Two Bills Drive

The Short Punt

I’m always an aggressive guy so I’m always lobbying to go for it but ultimately those are the types of decisions that head coaches make and he’s our coach so we stand by what he calls. I trust him. And if we punt it down to the two-yard line and our defense makes a big stand then everybody is talking about what a genius he is. Ultimately, he’s our coach and we stand by him. He makes the calls and we go play.

The Bills hold a 20-15-1 overall lead (18-14-1 in the regular season) against the Chiefs in a series that dates back to 1960. These two teams were members of the original six-team American Football League, with the Chiefs franchise originally located in Dallas.

Read a week-by-week review of Bledsoe. He is 2nd in the NFL amongst quarterbacks in yardage (2,802) and yards per game (284.9) behind only Rich Gannon (2,898; 310.2); 3rd in completions (231) behind Rich Gannon (266) and Tom Brady (243) and is 4th in TDs (17) behind Tom Brady (21), Rich Gannon (19) and Aaron Brooks (19).

‘”It will be a test and I don’t want to get into a scoring battle with them,” Chiefs head coach Dick Vermeil said yesterday at his weekly press conference, “not with this kind of football team where they are so explosive.”‘

Riemersma (questionable), Driver (probable), Winfield (probable)

In game eight against Detroit, wide receivers Eric Moulds and Peerless Price topped 100 receiving yards in the same game for the fourth time in their careers and the second time this season.

‘"The tools are there," Williams said. "He’s strong, quick and fast. He just has to learn how to bring it every day. You can’t take a down off in the league. It’s all there for him if he plays hard on every snap."’

‘At 4-5, the Chiefs are still in the hunt, which reveals just how tightly packed the AFC is. The up-and-down nature of the conference makes it hard to speculate which team will still be standing at the end of the season. Winning six of their last seven games would make the Chiefs 10-6 and all but guarantee a playoff spot. Finishing 9-7 would make matters more dicey.’

‘On Buffalo quarterback Drew Bledsoe: "He’s more mobile than you might think. He’s a big man, a good athlete and he’s tough. Very tough. It’s tough to knock him down. He can ricochet off a hit and come out and throw the ball. And he doesn’t have to have his body in perfect position to throw it 35, 45 yards on the mark. So he’s amazing."’

‘What in the world has happened to Johnnie Morton, Chiefs fans are asking about the free agent receiver — a proven player who caught 69 or more passes in four of his past five seasons — who received a $5.5 million signing bonus upon coming to Kansas City last spring as a free agent?’

‘"I really try to stay away from officiating (issues)," he said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. "I used to get fined all the time and all it did was frustrate me and cost me money." Well, Vermeil may want to check his mail this week.’

‘”If you looked at this game a couple of weeks ago, everybody would have said it’d be a 50-45 game, a high scoring game. Unfortunately, both teams kind of stubbed their toe a bit (last time out, when the Chiefs lost 17-13 to the Niners and the Bills fell 38-7 to New England). “Both offenses are kind of struggling right now and are going to be looking to get back on their feet, so it’s going to be a fun game.”‘

‘"He’s got the number one pair of wide receivers in the National Football League in terms of receptions. They’ve got 122 receptions between Moulds and Price. Again, we go from one quarterback that’s having a great year to another quarterback that’s having a great year to another marquee pair of wide receivers. So, it’s always a challenge for our defensive staff. Price and Moulds are just outstanding."’

‘Bills QB Drew Bledsoe is 0-2 as a starter at Arrowhead, losing a 31-26 contest (10/15/95) and dropping a 16-14 decision (10/10/99) as a member of the Patriots. Bledsoe owns a 2-4 overall record as a starter in road contests vs. AFC West opponents, with those wins coming by a 45-7 count at SD (12/1/96) and a 28-19 margin at Denver (10/1/00).’

It may take a computer to keep score of this game. When the Bills have the ball, they will look to exploit a mismatch between their prolific passing game and the league’s worst pass defense. When the Chiefs have the ball, Priest Holmes has the luxury of working against the league’s 25th-ranked run defense. The team that touches the ball last is very likely to win this shootout.