In Sunday’s closely contested game, the Kansas City Chiefs registered a 28-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Facing heavy pressure and crafty containment looks, the Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes struggled to create momentum with his offense. Buffalo made sure to take away his best weapons — and took advantage of Kansas City’s tendencies, too.
Let’s take a look at this ugly outing.
Containing Patrick Mahomes
The Bills hit Mahomes a whopping 15 times. They recorded three sacks and forced an interception. This was built on a combination
of four-man pressure and a well-executed containment plan. Buffalo also took advantage of Mahomes’ tendency to create opportunities with his legs by luring him into scrambling.
On this play, the Bills have two stand-up linebackers on the defensive interior and two defensive ends with their hands in the dirt. At the snap, the linebackers simulate a “cross-dog blitz,” but quickly shift into contain. The left-side defensive end crashes down hard. Right tackle Jawaan Taylor recognizes it and passes the rush to right guard Trey Smith
Mahomes — thinking he has a big void to attack — takes off. But then, Buffalo springs its trap.
Linebacker Dorian Williams quickly sprints to the flat, cutting off the quarterback before he can get loose. Mahomes still fires a pass into the teeth of the defense, but Hollywood Brown cannot haul it in.
The containment plan followed the Chiefs’ formations.
With a trips formation to the right, both Brown and tight end Travis Kelce work back to the middle of the field, while Rashee Rice tries to win a one-on-one on the back side. But when Mahomes leaves the pocket, neither Brown nor Kelce realizes it in time — and Rice is unable to create separation. (Judging by Rice’s release, he looked like more of a decoy; he doesn’t appear ready for Mahomes to break his way).
Brown recognizes what’s happening just before Mahomes throws — but by then, the defense has locked on the ball; Brown can’t haul in the high pass. Running away from Mahomes’ scramble path also made it harder for him to redirect and come back to the ball.
By forcing Mahomes to roll toward the initial side of the formation, Buffalo reduced his available throwing lanes. This takes three pass-catchers out of the equation before the play can even develop.
Getting pressure with four
This high-level containment plan involved some risk — allowing the possibility of a downfield strike — so the Bills supplemented it with classic four-man pressures. In one game, the Bills’ Joey Bosa got a career’s worth of payback, turning in a very good outing against the Kansas City tackles.
While he may be past his prime, Bosa still has crafty pass-rushing moves that he can use to beat opposing tackles.
On the snap, Bosa uses a couple of hesitation moves before firing both hands into Jaylon Moore’s chest. The offensive tackle tries to reset his hands, but Bosa’s length wins; he swims through the B-gap to bring down Mahomes.
But before Bosa can get to Mahomes, the Bills’ coverage has already settled into the right spots. Mahomes can’t trust what he is seeing downfield.
We see wide receiver Tyquon Thornton using a nice hesitation move to work past the linebackers’ zone to find a pocket of space — but it will take a laser from Mahomes to get it over the underneath coverage and away from the safeties.
Kelce has some room over the middle — and JuJu Smith-Schuster’s crosser will come open — but Mahomes is locked in on Rice. He considers running — taking half a step up — just as Bosa finishes the sack.
Throws that Mahomes wants back
Mahomes is still the NFL’s best quarterback — but on Sunday, he left a few throws on the table.
On this fourth-down look, it looks like Mahomes knows ahead of time which way he will throw. As soon as he catches the snap, the ball is on its way to Rice — but safety Cole Bishop makes a great jump, breaking up the play before Rice can secure the catch.
Meanwhile — on the other side — the defender over Xavier Worthy bails at the snap, leaving Worthy with space to operate.
But a miss to Kelce in the end zone is probably the throw Mahomes regrets the most.
Pressure up the middle forces Mahomes to roll — but he misses Kelce slipping through the coverage. If Mahomes has one more second in the pocket, the play would probably end with a Kansas City touchdown.
The bottom line
Sunday’s game shows that the Chiefs’ offense still has plenty of work to do. The season is far from over, so it is still possible to make the necessary adjustments — and Kansas City is lucky to have the bye week at this moment. But changes will still need to come quickly, because the season’s final stretch — and the playoff hunt — is upon us.
