Chiefs vs Bills: Handing out game balls from a frustrating loss in Week 11

On Sunday, the Kansas Chiefs’ suffered their first loss of the '24 season, and their first since Las Vegas beat them on Christmas Day last winter. The day also marked one of the worst defensive efforts in recent memory from Steve Spagnuolo’s unit.

Against the Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs allowed more than 28 points for the first time since Super Bowl LVII against the Eagles, and they missed a massive amount of key tackles that could have made huge swings in the momentum and the flow of the game. 

With that said, there were a few performances worthy of game balls despite the team falling to 9-1 before their matchup against Carolina next week.

Game Ball #1: Noah Gray

What's left of the Chiefs' playmakers at this point—at least those who aren't injured—failed to make their presence felt on Sunday with a handful of three-and-outs and little impact from key names that Chiefs Kingdom is used to hearing. Fortunately, tight end Noah Gray stepped up to the plate and scored two of the Chiefs' three touchdowns.

Gray, who recently signed a three-year contract extension, was Patrick Mahomes’ sole outlet for what seemed like a few of the biggest moments from Sunday’s loss.

Gray recorded his first-ever two-touchdown game and was easily the best-looking tight end on the field for either team.

His four catches tied for a team-high despite only having 23 yards, but when it mattered it was Gray who Mahomes trusted and found to help keep them in the game.

Game Ball #2: Xavier Worthy

Did the speedy rookie out of Texas make a rookie mistake by not dragging his toe on an easy 40-yard reception? Yes, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact that he struck fear into the Bills early.

With Buffalo playing man defense heavily throughout the game, Worthy was able to get free for four catches and led the team with 61 receiving yards, including the Chiefs’ first touchdown of the game.

Worthy still has a long way to go before he can truly become what Tyreek Hill once was for this team, but at the moment he’s being used exactly as people thought he would when the Chiefs drafted him with what was originally a Buffalo Bills first-round draft slot.

It’s easy to point out the mistakes over the past few weeks, but with the way that Coach Andy Reid and Mahomes were able to get him the ball early, it appears his value on the team is only going to go up.

Game Ball #3: Chamarri Conner

Much like Worthy, it’s easy to point out the mistakes that led to points for Buffalo, but Conner has been proving time and again that he possesses a vision that other young corners in the league just don’t have yet.

His interception on 4th down set up the Chiefs near the red zone and allowed them to score before halftime, making it a 14-13 game before Buffalo kicked a last second field goal before the clock struck 0:00.

Not only that, despite two big missed tackles, Conner led the team in tackles (8) with seven being solo tackles (also a team-high).

Add in the fact that he had a tackle for a loss and a pass deflection on a big third down play, and it’s becoming a game of silver linings for the second-year corner out of Virginia Tech.