Two Bills Drive

‘COACHING — The Bills’ offensive game plan was sound, until the red zone (just three run calls out of 15 plays). Jerry Gray had defense ready, but his unit wilted at crunch time. The onsides kick call was strong but 13 penalties marred Gregg Williams’ Missouri homecoming. C’

‘Holmes ripped off runs of 15, 12, 8 and 9 yards in the final 4 minutes, moving the chains, consuming clock and forcing the Bills to use their remaining two time outs. Holmes finished the day with 104 yards and his second consecutive 1,000-yard season. He also scored the Chiefs’ first touchdown in the opening quarter.’

‘”I tried to let Drew think that he was open,” Warfield said. “I kind of knew (Price’s) speed from covering him the rest of the game. I figured he wasn’t that fast to run past me.”‘

‘Although it can hardly be classified as a breakout game, Morton did catch three passes for 52 yards. He now has 19 receptions for 254 yards for the season. Morton’s running mate, Eddie Kennison, added three catches for 93 yards and set up the Chiefs’ first score by hauling in Trent Green’s 44-yard bomb down the left sideline.’

‘One week after several dubious calls helped steal a game from the Chiefs, an officiating crew handed Kansas City a victory with a plethora of questionable flags.’

‘Green’s 9-yard touchdown run gave the Chiefs a precarious 17-16 lead, and his 12-yard scramble on third and 6 with just more than 2 minutes remaining preserved it.’

‘”The Chiefs did a good job knowing that we’ve got some big playmakers on the edges, and those are the areas we can counter by running the football and trying to get us some single coverage and big plays down the field. We had a few shots; we didn’t make the play today.”‘

‘He never said a word. Priest Holmes doesn’t talk in the huddle. All game long, he never once said, “Man, I’m tired,” or “Block for me, guys,” or “Give me the ball,” or “I can’t feel my left arm.” He never said a word. He never does. “This is you again, Priest,” Chiefs quarterback Trent Green said.’

‘You wouldn’t blame the Buffalo Bills for seeing red after Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs.’

‘The Bills tried an onside kick in the second quarter after kicking a field goal that cut their deficit to 7-3. They were rewarded for their boldness when Charles Johnson recovered. Buffalo used the resulting field position to move for another field goal. The Bills went after Lyle West, who retreated too quickly from his position on the right side of the Chiefs’ front. “I went down a couple steps and tried to come back, but by that time it was too late,” West said. “It was a good call on their part.’

‘Trailing 16-10 and needing to win to remain on the edge of the playoff picture, the Chiefs drove 78 yards — aided by 44 yards on two controversial penalties against the Bills — to score the winning touchdown with 4:53 remaining.’

‘The most maligned player on the NFL’s most criticized defense came through with a game-breaking play to help keep the playoff hopes alive for the Kansas City Chiefs.’

‘Replays and referees were hardly helpful to the visiting Buffalo Bills in their 17-16 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday in Arrowhead Stadium.’

‘”What they did is they went man-to-man underneath and we had it isolated over there,” Green said. “They ended up doubling Tony (Gonzalez) and Dante (Hall) was one-on-one and was going to come underneath and the guy just grabbed him. I came back backside and looked for my check-down with Priest and they were on him one-on-one and so there was just a lane for me to go.”‘

‘”The Buffalo Bills defensive backs did a wonderful job supporting the run,” said Holmes, who finished with 104 yards on 31 carries. “But when you have a good running game, you’re always running downhill at those guys and they revert to who they really are. They like to defend the pass and not the run.”‘