PAIN: Brandon Beane's vision for the 2025 Buffalo Bills comes to life in Mahomes beatdown

Did Buffalo crack the code? Joey Bosa to Maxwell Hairston to Cole Bishop, this was a damn good night for the team's general manager. Here's our column from Highmark Stadium.

ORCHARD PARK, NY — He loves playing for the Buffalo Bills. He loves living in Western New York. This union has been everything Joey Bosa dreamt of when he signed in the spring. Every time he speaks to reporters, Bosa expresses how genuinely happy he is at this point of his career.

For good reason. On Sunday night, he was a man possessed. He terrorized Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs throughout a 28-21 win that made his heart feel “100 years old.” He couldn’t wait to slip into the cold tub. “My body’s feeling like a frickin’ old man,” Bosa said, “which I am.” And once the throng of cameras departed to another one of this night’s heroes, this old man revealed one of his fears.

It’s November now. He can feel a chill in the air.

After soaking up the rays for nine years on the west coast with the Chargers, Bosa knows it’s about to get real. He has already hired someone to plow his driveway. He purchased an ice scraper for the first time. Back at college, in Columbus, Bosa used a credit card to chip away at the thin layer of ice on his windshield. That won’t fly anymore.

“I’m scared,” Bosa admits. “I’m scared of what’s to come.”

Blizzards and freezing temps are inevitable. But as the calendar flips closer to February, the 6-foot-5, 280-pound defensive end just may be everything this team’s been missing in the winter months. Bosa was a menace at Highmark Stadium, supplying five of Buffalo’s remarkable 15 hits of Mahomes. I get it. Buffalo’s been here before. This marks this organization’s fifth straight regular-season win over Kansas City. All while the same Mahomes-, Andy Reid-, Travis Kelce-powered machine has gone 4-0 when it matters most: the playoffs.

Yet this night? The vision of a general manager brought to life.

This is exactly what Brandon Beane imagined when he went all, all, all in on bolstering Buffalo’s defense. “I know it can be done,” the GM told Go Long in a 1 on 1. “I’ve seen it. I’ve witnessed it.” He referenced his Carolina roots, pointing to the teams that made Super Bowls in 2003 and 2015. That is how he wanted to maximize Josh Allen’s prime — by fixing a defense that hasn’t come close to making this era’s greatest talent (Mahomes) uncomfortable in the playoffs. That is exactly how the Philadelphia Eagles humiliated the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. “That wasn’t a revelation,” Beane told me. “If that game didn’t happen, I already knew what we needed to do.”

Sunday night’s annual rematch was bound to put Beane’s big swing on trial.

For better or worse, we’d see if panning a magnifying glass over the defense was the correct move.

And through another round of injuries, the GM was vindicated. Again. This roster has always been talented enough to beat the Chiefs. We’ll see if the coaching can hold up in 2 1/2 months, but this is how you’ve got to slay the king once and for all. Mahomes was a mess. His 44.1 completion percentage was the worst of his career. He was never able to break the dam for his signature scrambles, managing only one carry for five yards. He threw one interception and no touchdowns.

Buffalo pressured Mahomes on 52.6 percent of his dropbacks, which was 14.3 percent higher than any of their nine previous Chiefs matchups since 2020, per NextGen Stats. On those plays, the QB went an abysmal 3 of 16 for 61 yards.

All while Josh Allen set a Bills record for completion percentage (88.5 percent).

It’s not rocket science. You don’t need to purchase Bill Belichick’s latest book. How you make quarterbacks look human in 2025 is how any team wrecks any Hall of Famer in any era. Take a quick look at how teams managed to steal rings during the reign of the previous gold standard (Tom Brady) — Aaron Rodgers’ Packers, Peyton Manning’s Colts, Drew Brees’ Saints — and the Bills’ moves make perfect sense.

Getty Images

Finally, the Bills brought a level of violence to this rivalry.

They didn’t play timid or passive in any sense.

