1 - White’s INT secures the win for Buffalo
The Chiefs had a chance to take the lead late in Sunday’s game, but Bills rookie Tre’Davious White made sure that didn’t happen. He recorded his second career interception with 1:25 remaining in the fourth quarter, leading to the victory formation for Buffalo’s offense.
White credited his defensive backs coach after the 16-10 conference win.
“Coach [Gill] Byrd man. He puts us in great position to make plays. We’ve been watching film on formations all week,” he said. “It was like three or four times I saw that formation and that route run, but he didn’t throw it. I knew in crunch time 10 [Tyreek Hill] was his guy. I knew he was going to try and go [there] so I just jumped it.”
The rookie finished Sunday’s game with one tackle, one pass defended, and one interception. His biggest contribution aside from his INT was flawless coverage. According to
Pro Football Focus, White yielded one reception for six yards on three passes thrown into his coverage.
This is now White’s second game-changing turnover in his rookie year. In Week Seven against the Bucs he forced and recovered a fumble with 2:28 remaining in the fourth quarter. That led to a Bills touchdown and propelled them to victory.
Safety,
Jordan Poyer
, shared his thoughts about White’s clutch play after Sunday’s game.
“It was huge man. I told Tre [White] after the game he’s one of the best corners in the league,” said Poyer. “He needs to believe that, he needs to play like that, and he needs to have that attitude because that’s what we believe. He came up big for us with that pick at the end of the game. He’s come up big for us all year. I was happy for him that he was able to seal the deal with that pick.”
2 - Cadet contributesBuffalo running back,
Travaris Cadet, showed he’s a reliable backup in his second game in a Bills uniform. He complimented
LeSean McCoy well in both the run and pass game.
The six-year veteran finished Sunday’s game with six carries for 28 yards. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry, the highest of any Bills rusher against the Chiefs. He also surpassed his rushing total from Week 11 in the first half of the Week 12 contest.
Coming into Buffalo, everyone knew Cadet was a pass-catching running back. On Sunday, he reeled in three catches for 21 yards. In his first two games with the Bills he’s been targeted nine times, and he’s corralled all of those for nine receptions.
Starting running back, LeSean McCoy, spoke about his new sidekick after Sunday’s game.
“I remember watching him with the Saints. He’s productive in the pass game and here and there gets some runs,” McCoy said. “I always knew he could play ball. I was happy to have him on the staff. It takes a little bit of the load off of me.”
Prior to Cadet’s signing earlier in the month,
Mike Tolbert was Buffalo’s backup. He has only practiced once on a limited basis over the past two weeks due to a hamstring injury. It’s unclear when Tolbert will return, but you’d have to assume Cadet will be a part of the game plan moving forward.
3 - Special teams solid in Sunday’s win
Bills head coach, Sean McDermott, constantly stresses the importance of winning all three phases of the game. Special teams can often get overlooked in that, but Buffalo’s specialists proved important in their 16-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Punting was a theme in Sunday’s game. Fifteen punts were booted in the contest, eight by Kansas City and seven by Buffalo. Bills Punter,
Colton Schmidt, was precise all afternoon. He averaged 41.1 yards on his seven punts, with four of those falling inside the 20-yard line.
“I thought our special teams did a great job in terms of creating field position for our offense, or not giving their offense favorable field position,” head coach Sean McDermott said. “Colton had a big game, in terms of the ball placement and trust with where our coverage units were going. Knowing that the ball would be there and he put it right there.”
In the return game,
Brandon Tate did a great job taking back punts. He had six returns and totaled 61 yards, giving him an average of 10.2 yards per return. Tate’s longest return went for 20 yards and he brought it back to Buffalo’s 42-yard line. That drive would result in a Bills touchdown. He also had returned a punt to Kansas City’s 44-yard line and that drive finished with a field goal for Buffalo.
All told Kansas City’s average drive start was their own 22-yard line, while Buffalo’s average drive start was their own 35-yard line. It was an impressive feat knowing the Chiefs coming into the game had the best average drive start in the league in home games of their own 33-yard line.
Quarterback,
Tyrod Taylor, mentioned after Sunday’s win the performances from Schmidt and Tate.
“It was great. It’s one of the key factors that we talk about as a team, field position. We’ve done a great job of starting with good field position,” said Taylor. “As well as Colton having some great punts and putting those guys back into their own territory. Hats off to those guys.”
SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE DAY
What they're saying: Bills react to crucial win over the Chiefs
Tyrod Taylor, Sean McDermott, Tre'Davious White and others discuss the key plays and the team's mindset after Sunday's win in Kansas City.
Have you been saving that hat for today? “No. I didn’t get a haircut on Friday, so I have a hat on.”
What did it take to win that game today against a lot of odds? “Definitely. It was a big game, like you said, for us. We haven’t played particularly well (in) away games this year, but for us to come in and still weather the storm and overcome adversity throughout the year and even throughout this game. Our offense started off with a couple of three-and-outs. We were able to flip the field one time early on, but for us to continue to be persistent and the defense played a great job. I just think in all phases we did enough today to get the job done. There is definitely some stuff that we can clean up, but I’m proud of the guys and the way they competed.”
On the touchdown pass, Zay Jones came open late there. How did that unfold? “Yeah he was actually third in the progression on that one, trying to get Shady in the flat and the linebacker ended up getting outside out there. They had a double on J Matt (
Jordan Matthews) in the back of the end zone and Zay continued to finish his route and I was able to find him. Like I said, big play for us.”
