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NFL News [Update]: Kansas City Earns Important Victory Over Buffalo, Vaults Into Wild Card Lead

By Daniel Benjamin
Published on: 12:16 PST, Nov 29, 2015

The Kansas City Chiefs are one of the hottest teams in the NFL.

The Chiefs earned their fifth straight win with a 30-22 come-from-behind win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. With the victory, the Chiefs (6-5) vault into the AFC’s fifth playoff spot as they hold a head-to-head tie-break edge over the Houston Texans.

“We’re not really worried about all that,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid told reporters after the game. “We just got over.500, think about that. All that stuff, if you keep knocking out the fundamentals and techniques, you don’t worry about that other stuff.”

While the Chiefs defense was the catalyst of the first four wins during the win, quarterback Alex Smith and the offense was the reason Kansas City extended its win streak. The Chiefs trailed 10-0 in the early going of the as the Bills scored on two-of-their-first four possessions. The Chiefs are now 2-20 in their last 22 games they have trailed by 10 or more points according to ESPN — both victories have come against the Bills as they Beat Buffalo 17-13 after trailing 13-3 in the third quarter.

Alex Smith led the comeback for Chiefs with his feet and legs. Smith completed 19-of-30 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns along with no interceptions. Smith also made several key plays with his legs, added 35-yards on six carries.The game marked the fourth highest passing yardage game this season for Smith, who has gone 283 consecutive passes with being picked off.

Smith got things cooking on the Chiefs’ fourth possession leading them on a six-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in a three-yard touchdown run by running back Spencer Ware to cut the deficit to 10-7 with 6:57 left in the half. The drive was helped by a controversial 37-yard diving catch by Jeremy Maclin to give the Chiefs a first-and-goal at the three. It appeared that Maclin didn’t have control of the ball when he hit the ground but Buffalo didn’t challenge the play.

The Bills (5-6) answered right back as Tyrod Taylor led a nine-play, 75-yard drive that ate 4:28 off the clock and ended with a beautiful 21-yard touchdown catch by Sammy Watkins. Watkins finished with six catches for 158 yards and two scores — all coming in the first half.

On the ensuing possession, the Chiefs — aided by a 25-yard pass interference — covered 80-yards on two plays. Smith connected with Maclin for a 41-yard score.

The second half belonged to Kansas City and Ware. The Chiefs scored on its first four possessions and Ware rolled up 70 yards on 11 carries. Cairo Santos made all three-of-his field goal attempts in the second half to finish 3-of-4 on the day.

Defensively, Kansas City kept Buffalo at bay for the most part in the second half. The Chiefs permitted the Bills just 129 yards in the second half after surrendering 286 yards in the first half. More importantly, Kansas City held Buffalo to one touchdown and forced a turnover — which resulted in a field goal for the Chiefs.

Both teams suffered several key injuries during the game. The Chiefs lost linebacker Justin Hamilton (knee), left tackle Eric Fisher (neck) and center Mitch Morse (concussion) while the Bills running back Karlos Williams (shoulder) and defensive lineman Alex Carrington (right knee) left the game early.

Buffalo looked very good in the first half offensively but struggled both offensively and defensively the second half. Taylor finished 21-of-38 for 291 yards and three touchdowns and running back LeSean McCoy surpassed 10,000 yards from scrimmage for his career as he totaled 70 yards on the ground and 31 via the air. McCoy and Taylor each lost a fumble.

“We made it tough on ourselves,” Taylor said, “but we’ve just got to take it week by week, day by day. Maintain a hungry attitude.”

In addition to Buffalo and Houston, the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5), New York Jets (6-5), Oakland Raiders (5-6) are also in contention. Miami (4-7), Jacksonville (4-7) and Baltimore (3-7) also theoretically alive.

Update: Kansas City currently sits in the fifth playoff spot in the AFC ahead of Houston, New York and Pittsburgh. The Chiefs hold the tie-break edge over the Jets, Steelers and Texans based on best win percentage in conference games. KC is 5-2 against AFC teams while the Texans are 4-3, Jets are 5-4 and Steelers are 3-4.

The Chiefs have the easiest schedule of all AFC teams in the hunt for the Wild Card. Kansas City travels to Oakland next week and then host San Diego on Dec. 13 before traveling to Baltimore on Dec. 20. The Chiefs close out the season with home games against Cleveland and Oakland. Those opponents are a combined 18-35.

As Veronica Chiesi Brown of Vavel wrote the Bills’ playoffs hopes are dwindling. Buffalo is currently 10th in the playoff race and on a two-game losing streak. The Bills host Houston next week and then plays at Phialdelphia and Washington on Dec. 13 and 20. They host Dallas and New York Jets to close out the season.

[photo by Jaime Squires/Getty Images]

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