When Mahomes got cute near the sideline, pulling up to launch a pass deep, A.J. Epenesa lowered the boom. This might be the hardest Mahomes has ever been hit. When Kelce glided through the middle of end zone, safety Cole Bishop made him pay. The second-year safety tattooed the 36-year-old’s midsection with a vicious right shoulder. These are the collisions that make players think twice about prancing freely around a football field. Players repeated that the plan was to stay disciplined in their rush lanes and pin Mahomes inside the pocket. Easier said than done obviously. His best plays this season have been off script.

The twist this time ‘round, Epenesa notes, is that Buffalo wanted Mahomes to think he had openings to run before swiftly slamming that door shut.

Practically all of the GM’s decisions paid off this game.

There was no escape… thanks to Bosa and a refurbished D-Line.

There were few plays made deep… thanks to Beane’s 60th overall pick in 2024 (Bishop) and 30th overall pick in ’25 (Maxwell Hairston).

Not too long ago, Bishop was the most loathed player on the roster with this fan base. Anxiety reached its apex in August. All he’s done since is sharpen into the quintessential modern safety. The NFL has legislated headhunters out of the game, but there’s still a sweet spot for enforcers. Safeties can still drill the midsection. Safeties can still make plays on the ball with aggression. Bishop totaled four pass breakups in all. On fourth and 3, he was tasked with covering Rashee Rice 1 on 1 in the slot and punched the ball away with an outstretched left hand. On the second-to-last Mahomes heave, he leapt in the end zone to swat away a potential TD to Tyquan Thornton while avoiding a penalty. An extremely athletic play.

Teammates say they see Bishop talking to veteran Jordan Poyer nonstop through the facility.

Added McDermott: “I felt Cole out there. Making big plays. You could sense his speed and he was popping some people out there. That’s the journey of a young player who’s taking steps in the right direction.”

Hairston’s night was equally impressive.

This was the rookie’s second career game, and he knew he’d be pitted 1 on 1 against Xavier Worthy. The fastest man in Combine history mustered only 23 receiving yards on seven targets. On an island, Hairston stuck with Worthy stride for stride when Mahomes launched one bomb. From the moment the Chiefs acquired Buffalo’s pick to select Worthy, locals feared this 4.21 speed running circles around their defenses. Worthy was a problem in the AFC title game, too.

Hairston is the rare corner who can keep up without any assistance.

Like any good corner, he’s got the right amount of cockiness, too. Leading up to this one, the 22-year-old said he couldn’t wait to pick off Mahomes. He then backed it up with four minutes to go. Bosa smacked the QB up front. Hairston high-pointed the pick. Two players who weren’t around for that AFC Championship loss a year ago stepped up.

Hairston knew this route was coming. Before halftime, he said Kansas City sent two two receivers on post routes out of this look… before breaking one of ‘em off to the corner.

So he simply stayed in his deep third, anticipated the post-corner and made the play.

“I look up, I see that ball floating and I’m like, ‘Yo, this is me! Ain’t no 50/50!’” Hairston says. “So just trusting what I saw man and went and got that thing.”

Getty Images

The Bills drafted him for this ability to shadow the game’s speed demons. Hairston ran a 4.28 himself at the Combine so, no, he wasn’t intimidated by Worthy’s speed. He viewed this matchup as an Olympic showdown — “Come on, line it up!” — with its own intricacies. When Hairston closely studied Worthy on tape during the week, he picked up on many valuable clues.

Hairston could tell when Worthy was getting the ball or not based on his body language alone.

“Finding a difference in his posture and his effort for real — when he knows he’s not getting it, when it’s a run,” Hairston said. “So just applying what I saw from the film room and taking it out to the field.

“There are tells that everybody gives. It’s just about finding it.”

Three weeks ago, the Bills defense appeared be in crisis mode after surrendering 335 yards in the first half to the Atlanta Falcons. Scrutiny directed toward this GM and head coach was about as loud as its been since 2023.

