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Lori

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Lori All Pro

Lori

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KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (5-3) AT BUFFALO BILLS (3-5)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2005 – 1:00 PM ET

RALPH WILSON STADIUM, ORCHARD PARK, NY

CBS: Kevin Harlan and Randy Cross

 

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Buffalo leads, 18-16-1. The Chiefs are 1-8 all-time at Rich/Ralph Wilson Stadium, including 0-2 in the playoffs.

 

PLAYOFF RECORD: Buffalo leads, 2-1.

 

LAST MEETING: October 26, 2003 – Chiefs 38, Bills 5

The infamous “Kansas City Massacre”, another in the string of recent prime-time flameouts by Buffalo. Believe it or not, the Bills were actually ahead at one point; after forcing a three-and-out on KC’s first possession, Pierson Prioleau blocked a punt through the end zone for a 2-0 lead. That lasted only slightly longer than Dante Hall’s 67-yard touchdown catch-and-run on the Chiefs’ next drive, though, and the rout was on. The halftime score was 28-5; after four second-half possessions all ended in turnovers (two INTs, a fourth-down sack, and a sack/fumble), Drew Bledsoe made way for Alex Van Pelt, who promptly threw two picks of his own.

 

The Chiefs improved to 8-0 with the win, while Buffalo dropped to 4-4 heading into their bye week.

 

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: December 22, 1996 – Bills 20, Chiefs 9

Bruce Smith had seen enough.

 

After watching the offense stumble its way to two first-half turnovers and a 6-3 halftime deficit in a win-or-go-home game - a score which could have been worse without two inspired goal-line stands by the Bills defense - the frustrated DE decided it was time to remind his teammates about the importance of holding on to the ball:

“I’m not a very outspoken person until the time comes. When something needs to be said, I step up and look at myself as (one of the) oldest and most experienced guys on the team, and most of the guys look up to me as a leader, and sometimes things like that have to be said. If I step on somebody’s toes, I’m not sorry about it because it’s the truth and it hurts.”

 

One can only imagine what Smith thought when rookie WR Eric Moulds promptly fumbled away the second-half kickoff, giving Kansas City the ball at the Buffalo 27. The D held yet again, though, and another short Pete Stoyanovich FG made the score 9-3 Chiefs.

“We just refused to let them in. We couldn’t let them in. There were a whole bunch of other teams going home after today, we didn’t want to be one of them. I want to be in the playoffs and so does everyone else in this locker room. I don’t want to talk about it anymore, let’s just do what has to be done.”

 

After that, it was all Buffalo. Smith sacked Steve Bono and forced a fumble (recovered by Hansen) to give the Bills the ball at midfield; the offense finally showed some semblance of life, driving to a 42-yard Steve Christie FG to cut the lead to 9-6. The D forced a Kansas City punt on their next series, and the offense went back to work; six plays and 72 yards later, reserve TE Tony Cline pulled in a four-yard Jim Kelly pass for the go-ahead touchdown. Interceptions by Chris Spielman and Marlo Perry, sandwiched around a short Kelly-to-Quinn Early TD, helped the Bills lock up the top wild-card berth and knock the Chiefs out of the playoffs for the first time since 1989.

 

Few of us realized it at the time, but this would be Kelly’s final regular-season game, and the last of his 110 wins as the Bills’ starting QB.

 

OVERVIEW

(NOTE: For an excellent position-by-position breakdown from a Chiefs fan's point of view, check out cmh6476's thread if you haven't already done so.)

OFFENSE: (#7 in total offense, #7 rushing, #10 passing, #8 points scored)

Obviously, the big news here is yesterday’s announcement that Kansas City’s all-time leading rusher, Priest Holmes, will miss the rest of the season with a “bruise in the spinal canal”. Losing a player of Holmes’ caliber is tough no matter what, but the Chiefs have Larry Johnson ready - and more than willing - to pick up the bulk of the workload.

(I’ve been watching L.J. ever since he suited up for the State College H.S. ‘Little Lions’; his attitude has always been, the more carries the better.) Johnson won’t give KC quite as much versatility out of the backfield as Holmes did - few RBs in the league would - but he’s stronger between the tackles than Holmes, hard to bring down in the open field, and faster than you’d expect.

