5 things we learned from the Chiefs’ first loss of the season

Heading into the Week 11 matchup against the Buffalo Bills, the Kansas City Chiefs had not defeated them in the regular season since 2020. That streak continued on Sunday. Right out of the gate, Kansas City struggled to make plays, falling to 9-1 with a 30-21 loss.

Here are five things we learned.

1. Patrick Mahomes doesn’t always have to be the hero

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On the first play of the game, the Chiefs picked up seven yards. On the second play, quarterback Patrick Mahomes tried to throw a pass as he was being tackled — and was intercepted.

It’s true: he’s made plays like this before. He’ll probably make plays like this one many more times before his career ends.

But situational context matters.

It was second-and-3 on the team’s opening drive. You can afford to take a sack. You can afford for the drive to stall and punt the ball away. You’ll live to fight another down.

What you can’t do is turn the ball over at midfield and make your defense defend a short field right out of the gate. Mahomes has to know better than this.

There is a time and place for Mahomes to play hero ball — to make a play by any means necessary. This was not one of those times.

2. The Chiefs defense doesn’t have the personnel it needs

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The Kansas City defense wants to bring pressure by blitzing the quarterback from exotic and unpredictable places. This means there will be many situations where outside cornerbacks are left in man coverage against wide receivers — or that players who do not normally drop into coverage will be asked to do so.

On Sunday, however, we saw that this version of the Chiefs’ defense doesn’t have the personnel to play that way against a contending team. A player like cornerback Nazeeh Johnson is a liability when playing man coverage on the outside. Since the team has been short on cornerbacks in recent weeks, Kansas City been forced to play safety Chamarri Conner in the slot. He is not athletic enough to play man coverage for a large percentage of a game’s snaps.

This isn’t a situation where defensive coordinator Steve Spagnualo doesn’t know how to fix the problem. It’s just that he doesn’t have the players he needs. A lack of high-end depth at cornerback has come back to bite his defense.

3. The way to beat the Chiefs might be is to play like the Chiefs

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The Bills were taking notes last week when the Denver Broncos' defense found ways to stop the Chiefs' offense. Buffalo committed to taking away tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins — and pressured Mahomes enough to make him uncomfortable in the pocket.

This made the opening drive’s interception an even bigger issue. Since Kansas City was playing from behind, it made the Bills’ strategy even more effective. The Chiefs had to throw the ball more often — but for his players to come open, Mahomes had to hold onto the ball longer than he wanted. That left him more vulnerable to Buffalo’s pass rush.

Kansas City is still the league’s best team. But when it’s playing a contending team, the margin for error is just too small for the Chiefs’ best receivers to be erased.

4. This is probably as bad as things will get

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While injuries have been one of the season’s major narratives, a good number of reinforcements are on the way. Wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster has returned. Running back Isiah Pacheco and defensive end Charles Omenihu have both been designated to return from the Reserve/Injured list.

It remains to be seen if any of the Chiefs' other injured players will return in time for the postseason — but even if they don’t, these three players should be able to make a difference.

Besides... we know Kansas City doesn’t show all of its cards to teams it could see again — and from here on out, Buffalo is the best AFC team the Chiefs will face.

When you roll all of this up into a football burrito, this could easily be as bad as it gets.

5. The sky is not falling

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Don’t fret like Chicken Little. A year ago, the Chiefs were in a much more difficult situation. That team still went on to win the Super Bowl.

Kansas City lost a road game to a very good Buffalo team. The defense failed to get off the field on third down. The best offensive players made crucial errors they need to correct.

I don’t think these are issues that will matter as much against lesser teams — and once the Chiefs get into the playoffs, the gloves will come off.

Everything is going to be okay.