The Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Buffalo Bills, 28-21, on Sunday afternoon to drop to 5-4 on the season.

Here are some quick notes from the loss.

1. The Chiefs overcame immense adversity to still have a chance in the end.

Kansas City, which was trailing by 15 points early in the fourth quarter, appeared to be on the ropes when faced with a 4th-and-17 near midfield. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes kept the Chiefs' chances alive, however, when he found wide receiver Rashee Rice for a 29-yard gain to move the chains.

The Chiefs then narrowed the deficit to just seven points soon after with a touchdown and successful two-point try, putting themselves firmly back in the game. The defense came up with a critical stop, too, when linebacker Leo Chenal sacked Bills' quarterback Josh Allen and forced a Buffalo punt with plenty of time remaining.

Kansas City's rally ultimately fell short, but the Chiefs gave themselves a chance. The key moving forward will be about turning those chances into wins, as Kansas City has now dropped four one-score games this season.

"We've had great moments, and we've had bad moments. We have to be more consistent as a team, and I have to be more consistent as a quarterback," Mahomes said. "We have to be able to battle. We've been in all these tight, close games in our history, but they're not going our way right now, so how do we deal with that adversity? How do we [get] better and learn from it? It will be an uphill battle when we get back, but I think our guys are up for it."

2. Wide receiver Rashee Rice found the end zone for the fourth time in three games.

Rice continued his strong start to the season on Sunday with 86 scrimmage yards and a touchdown on six total touches. Rice's score – a 3-yard rush on a direct snap – marked his fourth touchdown in three games this year.

The third-year wide receiver leads the Chiefs in targets (26), catches (20), scrimmage yards (233) and scrimmage touchdowns (4) since making his season-debut in Week 7.

3. The Bills' tight ends combined to rack up 149 yards through the air.

Buffalo's tight ends – the trio of Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox and Jackson Hawes – combined to haul in eight catches for 149 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. That tally included some big plays, too. Kincaid, in particular, caught a 23-yard touchdown (on third down) on the Bills' opening series before recording a 47-yard grab that set up another touchdown a bit later.

Knox and Hawes, meanwhile, each recorded a catch for double-digit yardage in the game.

The Chiefs' defense remains the No. 3 scoring unit in the NFL, but now with an extended opportunity to examine what went wrong on Sunday, the Chiefs' struggles vs. Buffalo's tight ends will be something Kansas City needs to correct.

4. The disparity between the two teams on third down turned out to be the difference.

Third down – on both sides of the ball – is obviously one of the key indicators of success in any game, and Sunday's matchup was no different. The Bills went 7-for-12 on third down on Sunday while the Chiefs went just 3-for-13, representing one of the clear differences in the game.

Those struggles were in contrast to the last five weeks, where Kansas City – since Week 4 – ranked seventh in the NFL offensively on third down (45.8%). Part of the issue on Sunday was the Chiefs' performance on first down, as Kansas City gained three or fewer yards on 11 of its 23 first-down snaps.

5. Buffalo managed to make a few more plays than Kansas City in the end.

Football often comes down to just a handful of plays, and to the Bills' credit, they made a few more than the Chiefs did on Sunday. Buffalo had the edge on third down (as noted above) and in the red zone, where the Bills went 3-for-3 (to Kansas City's 2-for-3) in terms of touchdown efficiency.

It simply wasn't the Chiefs' best game on either side of the ball, although Kansas City deserves credit for fighting back and nearly overcoming those struggles in the end. It wasn't enough on Sunday, but the Chiefs will now enter the bye week with an opportunity to recharge and get healthy before attacking the second half of the year.