While the Chiefs signed Dee Brown to fill Holmes’ roster spot, I’d sooner expect to see fullback Tony Richardson slide to RB when L.J. needs a break. He’s done the job before, and is also a better-than-average receiver.

 

While he might not be the best in the league any more, there are very few TEs I’d rather have than the Chiefs’ all-time leader in receptions, Tony Gonzalez. ‘Gonzo’ is always a matchup problem for the Bills; I fully expect him to get the 26 yards he needs to pass WR Otis Taylor for the team yardage record on Sunday. The other TE, Jason Dunn, is mostly used as a blocker but did account for 3 receiving TDs last year.

 

Eddie Kennison mans one WR slot, but the Chiefs haven’t adequately replaced Johnnie Morton on the other side. Chris Horn will probably start again this week while Samie Parker continues to recover from a sprained knee, with Marc Boerigter also seeing some time. Special-teams standout Dante Hall is dangerous whenever he touches the ball, but they’d probably prefer to limit his plays on offense to keep him fresh for his kick-return duties.

 

Perennial Pro Bowl LT Willie Roaf has been in and out of the lineup with a bad hamstring this season. Sounds like he’s probably out again this week, so RT Jordan Black will get another start on the left side. Black, Kevin Sampson, Chris Bober, and John Welbourn have all started games at RT this year; we’ll most likely see Welbourn, who has far more starting experience at tackle than any of the other options.

The tackle situation may be in flux, but the interior linemen are set – they’ve started every game together since partway through the 2001 season. Flanking underrated C Casey Wiegmann are guards Brian Waters and Will Shields, two of the best you’ll find anywhere in the league. Ten-time Pro Bowler (and future Hall of Famer) Shields will make his 200th consecutive start this weekend; only Brett Favre has a longer active streak.

 

For some reason, Trent Green isn’t mentioned very often when the discussion turns to top QBs. All he does is continue to quietly stack up some impressive numbers despite the lack of A-list receivers on the roster; only Peyton Manning has thrown for more yards since the 2001 season.

While still ranked in the top ten, the passing game hasn’t been up to its usual high standards this year - Roaf’s absence means more max-protect calls (and fewer opportunities for Gonzalez), and the WRs are having trouble getting open downfield, forcing Green to hold the ball longer than he’s accustomed to.

 

DEFENSE: (#28 in total defense, #8 rushing, #31 passing, #22 points against)

Better against the run than last season, giving up 4.1 yards/carry (down from 4.6) and only 4 rushing TDs through week 9. The lack of a consistent pass rush isn’t helping the revamped secondary, though – opposing QBs have thrown 16 TD passes, on track to match last year’s total of 32.

 

KC found a second-day steal in the 2004 draft - fourth-round pick DE Jared Allen led the team (and all NFL rookies) with 9 sacks last season, and is on pace to better that this year. Carlos Hall came over in an offseason trade with Tennessee, but he’s been unable to knock either Allen or LE Eric Hicks out of the starting lineup. With Ryan Sims out, Lional Dalton starts next to John Browning at DT.

 

MLB Kawika Mitchell is the only returning starter at ‘backer. Monty Beisel and Scott Fujita are gone, replaced by FA signee Kendrell Bell and 2004 first-round pick Derrick Johnson. Definite upgrade – as long as Bell can stay healthy, all three have sideline-to-sideline ability.

 

After finishing dead last in pass defense last season, the Chiefs traded for Patrick Surtain and signed SS Sammy Knight to help shore up the leaky secondary. The DBs have been hit by the injury bug, though – CBs Surtain (knee), Dexter McCleon (groin), and Eric Warfield (hip) are all listed as questionable this week, and reserve S Jerome Woods has already been ruled out. Veteran CB Dewayne Washington, signed for depth during the offseason, started in Surtain's spot last week. FS Greg Wesley leads the team with 3 INTs.

 

SPECIAL TEAMS:

Kicker Lawrence Tynes came south from Ottawa of the CFL, so he’s seen inclement weather before. (Of course, neither he nor rookie punter Dustin Colquitt has ever kicked in the swirling winds of Ralph Wilson Stadium. Current forecast for Sunday: temps in the 50s, thundershowers, winds in excess of 20mph.) Tynes is having a good year – he’s only missed two FGs (one of which was blocked), is 5-6 from 40 and beyond, and leads the AFC with 68 points.

