The Kansas City Chiefs dropped their first game of the 2024 NFL season in Week 11 to the Buffalo Bills.
The team was measured in their responses following the 30-21 loss. They knew that the undefeated talk was just that, but it also didn’t take them long to identify why they didn’t come away with a win in Highmark Stadium.
“I think it’s kind of eye-opening for us in terms of just— you can’t make three or four mistakes in a game, it leads to 16 and 20 points,” Chiefs LB Nick Bolton told FOX 4’s Rob Collins. “You’ve got to figure out a way to knock those out.”
Each player who spoke with the media after Week 11 echoed some version of the same thing. If you’ve ever heard Chiefs HC Andy Reid speak after a close game, you’re familiar with his spiel on parity in the NFL. Well, those comments stick with his players and they all seem to know that had they made fewer mistakes, it could have led to a different result.
“It’s a highly competitive game,” Chiefs RG Trey Smith told Darren Smith on Sunday. “There’s a lot of parity in this league and that was definitely proven tonight as well. Hat’s off to the Buffalo Bills team, they played their hearts out and did a phenomenal job today. When you play a talented team, both of us are great teams, great records, and we’ve both been doing a good job — the margin for winning and losing in this league is extremely small. It’s on us, we’ve just got to be cleaner. . . At the end of the day, the team that makes the fewest mistakes wins.”
Chiefs star QB Patrick Mahomes is well aware of his mistakes in Week 11. An early interception looms large and was something the team never truly recovered from. He even had some other specific examples of plays that got away from him in this one.
“It’s always a couple of plays,” Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes told reporters following the game. “The throw to Xavier (Worthy), I keep that in bounds, get a touchdown on that drive. Maybe I call the protection wrong, get a free rusher and it kind of stalls out a drive. A play here or there, that’s kind of the difference of these games that we’re playing. It’s two good football teams, and today, Josh (Allen) makes the play, and we didn’t. All credit to them. And like I said, great football team, and it’s all about a couple of plays here and there that change the outcome of the game.”
But what did the players in Kansas City learn from this loss that will help them move forward? Chiefs CB Trent McDuffie says there will be a greater emphasis on one thing as they seek to turn the page in Week 12 against the Carolina Panthers.
“Details,” McDuffie said. “I think everybody always talks about it, coaches harp on it, players harp on it. But it’s not until you get against a team that’s equally just as good where — we’re at an away game, they have a lot of energy, they’ve got the crowd behind them. Just one or two little mistakes can be the difference, really, and I think tonight showed that.”
