Buffalo Bills 24, Kansas City Chiefs 13: Second-half open thread

The Bills have the lead at halftime.

We’re halfway through the Sunday Night Football showdown between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Bills have a 24-13 lead as the teams head into the locker room.

In this year’s showdown, the Bills have held up toe-to-toe with the Chiefs. It’s been a chippy game, with 11 accepted penalties already, but so far the Bills have played like the bigger brother. Kansas City started the game with a 17-play drive, but Buffalo forced them to settle for a field goal. Buffalo’s first possession made great use of Josh Allen as a runner, and it only took eight plays for them to travel 75 yards and score a touchdown to take the lead.

The Chiefs lost one possession when Siran Neal forced a fumble on a kickoff, recovered by Andre Smith. But Buffalo wasn’t able to capitalize on fantastic field position—a holding penalty prevented a first-down conversion, and Josh Allen took a terrible intentional grounding penalty that brought them out of field goal range.

The Bills and Chiefs traded touchdowns, and the Bills also tacked on a field goal late in the second quarter. Kansas City tried converting a 4th & 5 at the edge of field goal range, but Buffalo’s defense held up in coverage and containment for eight full seconds to force the turnover on downs. It only took two plays for Allen to find Dawson Knox for a 53-yard touchdown.

The Chiefs, to their credit, are still an elite offense. They traveled 41 yards in four plays, with a pixel-perfect sideline throw and catch bringing them to the edge of field goal territory and only 30 seconds left in the half. But the Chiefs ultimately settled for three points on that final drive.

Allen and the offense haven’t been perfect in this one, but they’ve played way better than last year’s games against the Chiefs, stacking up 289 yards before halftime. That’s given the defense breathing room to hold up their end of the bargain, and folks like Greg Rousseau and Jordan Poyer are doing their 1/11th to keep the game winnable.

The Bills will receive the opening kickoff of the second half. Even with a 14-point lead, they can’t give even an inch if they want to leave Missouri victorious. Here’s your discussion thread for the rest of the game. Go Bills!