Defense, Losman lead Bills to victory

By Connor Byrne | Monday, November 14, 2005 | ( 0 )

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In his return to the lineup on Sunday, Buffalo Bills quarterback J.P. Losman looked terrific. He came into the game in the second quarter with Buffalo trailing Kansas City 3-0- after Kelly Holcomb suffered a concussion. Losman proceeded to lead the team to a 66-yard drive, capped off by a 33-yard rainbow pass to wide receiver Lee Evans for a touchdown. Buffalo grabbed a 7-3 lead over the Chiefs and never looked back.

Coming into the game, the Buffalo Bills were 3-5 and hanging on for dear life in the AFC East race. The Chiefs were 5-3 and also trying to hang on in the uber-competitive AFC West. In other words, both teams needed this game. In the end, it was the Bills who seemed to want it more. The Bills' defense forced four turnovers and sacked Chiefs quarterback Trent Green six times. It was undoubtedly the best performance by the Bills' defense since the first game of the season against Houston. Buffalo ended up winning 14-3 as they imposed their physicality on the Chiefs for the entire game.

For the Chiefs offense, running back Larry Johnson had a big day as he tallied 178 total yards (132 rushing). His performance was expected since the Bills came in with the 31st ranked run defense in the league and they were missing their best run-stopper, Sam Adams. Quarterback Trent Green was anything but efficient in this game as he completed 23/40 pass attempts for 220 yards and 3 interceptions.

Green's poor performance could be attributed to the pressure that the Bills' defensive line got on him. Bills defensive end Aaron Schobel recorded 2 sacks and took advantage of the fact that the Chiefs' starting tackle, Willie Roaf, was out because of injury. The other linemen for the Bills to record sacks were Ryan Denney and Justin Bannan. The remaining two sacks came from linebackers London Fletcher and Angelo Crowell. Both played absolutely brilliant games, their best of the season. Fletcher was all over the field as he added 20 tackles and forced a fumble. Most importantly, he added the emotion that this defense has been lacking throughout the season. As for Crowell, he tallied 15 tackles and an interception. Buffalo's other two picks came from starting cornerback Terrence McGee, and reserve safety Rashad Baker, who was in after starter Troy Vincent got hurt.

For Buffalo's offense, it looked like it was going to be another bland, lifeless game. Quarterback Kelly Holcomb was playing terrible and wasn't getting any help from his offensive line. Early in the second quarter, with Buffalo inside the Chiefs' red zone, Holcomb was hammered and fumbled the ball. It was recovered by Kansas City. Holcomb left with a concussion and didn't return. Losman came in, threw the aforementioned touchdown pass, and looked smooth all game. After missing four straight games from being benched, it was clear that Losman came in with a chip on his shoulder. He fired one more touchdown strike to Lee Evans in the third quarter to put Buffalo up 14-3. It was a 29-yarder and was the kind of pass that elite quarterbacks throw. The pass ended up right where it needed to be. On the day, Losman completed 9/16 pass attempts for 137 yards and the 2 touchdown passes. As for Evans, he finally re-appeared as he added 3 catches for 66 yards and both touchdowns.

Surprisingly, Buffalo's offense ticked without running back Willis McGahee making an impact. On the day, McGahee rushed for just 66 yards on 20 carries. He also lost a fumble. It was among his worst outings of the season as he was totally outplayed by the Chiefs' Larry Johnson. The Chiefs' defense, led by Jared Allen, stymied McGahee. It's worth mentioning that Allen added a pair of sacks in this game.

For both teams, the special teams' skill players were below average. Bills kicker Rian Lindell missed both of his field goal attempts, while Chiefs kicker Lawrence Tynes did the same. Bills kick returner Terrence McGee had only 14 return yards, while Chiefs returner Dante Hall averaged just 18.7 yards per kick return, and 3.5 yards per punt return. The coverage units for both teams did a tremendous job. Both punters were very good as well. For the Bills, Brian Moorman averaged 48.2 yards in windy conditions and pinned the Chiefs inside their twenty-yard line three times. As for the Chiefs, punter Dustin Colquitt also had three punts land inside Buffalo's twenty.

With the victory, the Buffalo Bills improve to 4-5. They will face a big test next week as they fly to the west coast to take on the 5-4 San Diego Chargers. If Bills coach Mike Mularkey has a brain in his head, he'll stick with Losman at quarterback. Kansas City dropped to 5-4 and will face an easy test in Houston next week.

Any comments on this article? Send an e-mail to Connor Byrne: cbyrne@realfootball365.com

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