Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 6, 1992 TAG: 9201060068
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. LENGTH: Medium
CHIEFS RUN INTO BILLS' WALL
Everybody knows about their atomic offense. On Sunday, the Buffalo Bills proved they can dominate with defense.Sure, they routed the Kansas Ciy Chiefs 37-14 on Sunday to move into the AFC championship game for the second year in a row. Sure, Jim Kelly threw for three touchdowns and Thurman Thomas, the NFL's most valuable player, rushed for 100 yards.
However, defense set the tone for this Bills victory.
Sparked by Kirby Jackson's two interceptions and strong play by outside linebacker Cornelius Bennett and lineman Jeff Wright, the Bills yielded only 213 yards. That was in sharp contrast with the Bills' No. 27 league ranking in total defense.
"Rankings are ridiculous," Wright said. "People tell you the defense is worth nothing. We showed what we can do today. We made our statement on the field.
"We're tired of hearing how we had the second-from-last defense. They were loaded for bear and we stopped them."
Stopped them dead.
Kansas City, which routed Buffalo 33-6 and gained 397 yards during the regular season, never was in the game. Steve DeBerg completed only five passes for 29 yards before leaving midway through the second quarter with a sprained right thumb. Mark Vlasic replaced him and was 9-of-20 for 124 yards and four interceptions.
"We forced them into a passing situation, something we want to do to every team," Bennett said. "We were very determined not to let them run on us. We really concentrated on stopping the run across the board."
In doing so, the defense complemented the usual supply of big plays from the top-rated, no-huddle attack led by Kelly. Andre Reed caught two touchdown passes and James Lofton had another as Kelly was 23-of-35 for 273 yards.
"It seemed like everything worked out perfectly today," Reed said.
Buffalo, 13-3 in winning its fourth straight AFC East crown, will play host to Denver for the conference championship next Sunday. The Bills, 20-19 losers to the New York Giants in last year's Super Bowl, have lost only once in their past 19 home games - 17-14 in overtime to Detroit in the regular-season finale, when Kelly, Lofton and Thomas did not play.
While their offense was stalled early, the defense was unrelenting. Kansas City never established ground dominance, which meant the Bills' offense got a lot of chances to work out the kinks after a week off.
"I think we're one of the best defenses in the league, not one of the worst, when we're all here," Bennett said.
Buffalo's offense got going late in the first quarter. Kelly capped the first scoring drive with a 25-yard scoring pass to Reed.
On Kansas City's next possession the Bills held and took over at their 35-yard line. A 5-yard holding penalty on cornerback Jayice Pearson kept the drive going after a third-down incompletion, but Keith McKeller had a pass deflect off his knee. The ball tipped off Lonnie Marts' hand to Eric Everett, who returned it to the Kansas City 40.
Again, the Chiefs went nowhere and punted.
Again, Reed victimized Pearson. The Bills' star receiver broke free down the middle in single coverage to haul in Kelly's pass for a 53-yard score and a 14-0 lead.
"They were different calls, audibles, just man-to-man patterns," Kelly said. "It was just a matter of him beating them."
Which was no problem for Reed.
"Those routes are in the game plan every week," he said. "Jim saw a look out there that was perfect."
Scott Norwood's 33-yard field goal with two seconds left in the half made it 17-0.
The Bills all but clinched it by marching 36 yards after Kirby Jackson's interception to start the second half. Kelly hit Lofton with a 10-yard touchdown pass.
Thomas' 100 rushing yards was his fourth straight playoff game with at least 100. Norwood also had 47- and 20-yard field goals. Kenneth Davis scored on a 5-yard run with 4:57 left in the game to close out the Bills' scoring.
It was 24-0 before the Chiefs got Barry Word's 3-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter and Vlasic hit Fred Jones with a 20-yard scoring pass with 2:07 left in the game.
The defeat was the first for Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer against the Bills after five victories. It also marked the sixth time he has taken a team to the playoffs and exited before the Super Bowl.
"We didn't have a true indication of their team in Kansas City and they didn't have a true indication of our team today," Chiefs center Tim Grunhard said. "Maybe we should meet somewhere in the middle."
Kansas City finished second in the AFC West and beat the Raiders 10-6 in a wild-card game last week. \
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
FOOTBALL