4 losers, 3 winners from Chiefs’ Week 9 loss to the Bills: Kansas City takes step back heading into the bye week
The Chiefs will spend the next two weeks with a bad taste in their mouths.
With their 28-21 loss on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs have lost to the Buffalo Bills for the fifth consecutive time during the regular season.
Kansas City led 10-7 at one point, but once the Bills went up 14-10, they never surrendered the lead. The Chiefs had the ball with a chance to tie or win on the final possession of the game, but with just 22 seconds and zero timeouts left, they couldn’t get it done. Let’s examine our winners and losers for K.C. from its Week 9 loss to Buffalo.
Loser: Chiefs’ offensive line
The Chiefs’ offensive line has made major strides in 2025, but had arguably its worst performance of the season against the Bills. The unit allowed a whopping 27 quarterback pressures on Patrick Mahomes per Pro Football Focus, along with three sacks.
K.C.’s offensive line had no answer for edge rusher Joey Bosa in particular, who recorded two of the three sacks, with five pressures and three QB hits. To add injury to insult, right tackle Jawaan Taylor hurt his ankle during the fourth quarter and did not return to the game.
Winner: WR Hollywood Brown
Brown may have only caught two passes on the day, but they were big ones. The first was a 40-yard reception which he would have scored a touchdown on had the pass not been underthrown.
The second was a 33-yard catch down the left sideline during a TD drive late in the game. Brown has been a clutch receiver all season for K.C. He leads the team in TD catches, and ranks second in receptions and receiving yards.
Loser: QB Patrick Mahomes
As highlighted above, the offensive line made Mahomes’ life very tough on Sunday. However, as great as he is, Mahomes has some blame to shoulder as well. During a crucial fourth down play late in the second quarter, he puzzlingly forced a pass to wide receiver Rashee Rice despite him being blanketed in coverage.
Mahomes was not pressured on the throw, and should have went through his progressions. He later did the same thing near the goal line, which resulted in the Chiefs having to settle for a field goal just before halftime rather than cashing in for a TD. Mahomes finished the game with a career worst 44.1 percent completion percentage, zero TD passes, and one interception.
Winner: WR Rashee Rice
Although Mahomes force-fed Rice a little too much, he remained productive in his third game back — catching four passes for 80 yards and taking two carries for six rushing yards and one TD.
Rice also came up big late in the game, catching a 29-yard pass on fourth-and-17 that led to an eventual TD. Rice is going to be the centerpiece of the Chiefs’ passing attack throughout the rest of the season, and he’ll have the opportunity to establish himself as one of the elite WRs in the league.
Loser: DT Chris Jones
Jones was pretty much a non-factor against Buffalo, and that has been the case too often this season. He can still dominate on any given snap, and double-team rates remain high against him, but Jones definitely isn’t winning reps at the clip he has in years prior.
Jones has the bye week to refresh and self scout, but if he can’t regain his form from even just last year, the Chiefs’ pass rush will be extremely bleak the rest of the season.
Winner: RB Kareem Hunt
Hunt had another solid day, averaging 4.5 yards per carry and rushing for his fifth TD of the year. He was stuffed at the goal line during the second quarter, but that was more of a reflection of the offensive line having a poor day.
It was frustrating to see Hunt only receive 11 carries with how well he was running, especially with the Bills being depleted along their defensive line. He has easily been the most reliable running back on the roster and may outpace Isiah Pacheco in carries the rest of the way.
Loser: LB Drue Tranquill
Tranquill has been great against the run this season, but has been a liability in coverage. That was on full display against the Bills, as he couldn’t even remotely hang with tight end Dalton Kincaid, who smoked Tranquill in coverage multiple times.
Kincaid caught six passes for 101 and one TD on the day. His backup, Dawson Knox, also had a big 30-yard reception. Not all of that was on Tranquill, but plenty of it was. If he continues to stay on the field during passing situations, offenses are going to attack him.
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Patrick Mahomes delivers urgent message to his teammates as Chiefs prepare for second half of season during bye week
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes delivered an urgent message to his teammates as the Kansas City Chiefs prepare for the second half of season during their bye week.
