Bills report card: Buffalo defense, special teams falter again as season halted by nemesis Chiefs

ORCHARD PARK - Sean McDermott spent about 10 minutes late Sunday night, an understandably dour look on his face, answering questions following the Buffalo Bills’ disappointing 27-24 loss to their never-ending playoff nemesis, the Kansas City Chiefs.

But in reality, McDermott said all he needed to say in his opening statement, before even the first question was lobbed in his direction.

“Obviously, came up on the short end tonight, give the Chiefs credit,” he began. “We didn’t play the way we needed to, I thought, in two of the three phases. Defensively first and then special teams.”

Honestly, he could have walked off right then because nothing else that followed was as succinctly correct as what he said in that one sentence. You aren’t beating most teams, especially the Chiefs of Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, if you play well in only one phase of the game.

The Bills came close to pulling that off thanks to the exploits of Josh Allen and a strong running game, but in the end they fell short because no one else found a way to help their cause and thus, another season that felt so promising these last few weeks came crashing to a disturbing, maddening halt.

And now the Bills head into an offseason with so much uncertainty, with a roster that will be shredded by free agency, but also with the lingering frustration that they can’t clear the Empire State Building-sized obstacle that the Chiefs continue to be for them.

“It’s just like every season so far,” Allen said, meaning it did not end the way he had hoped. “Every season, if you don’t win, it’s a failed season. That’s the nature of the business. There’s one happy team at the end of the season really, and when it’s not you and when you’re so close, it just it sucks.”

Here’s how I graded the Bills:

PASS OFFENSE: C-

This grade does not reflect on Allen who I thought played well like he almost always does. This grade is a direct reflection on the receivers, tight ends and backs failing to win their matchups as the Chiefs’ outstanding pass defense owned the night. Allen completed 26 of 39 but for just 186 yards and one TD.

He tried three deep balls and Trent Sherfield should have caught two, and Stefon Diggs certainly should have caught one. Instead, all three fell to the ground. Diggs was a massive non-contributor, but that went in line with how much of the final two-thirds of his season went. Three catches for 21 yards in the biggest game of the year was ridiculous.

But no one else other than Khalil Shakir did much of anything. Shakir had seven catches for 44 yards and a tremendous TD reception, but Sherfield, Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox, and Deonte Harty combined for eight catches and 59 yards. Allen was forced to check down far more than he usually does because his main targets weren’t getting open so RBs James Cook and Latavius Murray had to combine to catch seven for 48 yards. None of it was good enough, and credit has to go to the Chiefs’ secondary led by L’Jarius Sneed and Trent McDuffie.

RUN OFFENSE: A-

It was otherworldly in the first half with 124 yards, and was still producing in the third quarter when the Bills put together a 15-play, 75-yard TD drive that ended with Shakir’s TD for a 24-20 lead. But then in the fourth quarter it managed just 12 yards on six attempts, four of those runs by Allen.

By game’s end the Bills had 182 yards on 39 attempts as Joe Brady clearly wanted to lean on the ground attack against a KC defense that hasn’t been great against the run. The offensive line did excellent work most of the way by gashing holes between the tackles and Cook gained 61 yards while Allen scrambled his way to 72. Even Ty Johnson chipped in with 40.

All this running led to 37 minutes of possession time and 27 first downs, 14 of those on runs. There haven’t been too many times in Bills history where they controlled the clock like that yet still lost.

PASS DEFENSE: D-

All the talk about how Patrick Mahomes wasn’t at his best this year, primarily because he lacked talent around him, proved to be meaningless drivel at least as it pertained to this game. It was true that the Chiefs did not function like they had in his first five seasons as the starter, but when it mattered most - in the playoffs last week against Miami and then against Buffalo - the Chiefs did what they always do. They made the big plays in the key moments.

The Chiefs had the ball for only 23 minutes, but Mahomes was 17 of 23 for 215 yards and directed three TD drives, ending two with passes to Travis Kelce (5-75). On one, there was no one Bill near him, an inexcusable blown coverage on the one guy you know you have to cover on every play.

WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who had been a dud all year, caught two passes - one for 30 yards, the other for 32, both in the second half, both leading to KC touchdowns.

The Bills’ pass rush was non-existent, just a massive failure in a game of such importance. All those highly-paid guys up front like Ed Oliver, DaQuan Jones, Leonard Floyd, and Von Miller, plus high-round draft picks like Greg Rousseau, Shaq Lawson and A.J. Epenesa were nowhere to be found.

RUN DEFENSE: C-

Not having Isiah Pacheco in the first game against the Bills on Dec. 10 may have been the one factor that prevented the Chiefs from winning that game, that’s how important he is to their offense, and that was evident in this game. He powered his way to 97 yards and a 6.5 average per carry and he helped keep the Chiefs ahead of the sticks all night.

They only faced five third-down situations, and converted only one, but that’s because they so rarely needed three downs to move the sticks and Pacheco was a big part in that. Clyde Edwards-Helaire broke a 28-yard run thanks mainly to a terrible missed tackle by Dane Jackson, and Mahomes escaped for a 24-yarder after Rasul Douglas whiffed in the open field.

Up front, the stellar middle of the Chiefs offensive line dominated the Bills and created holes for the backs to slip through, and then some poor tackling at the second and third level extended the gains. Tyrel Dodson battled through injury to make eight tackles, matching Jordan Poyer.

SPECIAL TEAMS: F

When you miss a field goal from 44 yards as Tyler Bass did that would have tied the game inside two minutes, that’s about all you need to get this grade because really, what else should matter? However, there was more.

Because of Sam Martin’s hamstring injury, he was punting at half strength and his two punts went for a brutal net average of 32 yards. Realizing Martin had no leg, McDermott decided to take a massive gamble in the fourth quarter by calling for a fake punt on a fourth-and-5 from the Bills 30.

OK, I get it. But seriously, direct snapping to Damar Hamlin, and expecting him to gain the necessary yardage? That was just plain foolish. He never had a chance. Luckily for the Bills, two plays later Mecole Hardman caught a pass near the goal line but Jordan Poyer forced a fumble which went through the end zone for a touchback, giving the Bills possession and thus allowing them to dodge that bullet.

COACHING: D

Joe Brady put together a nice game plan and I liked how he tried to pound the Chiefs early on the ground and then stuck with it when the Bills were having so much success. But he really struggled to scheme receivers open in the passing game. Too many times, passes were completed only because Allen ran around behind the line of scrimmage and waited until someone finally came open because the Chiefs couldn’t cover forever.

Assuming Brady is back as offensive coordinator, the Bills need to upgrade at wide receiver in the worst way, and then maybe he’ll have more success creating plays where receivers win in coverage.

On defense, McDermott wasn’t playing with a full deck, though that’s been the case all year. His LBs were AJ Klein, Tyrel Dodson and Dorian Williams so yeah, he was up against it. Still, the Chiefs scored on five straight possessions if you take the end of half kneel out of the mix. That’s brutal. The pass rush was putrid and when he dialed up blitzes they didn’t work.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills report card: Buffalo comes up short against nemesis Chiefs