Bills vs. Chiefs Sunday, November 23, 2008 12:00 PM
1 2 3 4 Total Bills 7 23 17 7 54 Chiefs 7 10 7 7 31 Final

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by Bob Gretz

When a team is struggling through the type of season the Chiefs are living with in 2008, they simply can’t help the other team on Sunday afternoon and expect to have any chance to win the game. The Chiefs turned the ball over five times and that led to 20 points for Buffalo, more than enough to allow the Bills to leave Arrowhead Stadium with a 54-31 victory.

Those giveaways combined with the inability of the Chiefs defense to slow down the Bills offensive attack were the building blocks of Buffalo’s sixth victory of the season. By the end of the game, QB Trent Edwards had run for two touchdowns and thrown a pair of TD passes in leading the Buffalo offense to 444 yards and five TDs. Buffalo’s other touchdown came thanks to one of those Kansas City turnovers, as rookie CB Leodis McKelvin picked off a pass by QB Tyler Thigpen and returned it 64 yards to the end zone. K Rian Lindell added four field goals for the Bills, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

Thigpen tied a career high with three TD passes in this game, but also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. RB Jamaal Charles had a touchdown catch, but he also had a fumble that led to Buffalo points. The Chiefs offense had a season-high 462 yards of total offense and topped the 30-plateau for the second time this season, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the points they gave way on turnovers.

After Buffalo won the coin toss and deferred their choice to the second half, the Chiefs took the ball on an impressive 80-yard TD drive. Thigpen was four of five in the drive, hitting Johnson for eight yards and TE Tony Gonzalez for back-to-back throws of four and 19 yards. The score came on a pretty 36-yard hookup between Thigpen and Charles, who lined up as a wide receiver. Charles got behind Buffalo LB Kawika Mitchell and was wide open at the 10-yard line as he made the catch. The rookie then made a nice move to get away from Mitchell and score the first receiving TD of his career to give Kansas City a 7-0 lead.

The Bills came right back and tied the score thanks largely to their running game. RB Marshawn Lynch had runs of three, 11, six, one and a final one-yard gain on a fourth-and-goal for the TD to cap the nine-play, 61-yard drive. After a Chiefs punt, Buffalo started a 10-play drive at the end of the first period that pushed them to a first-and-goal situation at the Chiefs three-yard line. However, the KC defense held and forced the Bills to settle for a 21-yard K Rian Lindell FG that gave the Bills a 10-7 lead.

But Kansas City promptly answered three plays later with a go-ahead TD. A 63-yard run by RB Larry Johnson put the Chiefs at the two-yard line. Thigpen then hit a wide-open TE Tony Gonzalez to put Kansas City ahead 14-10.

That lead would be short-lived as Charles fumbled on Kansas City’s next possession. Bills S George Wilson scooped up the ball at the Chiefs 28-yard line. On three plays, the defense allowed just seven yards and Lindell came in and made a 39-yard field goal to make it 14-13 in favor of Buffalo.

The momentum of the game changed for good on Kansas City’s next possession as McKelvin jumped a slant route and intercepted Thigpen’s pass. He returned the ball 64 yards for an apparent touchdown. Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards challenged the ruling, but a replay review upheld the call. The PAT kick gave Buffalo a 20-14 lead, a lead the Bills would not relinquish.

Thanks to a 12-yard run by Johnson and then a 36-yard connection between Thigpen and Gonzalez, the Chiefs got right back into scoring territory. But from there, they moved backwards and had to settle for a 45-yard Barth FG to pull within three points at 20-17.

Kansas City never got any closer as Edwards and the Bills offense kicked it into high gear. Edwards and WR Lee Evans hooked up on a 52-yard pass play that put Buffalo back into scoring territory. Again, the Chiefs defense hung tough and allowed just three yards on three plays. Lindell’s 34-yard FG gave the Bills a 23-17 lead. They added to that before the end of the half thanks to another Chiefs turnover. Thigpen’s pass for WR Will Franklin was picked off by McKelvin. In 76 seconds, Edwards led the Bills offense to another score, this time taking it in himself on a 15-yard scramble to give Buffalo a 30-17 advantage at intermission.

On kickoffs in the first half, the Chiefs directed the ball away or short of McKelvin with some success. On the opening kickoff of the third quarter, Barth sent his kickoff deep and into the hands of McKelvin in the middle of the field. By the time McKelvin was done running and the Chiefs were slapped for a facemask penalty, Buffalo had the ball at the Kansas City 33-yard line. Four plays later, Edwards dove into the end zone on a bootleg play for his second TD run of the afternoon as Buffalo took a commanding 37-17 lead.

That margin grew by three more points after another Chiefs turnover. Thigpen scrambled away from pressure and was headed for a first down when he stumbled, fell to the ground and fumbled the ball. Buffalo DT Marcus Stroud recovered, setting up a 38-yard Lindell FG to put the Bills up 40-17.

Thigpen and the Chiefs offense battled back, composing a five-yard, 68-yard TD drive that featured a 45-yard TD to WR Mark Bradley. That score cu the Bills lead to 40-24 midway through the third quarter. But the Bills answered right back, driving 83 yards on nine plays before Edwards hooked up with WR Josh Reed for an eight-yard TD pass to put Buffalo ahead 47-24. A 17-yard TD toss to TE Derek Schouman eventually pushed that margin to 54-24.

The Chiefs added a late touchdown as QB Quinn Gray replaced Thigpen at quarterback. Gray led the offense on a seven-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a three-yard TD pass to WR Dwayne Bowe to make the final count 54-31.

The Chiefs will face the Raiders in Oakland on Sunday, November 30. Kickoff is 3:15 PM (Central).