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The Kansas City Chiefs might not make the playoffs. No one would have conceived of it after starting 5-0, but that is their reality as the season heads into its final full month. And the Buffalo Bills, written off by many in a recent funk and after watching rookie quarterback Nathan Peterman throw away the game last week, literally, with five first-half interceptions, are very much alive in the AFC Wild-Card race.

That's how it goes in the NFL.

A week after being benched against all odds, Tyrod Taylor led the Bills to their biggest win of the Sean McDermott/Brandon Beane era, at the expense of the coach's mentor, Andy Reid, who suddenly finds himself unable to find a collection of plays to provide any joy in the running or passing game. Alex Smith, generating (super-premature) MVP hype back in October now looks every bit like the limited, game-manager he has so long been labeled as, and the Chiefs, with five losses in their last six games, now must try to cling to a postseason berth, where once some were murmuring about when they'd ever lose a football game.

This game at Arrowhead Stadium was going to be a referendum on one of these teams in turmoil, and it turns out the Bills mustered the fortitude and passion to rally around Taylor after a third-straight embarrassing defeat last week, finally finding a way to stop the run again and leading the Chiefs for most of the day. I've said it before and I will say it again – you can do a helluva lot worse than Taylor in this league, he can win with a little around him and be a winning quarterback. He's clearly not Buffalo's QB of the future, and I still expect him to be dealt in the offseason … but he just might sneak the into the playoffs before then.

I'm a Taylor guy, and this gutsy performance against the Chiefs, while not flashy, was vintage Taylor. He completed 19 of 29 passes for 183 yards and a vital, perfect touchdown strike to rookie Zay Jones. And, as he almost always does, Taylor protected the football. Smith is a similar player with a similar mindset – but is less of a play maker than Taylor, is aging, and, lately, he's been turning it over far too much than usual. And this offense isn't making any player at all, much less enough to overcome giveaways.

Smith's pick came on third-and-seven with the Chiefs desperate for a final rally, and it ended another dink-and-dunk-fest from him. As I reported on Sunday, the Chiefs coaches are not entertaining any thoughts of a quarterback change – some there doubt they would even go to rookie Pat Mahomes if the team falls out of playoff contention – though they could not be more enthused about what they see from the young man and I'd be stunned if Smith isn't dealt at the combine with Mahomes their starter in 2018. (Personally, I'd be getting Mahomes reps in practice and would be bracing for this switch, but my reporting indicates that won't be the case anytime soon).

Kansas City needs some answers on offense, ASAP.

Through the first five weeks of the season, when they were undefeated, Smith was the highest-rated passer in the league (125.8 rating) with 11 TDs, no picks and completing over 70 percent of his passes, and he was averaging 8.8 yards per attempt – suddenly a gunslinger. Since then, it's a totally different story, with the Chiefs averaging just 18 points per game in their 1-5 tailspin. Smith is just 136-for-247 for 1,681 yards (6.8 yards per attempt, a huge drop-off with 9 TDs, 5 INTs and a woeful rating of 80.04).

Remember Kareem Hunt? No one talking about him as the rookie of the year, or even the best rookie back, lately. Hunt was unstoppable in the first five weeks, with 609 yards on the ground (122/game with five 100-yard games. In six games since, he has amassed just 281 rushing yards (47 per game) and Sunday, against a Bills run defense that has been brutally awful this month, he had 11 carries for 17 yards.

The offense is broken. All of that team speed seems lost, with the Chiefs lacking pace and tempo and explosive plays. The season is in the balance. A trip to the Jets next week is no lay-up, and then they face the Raiders before hosting the Chargers in what could be the deciding factor in the AFC West race. The loss to the Bills is a potential huge head-to-head tiebreaker for Buffalo over Kansas City. Look out.

Around the league

Cleveland Browns

The Browns did it. They completed a 48-game stretch with just four victories, and they are nearing a calendar year between victories. They are 1-26 the last two years. And since their near tie with the Titans a month ago, the Browns have lost four straight games by multiple scores (at least 12 points per loss, actually). They are now one of only two teams in NFL history to start successive seasons 0-11.

New England Patriots

Gotta love the Patriots, who will go for your throat at any point. Belichick fakes a punt from his own 10 on the first drive of the game, goes on to score a touchdown and the rout of the Dolphins was on. New England got sloppy in the second half and still blew out a division rival. Fair to ask if the Patriots will lose again this regular season (Pittsburgh is looming in a few weeks, on CBS) and whether the Dolphins will win again.

Cincinnati Bengals

If the Bengals are going to truly get back in the AFC Wild-Card hunt, they should keep riding rookie back Joe Mixon He was the best player on the field in the win over Cleveland and racked up nearly 170 combined yards and looks fresh for the stretch run.

Denver Broncos

Denver's wide receivers have to be among the most disappointing position groups in the entire NFL. Yeah, they don't have an NFL starting QB on the roster right now. But they do have mega millions tied up in pass catchers who far too often fail to do anything of note to help their novice and/or overwhelmed quarterbacks out. They drop balls and give up on routes and run the wrong route and don't fight hard enough for the ball at times. Broncos look like a team that should probably tear it down and rebuild, but still have a lot of guys making a lot of money.

Tennessee Titans

Remain utterly unimpressed with the Titans, but I have to give them credit for finding ways to beat bad teams. That alone can get you to the playoffs in the AFC this season.

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers defense continues to roll, and it's impossible not to be impressed by the work of the coaching staff there. Top notch. Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who has stepped in to McDermott's old role, is going to get heavy consideration for head coaching jobs, and Carolina's highly-regarded linebacker coach, Al Holcomb, is going to be a coveted defensive coordinator both internally (should Wilks get a head coaching job elsewhere) and externally. Best of all for him, he has played out his contract and is essentially a coaching free-agent at season's end, giving him leverage and maximum flexibility. Well played.

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings defense is going to make some coaches some money, too. Tremendous unit all around and esteemed defensive backs coach Jerry Gray is doing great stuff with that unit. Gray has plenty of former coordinator experience and is another free agent at season's end who should have plenty of options as well.