After batting around Mahomes, this unit’s confidence is now soaring.

When I point out to Hairston that many constituents weren’t thrilled with this roster construction, he doesn’t hold back.

“Honestly, this defense is one of the best defenses in the NFL. I stand on that,” Hairston says. “We play as a brotherhood. That’s what the difference is. We really trust one another to do our jobs and just give full effort. I love these guys, man. They love me.”

The win came at a costly price. One week after losing Ed Oliver to a torn bicep, the Bills lost Michael Hoecht to a torn Achilles. A massive blow. In his only two games, Hoecht was a wildly disruptive presence along the defensive line in Buffalo’s “Joker” and “Penny” packages.

Perhaps Bosa is the pass rusher the Bills thought Von Miller would be in January.

He’s six years younger and showed more bite this night than Miller ever did after his torn ACL.

“I know the kind of player I am,” Bosa said. “I’m not out there to prove anything. I’m out there to win games and help this team win any way possible and that’s my only goal.”

Offensively, the Bills didn’t get much production out of their wide receivers but it didn’t matter. Kincaid asserted himself as this team’s No. 1 weapon, James Cook thrashed through the Chiefs’ front and Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo had zero answers for Joe Brady’s unpredictable playcalling. Ten different players caught a pass, four of which logged receptions of 20+ yards. Explosives were in ample supply.

There may come a day when the Bills need a big day out of a wide receiver.

Keon Coleman has been a major disappointment 1 ½ seasons in. No sugarcoating that.

By January? Spags may devise a plan that eliminates Kincaid and forces Coleman or Joshua Palmer or Curtis Samuel to be the difference. This night, however, Allen was in total command and kept Kansas City off-balance with play action. Honestly, this game should’ve never boiled down to a pair of end-zone heaves. Buffalo was in total command, up 28-13 in the fourth quarter. Mahomes converted one fourth and 17 to draw KC closer and Matt Prater doinked a 52-yard field goal that handed the Chiefs the ball back at midfield with 22 seconds.

In retrospect, letting Allen make a play on third and 7 with 1:11 remaining might’ve been a better call than ramming the ball into a brick wall to melt clock.

But give McDermott this.

He didn’t sit back in prevent on the final play. He sent five rushers to send Mahomes backward. Forced to one-arm sling a prayer from his own 44, even Mahomes couldn’t get the ball into the end zone.

McDermott has been more involved with the defensive playcalling, and the results are promising.

A year ago, the Bills found their killer instinct against the Chiefs in the regular season with a key fourth-down gamble. This time, maybe they found the right blend of defensive personnel and playcalling.

Epenesa has been in town since this rivalry began in 2020. The Bills realize just how steep that AFC mountain is every time they face Kansas City.

“They’re talented everywhere,” Epenesa said. “Their O-Line is solid. Running backs, run hard. One of the best quarterbacks in the league, and when they’re putting together drives and scoring points at will, that’s tough to defend at any time.”

What makes this edition of the Bills any different than the past ones who lost when it’s do or die?

Epenesa cited the team’s approach.

“Everyone wants to try to make this game bigger than it really is — and they want to make it the Super Bowl — but it’s only Week Seven, Eight,” he said. “So I mean, that was the narrative all week. And to me it’s just Week Eight and we’ve got to win Week Eight, so we can go to Week Nine and so on. So I think that’s kind of the mentality of this team this year.”

Err… something like that.

Epenesa is informed that this was actually Week 9.

“See, I don’t even know what week it is,” he added. “I think that helps my point a little bit.”

Refreshing perspective. Seasons past, the Bills might’ve gotten too wrapped up in wins and losses this time of year. Treating a Week 9 game in November or a conference championship in January with the same laser-beam focus helps.

But it’s also on the GM to make all the right moves in March and April.

This Chiefs win was a strong indicator that Beane knew what he was up to all along.

Secure that ice scraper, Joey.

Winter is coming.