KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If 13 seconds was too much time, surely 64 seconds was plenty of time for Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Of course, unlike the overtime AFC Divisional win nine months ago, it was going to take a touchdown to beat the Buffalo Bills in the rematch Sunday at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Still, Mahomes didn't lack confidence he'd get the job done.
“Every time I get the ball, no matter what the situation is, I expect to find a way to win,” Mahomes, the Chiefs' quarterback, said. “That’s what this whole offense and team expects."
It wasn’t meant to be, at least not this time. There was no magic to be conjured, only an interception thrown and a 24-20 loss taken on the chin.
“It was a great battle,” Kansas City coach Andy Reid said. “We love these games. You just don’t love to be sitting on this end of it. But you love the competition and the way guys get after it.”
Bills cornerback Taron Johnson intercepted Chiefs Mahomes with 51 seconds left after he was flushed from the pocket by Von Miller on a three-man rush and double-clutched on a pass intended for Skyy Moore, who had drawn two defenders.
Buffalo — whose season has ended each of the last two years with playoff losses at Kansas City, including a 42-36 overtime loss in January — trailed for much of the fourth quarter before Josh Allen found Dawson Knox on a comeback route to the sideline for a 14-yard touchdown with 1:04 remaining.
“I knew by alignment he was running the ‘seven’ route, ended up jumping the ‘seven’ route and I thought the ball was going to come out on time,” said safety Justin Reid, who was in coverage. “He held the ball a little bit longer and got behind me, wheeled around and I ended up being a little too far inside. Josh Allen threw a good ball to the outside edge of the end zone and Dawson Knox makes a good catch.”
After a penalty on the first snap of the Chiefs’ potential game-winning drive, Mahomes threw the pick and the Bills ran out the clock in their second consecutive regular-season win at Kansas City.
“He was trying to make something happen and (Johnson) did a nice job of cutting it,” Reid said. “... We had too many mistakes when it was all said and done and they had a few less. But we can learn from this and it can benefit you down the road, if you handle it right.”
Allen finished 27 of 40 for 329 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, though he did lose a fumble, while Mahomes went 25 of 40 for 338 yards with two scores and two picks in the loss.
The high-powered Buffalo (5-1) and Kansas City (4-2) offenses mounted promising opening drives, which were short-circuited by red-zone turnovers.
The Bills’ 60-yard march with the opening kickoff was for naught when Josh Allen’s option pitch wound up on the ground for Chiefs linebacker Darius Harris to pounce upon.
Kansas City had a touchdown negated by an illegal-man-downfield penalty.
After Patrick Mahomes converted a fourth down with his legs, he got picked off in the end zone when Kaiir Elam outwrestled Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a high pass after a lengthy scramble drill.
“I was trying to put it in that one spot that the receiver could get it and no one else could get it, kind of the high point in the back of the end zone,” Mahomes said. “We got our hands on it, but their guy made a play.”
Buffalo’s second drive netted a 39-yard field goal.
Kansas City’s second drive ended in the end zone on JuJu Smith-Schuster’s first touchdown of the season and first with the Chiefs.
Mahomes scrambled right, pump faked, pulled the ball and looked back to the left, throwing a dart to Smith-Schuster across the field.
Smith-Schuster, who snagged five passes for a team-high 113 yards, made cornerback Taron Johnson miss, spun off a tackle from cornerback Siran Neal and outran safety Damar Hamlin up the Kansas City sideline for the touchdown.
“I think he’s going to be a big part of this offense," Mahomes said of Smith-Schuster, "because of the way he’s able to catch the ball and run tough through traffic. He had a great game today, and I’m sure he’ll keep getting more and more involved.”
The Bills marched 72 yards on the ensuing drive to the Chiefs’ 3-yard line, but Harris tipped the second- and third-down passes and Allen bounced a fourth-down throw to Isaiah McKenzie for a turnover on downs.
Buffalo retook the lead in the closing seconds of the first half, picking on Kansas City rookie cornerback Joshua Williams for a 34-yard touchdown from Allen to Gabe Davis.
But the Bills left too much time once again.
Mahomes and company took the field with 12 seconds on the second-quarter clock, one fewer than the situation at the end of regulation in January’s AFC Divisional game.
The result was the same — Mahomes completed two passes, the second to tight end Travis Kelce, and Harrison Butker banged home a game-tying field goal.
Butker, who returned Sunday from a four-week absence with a sprained ankle, faced a tougher task, but he didn’t break a sweat in delivering a franchise-record 62-yard field goal.
Kelce finished with eight catches for 108 yards.
On the opening drive of the second half, Butker missed a 50-yard try. But after Buffalo and Kansas City traded third-quarter scores — Allen burned Williams again for a 17-yard score to Stefon Diggs and Mahomes hit Mecole Hardman Jr. for a 3-yard TD — the Chiefs went in front 20-17 when he connected from 44 yards out.
Diggs finished with 10 catches for 148 yards against a Kansas City secondary that was missing cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Rashad Fenton along with safety Bryan Cook.
Williams, who made his first-career NFL start, finished with nine tackles.