Did you ever feel like this was a ‘season-rescuing’ win? “We take it week by week. You never want to have a losing streak, but the way that we played the last three weeks up until this one definitely just wasn’t our style of football. Fortunately we were able to win five games early on so we were still in the playoff hunt, but we knew we were still in it going into this game and this was a big game for us to come get on the road. We know we have a great team coming in next week. It’ll be good to get back home in front of our home fans, but got to take it week by week.”
Head Coach Sean McDermott
After three bad games, your defense played tremendously today. Can you speak to that? “Well our run defense to start, we will start there. I thought our run defense was outstanding. I thought we played fundamentally good football and that is a credit to the hard work the guys have put in, the coaches included. It starts up front and then you go in from there. You talk about the third downs and the tackling and you know obviously the big take away at the end of the game was a game sealer for us. That was a good defensive effort overall and a team defensive effort. So credit to Leslie Frazier and his staff.”
What did going back to Tyrod (Taylor) do? “Just overall going back to today, we played good team offense. We found the ball well. At times, I thought Tyrod used his feet, at times, and then we had some critical third down conversions on some drives. There was some good things going on there and it was not just one guy. It was spread across the offense, which is good to see.”
What does it mean to you to come in a beat your mentor, Andy Reid? “I have learned a lot from him, on and off the field. Any time you can beat an Andy Reid coached football team, that is saying something. But you go back to a lot of the things we do, I learned from Andy and that is not going to change. He laid out a blueprint for me for 12 years of how to do things the right way and that is why he is where he is in terms of the all-time wins list. I think he is top 12, top 10, somewhere up there. That does not happen by mistake or by accident.”
Special teams, Colton (Schmidt) and (Brandon) Tate and their efforts kind of helped you stay in favorable field position most of game.
“Yeah, that is big. Number 10 (Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill), he is a weapon back there and he is a game changer. So, I thought our special teams did a great job in terms of creating field position for our offense or not giving their offense favorable field position, in particular, in the first half. Colton had a big game in terms of the ball placement and trust with where our coverage units were going and knowing the ball would be there and he would put it right there. Then (Stephen) Hauschka had the early deal, but came back and said he wanted that kick right before half and he nailed it.”
You only have six of them, but is this your signature win? “It is the next win. I am focused on obviously right now enjoying this one for a little bit, but we have a lot of work to do. The world champs are coming to Buffalo so got a lot of work to do.”
Wide receiver Zay Jones
On his touchdown reception: “It was a keeper, almost like a negative play to the left. Tyrod [Taylor] did a good job extending the play and finding me late. That’s just what that guy does. The offensive line did a great job of holding up and enabled us to get a score.”
What did it mean to set the tone early in the game? “Very significant. We want to come out and play fast and get ahead really quickly. We know what type of team Kansas City is, especially in this type of environment. It’s very important for us to get that early score.”
On what today’s victory means: “I think it just shows the resiliency that this team has and the type of character we have. All of our goals are still in sight. We see the big picture. Sometimes you lose games, but that doesn’t define you. I’m really proud of this team for coming out and getting a win on the road.”
Cornerback Tre’Davious White
Just walk us through the last play. What did you see and how did it happen? “It was just route recognition. Coach (Gill) Byrd put us in great positions to make plays. We’ve been watching film and formations all week. I saw that formation three or four times and he [Tyreek Hill] ran that route, but he [Alex Smith] didn’t throw it. I knew at crunch time 10 [Hill] was his guy. I knew he [Smith] was going to go to him [Hill], so I just jumped it.”
What was the difference overall? This was a performance similar to what we saw earlier in the season and not the past three games. “We’ve got a lot of guys, in this locker room, who are mentally tough. We’re sticking together. I feel like Coach McDermott does a great job of telling us that we want to play our best in November and December. I feel like we’re going to go up at the right time and I feel like this is the right time.”
On the defense’s approach for containing QB Alex Smith: “I think Coach (Leslie) Frazier had a great gameplan on him to make him hold the ball, where he had to hold it, pump and really didn’t have any quick throws out of his hands. I was able to get off blocks and get a sack, especially on mine, which was a coverage sack. He was back there scrambling and trying to make a play with his legs. That gave me time to get off my block and run him down.”
AFC EAST
| TEAM | W | L | T | OVERALL PCT | PF | PA | NET PTS | NET TD | HOME | ROAD | DIV | DIV PCT | CONF | CONF PCT | NON CONF | STREAK | LAST 5 |
|---|
| NE | 9 | 2 | 0 | .818 | 325 | 220 | 105 | 9 | 4-2 | 5-0 | 2-0 | 1.000 | 6-1 | .857 | 3-1 | 7W | 5-0 |
| BUF | 6 | 5 | 0 | .545 | 224 | 260 | -36 | -5 | 4-1 | 2-4 | 1-1 | .500 | 4-3 | .571 | 2-2 | 1W | 2-3 |
| NYJ | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 | 228 | 257 | -29 | -6 | 3-3 | 1-4 | 2-3 | .400 | 4-4 | .500 | 0-3 | 2L | 1-4 |
| MIA | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 | 174 | 289 | -115 | -15 | 2-3 | 2-4 | 1-2 | .333 | 3-4 | .429 | 1-3 | 5L | 0-5 |
