Q | BUF 17 KC 7 | Tyler Bass 31-yard field goal is GOOD

3:30 3Q | BUF 17 KC 14 | Patrick Mahomes pass short middle to Rashee Rice for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN

11:33 4Q | BUF 17 KC 17 | Harrison Butker 27-yard field goal is GOOD

1:54 4Q | BUF 20 KC 17 | Tyler Bass 39-yard field goal is GOOD