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Chiefs Remain Undefeated 23-13 Over Bills
Two defensive scores killed any chance at the upset.
by Steve Saslow
The Skinny:
The Chiefs are undefeated because they force turnovers and score off of them. The Bills made it easy for them to accomplish those goals. The stifling Kansas City defense scored two touchdowns off of turnovers as the Chiefs remain undefeated with a 23-13 win over the Bills in front of a less than whiteout crowd at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Bills dominated this game in almost every phase before Jeff Tuel had an interception returned 100 yards to tie the game at 10 in the third quarter. T.J. Graham than got stripped of the ball and Tamba Hali returned it 11 yards for a score that gave the Chiefs a fourth quarter lead they wouldn't relinquish. Tuel played well early hitting Marquise Goodwin with a 59 yard touchdown to give the Bills an early 7-0 lead. Tuel's first interception led to a Chiefs first half field goal. The Bills got the running game going thanks to a couple of long runs by C.J. Spiller, who ran for 116 yards on just 12 carries. The turnovers ruined a solid effort otherwise offensively as they churned out 470 total yards and a great effort by a defense that only gave up six points on their own merit.
The Turning Point:
Do you have to ask? The Bills were looking to go up by two touchdowns and an awful pass play call results in a 100 yard interception return to tie the game. That was a killer 14 point turnaround against an undefeated team. How do you come back from that? It doesn't help that Stevie Johnson was wide open in the end zone. The Bills stayed in the game almost to the end but it deflated the entire stadium.
The Big Drive:
The Final FG Drive: The Chiefs took the ball up by seven with 6:29 to go and marched 32 yards in seven plays to a game clinching field goal. Charles had 22 yards on the ground on the drive.
Stat I Did Like:
Bills Total Yards Rushing: The ran for 241 yards in a losing effort. Oh those turnovers.
Stat I Didn't Like:
Points Off Of Turnovers: The Bills turned the ball over three times. Two were returned for scores and the third setup three more points.
Quick Slants:
- The Bills honored Darnell Barton at today's game having him on the field before the game. He is the bus driver who made national news when he talked a woman off of a bridge.
- The Bills had a whiteout at the Ralph for this game and handed out 50,000 white pom poms. They also wanted fans to wear white but what if you don't have a white winter coat? Probably should have done this in September. As a result, it didn't look like a whiteout at all.
- The Bills only had two inactive players because of injury. Unfortunately it was their top two QBs. Thad Lewis couldn't go because of his injured ribs and EJ Manuel is still not ready to return from his LCL injury. He did throw before the game and said he feels good and will get more reps this week.
- Tuel was just the 5th undrafted free agent QB to start a game in his rookie year in 20 years.
Key Matchup Results:
The winners of the battles highlighted in our preview article:
LT Cordy Glenn vs. LB Tamba Hali: Winner: Glenn. You only heard Hali's name when he picked up a fumble and returned it for a score which isn't Glenn's fault.
RT Erik Pears vs. LB Justin Houston: Winner: Pears. He kept Houston at bay but did have to hold him once.
DE Mario Williams vs. LT Branden Albert: Winner: Albert. Super Mario wasn't that this week.
LB Kiko Alonso vs. RB Jamaal Charles: Winner: Alonso. The Bills kept Charles in check most of the game.
Keys To The Game Results:
How the keys highlighted in our preview article turned out:
1. Protect The QB: Success! They actually gave Tuel plenty of time to throw.
2. Run The Ball Early and Often: Success! They ran the ball with a lot of success with 38 total carries.
3. Force Mistakes: Failure! They didn't take the ball away and gave up 17 points off of their turnovers.
My Take:
The Chiefs did what they have done all year. They played opportunistic football, got all the breaks, and beat a team playing a backup quarterback. The Bills played inspired at times and showed some good things. They believed in Tuel and it showed with a fairly open game plan and that was their downfall. You don't be any undefeated teams by giving up two touchdowns on offense. In fact you don't beat many winless teams that way either. It's another lesson learned by a young, growing, hobbled team.
What's Ahead:
The Bills schedule gets much easier now. They do have to travel to a place that is very tough to play in when they take the short trip to Pittsburgh to take on a Steelers team who surprisingly only has two wins on the season.
Gameballs
C.J. Spiller - Had 116 yards rushing and 39 receiving in limited work.
Kyle Williams - He was dominant in the middle of the line of scrimmage.
Fred Jackson - Ran with authority on his injured knee and had 99 total yards of his own.
Goats
Jeff Tuel - Not that I blame him but his two interceptions were absolute killers.
Stephon Gilmore - He was burned early and often in this game.
Scott Chandler - He had two drops and had no chemistry with Tuel.
Mario Williams - Barely knew he was on the field.
T.J. Graham - Looked lost out there and his fumble was a killer.
Player Of The Week
C.J. Spiller - A great effort as he gutted it out and made some big plays in the loss.
 Positional Breakdown and Grades
NFL.com Gamebook
Chiefs Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
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