Buffalo Bills' Character, Resiliency Shines In Win Over Kansas City Chiefs

The Buffalo Bills overcame a tumultuous week with their 20-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Few things show a team's character better than when their backs are against the wall. 

That's the situation the Buffalo Bills found themselves in heading into a must-win game on Sunday. The pressure only mounted with Von Miller turning himself in to police during the bye week and Sean McDermott's 9/11 comments from 2019 coming to light. 

But when it came time for the Bills to fight for their playoff lives in the same stadium where two of their last three seasons have ended in heartbreak, they answered the bell at every turn. 

Buffalo's (7-6) character and resiliency showed when it beat the Kansas City Chiefs 20-17 on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. With the win, the Bills are now one of six teams in the AFC that have a 7-6 record.

Josh Allen accounted for both of the Bills' touchdowns against the Chiefs.  / USA TODAY

After jumping out to a 14-0 lead in the first half, the Bills were tied with Kansas City (8-5) with two minutes left to play. Tyler Bass' 39-yard field goal put Buffalo up by three with 1:57 left in the fourth quarter. 

A Bills defense that has been burnt by Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes many times before was tasked with stopping him to keep their playoff lives alive. This time, albeit with some help from Chiefs receiver Kadarius Toney, who negated a potential game-winning touchdown by being offsides, Buffalo's defense stood up when it mattered most to force a turnover on downs and seal the biggest win of the season. 

We got your back, Coach! 👏#BUFvsKC | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/3PhgjtsLXl

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 11, 2023

Buffalo remains on the outside looking in of the AFC playoff picture, though its path to a fourth straight postseason has become more viable. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans all lost on Sunday. 

The Bills are currently the No. 11 seed and will have to jump four teams if they're going to make another playoff appearance. Two of the Bills' remaining four games come against the Los Angeles Chargers (5-8), who will likely be without quarterback Justin Herbert, and the New England Patriots (3-10), who are already eliminated from playoff contention. 

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Regardless of what the future holds, the Bills faced a gut-check moment against a team that has had their number in the most important games of the season. Buffalo's grit helped overcome every obstacle throughout the week en route to the team's most important win of the season.

And if Buffalo can get some semblance of normalcy as it continues its playoff push, who knows what can happen with four games left in the regular season?