Two Bills Drive

‘”They have outstanding fans who show up with great intensity,” said quarterback Drew Bledsoe. “It’s all red and yellow when you go in there. They’re very smart about when they cheer, when they make noise. Also the shape of that stadium, being a full bowl, I think it holds some of the noise in.”‘

‘It’s time for the Bills to let their deeds do the talking. They’ve looked like an average team for a month. But they can make a statement tonight in front of a national TV audience. By beating an unbeaten Kansas City team on the road, they can reassert themselves as a legitimate playoff contender.’

‘The Chiefs were expected to be good, but not have an unblemished record seven weeks into the season. Coach Dick Vermeil deserves a lot of credit. In his third season, he has instilled poise and confidence in a team that lacked both.’

‘What to do? The best option for the Bills appears to be pitching around him.’

‘Amazingly, Johnson got sacked more frequently after he left Buffalo than he did before. He was sacked once every 7.0 dropbacks with the Bills but went down once every 5.3 with the Bucs and ‘Skins. For his career, he has been sacked 137 times in 930 dropbacks, a rate of once for every 6.78 pass plays. According to Stats Inc., that’s No. 1 since ’69, ahead of Bobby Douglass, who played for the Bears in the ’70s. Douglass went down once every 7.5 dropbacks. Another ex-Bear, Steve Fuller, is third at 8.0.’

‘In their last two away games against Miami and the New York Jets, the Bills were nothing more than road kill, losing by a combined 47-10 score. But their traveling sickness extends way back to last season, when they lost their final four road games, starting in Kansas City and continuing at the Jets, New England and Green Bay. That makes them 1-6 in their last seven away trips after a brief but fleeting 4-2 stretch under the beleaguered Williams.’

‘Statistically, Kansas City’s defense looks porous. It ranks 27th overall and 31st in rushing yards allowed per attempt. However, in this case the numbers are deceiving. These are the key stats: The Chiefs are No. 1 in the NFL with 20 takeaways, and a respectable 12th in points allowed.’

‘OK, how do you plan to kick off to Dante Hall?

“Punting is a little more challenging because the Chiefs can do more, but I think on kickoffs, you just have to kick it solid and give your coverage team a chance.” ‘

‘The Bills rate a notch below Miami defensively (despite what the stats say) but they also have all the pieces to field the division’s best-balanced offense. Lack of consistency has been the team’s biggest problem.’

‘And, oh yeah, the Chiefs lead the AFC with a plus-11 giveaway/takeaway ratio. It all adds up to a major test for Buffalo in one of the NFL’s toughest venues.’

‘Vermeil is 3-0 against Buffalo – having beaten them as coach of the Eagles, Rams and Chiefs – the best record he has against any of the 31 teams he’s faced.’

‘”It’s been very frustrating,” Hall said. “Now we’re to the point where we don’t know what (the kicker) is doing. It’s tough on my guys blocking for me because you really can’t get back and get set. That’s why we were so successful the first four weeks because the timing was down.”‘

‘Their owners are living, breathing embodiments of pro football history. Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson and Kansas City’s Lamar Hunt helped establish the AFL. With the six other AFL owners, they were called the “Foolish Club” — although Wilson and Hunt didn’t look so foolish when they helped push through the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.’

‘”Yeah, we need to go on the road and beat a good team,” Bledsoe said. “No question. That’s where we have to make our progress. That’s what good teams do, and if we want to win a championship around here, that’s what we have to do.”‘

‘”I do think about it,” he said. “But they’ve been through two quarterbacks since then, too. They brought in Rob Johnson, and then they brought in (Doug) Flutie. I don’t know if I really wanted to be a part of that.”‘