Here’s my take on the Buffalo Bills’ 30-22 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. After containing Tom Brady and his high-scoring offense on Monday night, it figured that a similar defensive effort against Alex Smith and one of the most pedestrian offenses in the NFL in the Chiefs would be enough, combined with an average offensive showing, to win this game and take a positive step toward clinching a playoff spot. Instead, the Bills’ defense, one of the best in the NFL last year, turned in another in a string of disappointing efforts. They allowed a third string running back, Spencer Ware, to rush for 114 yards and a touchdown, while Smith, helped by having little or no pressure on him from the Bills pass rush, picked apart the Bills’ secondary for a pair of scoring throws. The Chiefs have the weakest group of receivers in the league, yet Jeremy Maclin shredded the Bills for 9 catches for 160 yards and a TD. The offense didn’t help the cause with a pair of turnovers, both lost fumbles, and although Sammy Watkins got open for 6 catches and 158 yards and 2 scores, he did it all in the first half and was only targeted once in the final 30 minutes. The game saw a continuation of a pattern displayed by the Bills all year – they started fast, took a lead, only to have their opponent make adjustments to turn the game around in their favor, while Rex Ryan and his staff looked clueless. Speaking of disturbing patterns, the Bills added to their league-leading total of penalties with 9 for 91 yards, with their special teams setting an NFL record for most penalties by that unit, with 5 games still left to play. Ryan also missed two chances to challenge plays that would have gone in his team’s favor – a long completion to Maclin that hit the ground and a catch by Chris Hogan that was ruled incomplete. In his defense, head coaches have enough to worry about on game day, and should expect some level of competence from the officiating crew, to the point where Ryan should not have to challenge obvious calls. That’s not the case in today’s NFL, where bad and lazy officiating has made most games almost unwatchable.
The loss dropped the Bills’ record to 5-6, with another “must” game coming up at home next week against the Houston Texans and another mediocre quarterback, Brian Hoyer. A loss in that game will end any playoff hopes for the team, and officially begin the second-guessing of Ryan, who has taken a top-ranked NFL defense and turned it into an uninspiring, mediocre unit that can’t stop the run, can’t pressure opposing passers and can’t cover, no matter how bad the opponent.