Colquitt is a left-footer, as was the Jets’ Ben Graham. Something to note if Roscoe Parrish is returning punts for Buffalo this Sunday: he faced Colquitt twice in college, totaling 4 returns – 68 yds, (15.2 average).

 

As usual, Dante Hall handles punt/kickoff return duty for the Chiefs. His 2005 numbers don’t put him in his customary spot among the league leaders, but he’s still a threat to take any kick the other way for six. The punt-cover team is adequate (8.2 avg), but the kickoff-coverage squad is giving up over 25 yards per return.

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OUTLOOK:

The Chiefs arrive in Buffalo fresh off a big win against their hated rivals, the Raiders. Coach Dick Vermeil showed confidence in his offense – or perhaps not so much in his defense? – by forsaking the tying FG for a last-second Larry Johnson dive into the end zone.

Wow, was I scared! I just figured, “I’m too old to wait.”

One wonders what play the Buffalo coaches would have called in the same situation… most likely kicked the field goal, or maybe run something in a double-reverse?

 

If the Bills want us to believe they’re still capable of a playoff run, they must win this game. Some keys to doing that:

-Figuring out how to stop Kansas City’s strong inside running game, with a defense that spent the first half of the season making opposing RBs look like Jim Brown.

-Covering Gonzalez. If McGee’s good to go, I think he and Clements can more than hold their own vs. the KC wideouts. Some semblance of a pass rush (without resorting to blitzing on every play) would be helpful here, since Milloy will probably be playing the run most of the day.

-Giving Holcomb enough time to take some shots downfield. I believe Moulds and Evans can get open, but that won’t matter if the ball never gets there. Should be interesting to see how the O-line shuffle plays out. (Something tells me they might not have made the switch this week if they were facing a team with a better pass rush, but I still have visions of Mike Williams missing a line call and Holcomb getting plastered as a result…)

-Finding the end zone. Halfway through the season, the Bills have 11 offensive touchdowns. How bad is that? The team record for fewest touchdowns in a 16-game season is held by the 2-14 1985 squad, with 23. Yeah. That bad.

 

The Bills can win this game, but it will take their best effort of the season to pull it off. But hey, that’s just my opinion… I could be wrong...

 

(Apologies to Dennis Miller.)

Seeya in Lot 1 Sunday morning. Go Bills.

 

Links:

NFL.com: injury report / Chiefs depth chart /Chiefs team stats

Ourlads.com: Chiefs depth chart

Official team website: KCChiefs.com

Weather.com forecast for Ralph Wilson Stadium

 

(Bruce Smith/Phil Hansen quotes are from Shout! magazine, Vol. VI, No. 22; December 28, 1996.)

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Lori All Pro

Lori

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'Bout damn time, slacker!  :wacko:

499839[/snapback]

Sat down to type just about the time that nasty storm went through yesterday, and spent a good chunk of the evening without power. (Maybe somebody was trying to tell me something? :lol:)

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The Dean Hall of Famer

The Dean

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Great job (of course). I have a good feeling about Sunday...so that probably means we're doomed. Every one of the bastards on Inside the NFL picked Buffalo. I HATE when that happens.

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KD in CA Hall of Famer

KD in CA

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Great job (of course).  I have a good feeling about Sunday...so that probably means we're doomed. Every one of the bastards on Inside the NFL picked Buffalo.  I HATE when that happens.

500366[/snapback]

 

If it makes you feel better, Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo picked the Bills. ;)

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AKC Veteran

AKC

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KC found a second-day steal in the 2004 draft - fourth-round pick DE Jared Allen led the team (and all NFL rookies) with 9 sacks last season, and is on pace to better that this year.

499831[/snapback]

 

I assume we'll try to get Gandy some help on that side on any 5 or 7 step passes. Considering the futility of our RBs blocking skills in the pass game Mark Campbell might spend a lot of time to his side on Sunday.

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Lori All Pro

Lori

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I don't know if any of this is plagarized or not but this is good stuff.

500791[/snapback]

The quotes from Smith, Hansen, and Vermeil are duly noted as such. Everything else is mine, and I resent anyone implying otherwise.

 

Regards,

Lori

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