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Chiefs searching for answers, while Bills are back in thick of AFC playoff race

Chiefs and Alex Smith are in trouble; Bills and Tyrod Taylor were written off, but now back in mix

 

The Kansas City Chiefs might not make the playoffs. No one would have conceived of it after starting 5-0, but that is their reality as the season heads into its final full month. And the Buffalo Bills, written off by many in a recent funk and after watching rookie quarterback Nathan Peterman throw away the game last week, literally, with five first-half interceptions, are very much alive in the AFC Wild-Card race.

 

That's how it goes in the NFL.

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2 hours ago, Bills!Win! said:

Why is KC above Buffalo in the wild card when we beat them head to head and have the same record? i thought that was the #1 tie breaker 

 

KC isn't a wild card, they're winning their division at this point. 

Though if the Chargers keep Charging and KC doesn't break their skid, that could change Real Soon Now.

2 hours ago, Bills!Win! said:

So NFL.com is wrong. They are saying KC is #5 when it should actually be Jacksonville

 

That is incorrect.  KC is #4 as a division winner.  Jax is #5 (highest WC seed)

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SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Stephen Hauschka, kicker, Buffalo. In cacophonous Arrowhead, Hauschka kicked a 34-yard field goal to put Buffalo up 10-0, a 56-yarder (also could have been good from 65) to put Buffalo up 13-3, and a 49-yarder to make the final score 16-10. After missing six extra points and four field goals last year and losing the job in Seattle, Hauschka is 23-of-23 in PATs and 21-of-24 in field goals. He’s been huge in a year when 6-5 Buffalo’s margin for error is quite small. Hauschka, by the way, has made 14 of his last 15 field-goal tries of 50 yards or longer.

 

COACH OF THE WEEK

Sean McDermott, head coach, Buffalo. He got grilled, with justification, for starting Nathan Peterman in his five-pick meltdown at the Chargers last week. But McDermott realized he had to go back to Tyrod Taylor as his starter instead of being bull-headed and sticking with the unprepared Peterman. Against his coaching mentor, Andy Reid, on the road in a game the Bills needed to have any semblance of playoff hopes, McDermott and the Bills played a mostly mistake-free game in one of the toughest places in the league to win. Time will tell if McDermott’s “trust the process” slogan will end up meaning the players actually trust what this new administration is selling. But after the jarring benching of Tyrod Taylor and then Taylor’s re-animation, it says something the players came out and played nobly Sunday.

 

GOATS OF THE WEEK

Alex Smith, quarterback, Kansas City. Chiefs down 16-10, 1:25 to play. Third-and-eight, Buffalo 36. Play of the game. Smith throws for what could have been a first down near the right sideline for Tyreek Hill … and Bills rookie cornerback Tre’Davious White stepped in front of Hill for the easy pick. Game over. Smith’s fall from early-season grace is nearly complete. Kansas City has one touchdown in its past 28 drives (thanks for the stat, CBS), he was showered with boos leaving the field, and there will be immense pressure on Andy Reid to play rookie Patrick Mahomes on Sunday at the Jets. Reid said he would not change quarterbacks, but if Smith keeps playing like this, Reid will reconsider. Reid is a nice but ruthless man.

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AROUND THE NFL

Key takeaways from Week 12

Quote

From Saints-Rams to Packers-Steelers, Sunday's action was chock full of great storylines and performances. Who stood out? Who needs to get back on track? See everything we learned from this week's action!

 

Bills 16, Chiefs 10

1. Averaging nearly 33 points per game while bedeviling defenses with college-spread concepts sprinkled into his West Coast attack, Andy Reid was the toast of the league until the Steelers broke his offense in Week 6. Over the past six games, defenses have turned to Cover-2 looks, adjusting to Reid's diverse formations and exotic array of run-pass options, fake jet sweeps, shovel passes and misdirection plays. A downtrodden Bills defense hemorrhaging 45 points per game over the past three weeks held the Chiefs to just one first down in the first half Sunday, the fewest surrendered by Buffalo before halftime since 2001. Albert Wilson's 19-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the second half ended a Kansas City drought of seven quarters and an overtime period without reaching the end zone. For all of those woes, Alex Smith had two chances at season-defining drives in a 16-10 game only to misfire on fourth-and-4 at the three-minute mark and toss the comeback attempt away with the White interception.

 

2. How big was this win for Buffalo? Since 1990, teams with a 6-5 record through 11 games reach the playoffs 45.2 percent of the time. That figure drops precipitously to 13.0 percent for teams that start out 5-6. That's why last week's premature decision to bench Tyrod Taylor for raw rookie Nathan Peterman left so many observers scratching their heads. As frustrating as Taylor might be for his penchant of going off script and leaving throws on the field, he's effective enough to keep the Bills competitive in a wide open AFC wild-card field. Taylor's performance at Arrowhead Stadium won't wow anyone, but he shepherded the offense by hitting Charles Clay and Zay Jones for big plays en route to four scoring drives. At the very least, Taylor will keep the offense from imploding as the Bills chase their first postseason appearance of the 21st century.

 

3. Although Smith deserves credit for sacrificing his body at the first-down sticks four times in the past two weeks, that won't prevent the hometown faithful from calling for talented first-round rookie Patrick Mahomes as the season threatens to slip away. The out-of-character downfield strikes that vaulted Smith into the October MVP discussion have evaporated, resulting in an aerial "attack" that has gone increasingly horizontal. The root of the problem might just be a stillborn running game that has lost Reid's confidence, as early-season sensation Kareem Hunt's averages have plummeted from 122 rushing yards per game and 6.3 yards per carry over the first five weeks to 47 and 3.2, respectively, over the past six contests. Even with the recent slump, Kansas City's scorching start and soft late-season schedule seemed to guarantee a postseason berth. That's no longer the case for a backsliding offense that has managed just one touchdown in its last 28 possessions. Judging by the past month's action, the Chargers have overtaken the Chiefs as the class of the AFC West.

-- Chris Wesseling

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11 hours ago, The Wiz said:

A QB that was 0-3 and wasn't showing he was going to take chances doesn't strike me as irrational.  It might have been wrong to do it with the playoffs on the line but it looks like it lit a fire under him to do more with his arm and less with his legs.

0-3? Huh? The QB was 5-4 and had us in a wildcard spot heading into a game against a 3-6 team. He was on a 2 game losing streak where the entire team looked awful, sure, but where on earth did you get 0-3 from?

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Just now, BuffaloHokie13 said:

0-3? Huh? The QB was 5-4 and had us in a wildcard spot heading into a game against a 3-6 team. He was on a 2 game losing streak where the entire team looked awful, sure, but where on earth did you get 0-3 from?

Sorry, 0-2.  Better?

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