Bills’ Ryan vows to be better with coaching challenges

Before their win over Buffalo, the Chiefs’ odds to make the playoffs based on our algorithms were 50.4%; now they sit at 69.66%.

Alex Smith threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns, Spencer Ware ran for 114 yards and a score, and Kansas City won its fifth straight.

“We’re not really anxious about all that”, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “All that stuff, if you keep knocking out the fundamentals and techniques, you don’t worry about that other stuff”. They are one of the hottest teams in football right now, and this should not be expected to cool down anytime soon. The Chiefs own the tiebreaker advantage over Houston, Pittsburgh and Buffalo with head-to-head victories.

Sammy Watkins had a strong start to the game as he collected a deep pass from Tyrod Taylor to put his team deep into Chiefs territory, and Dan Carpenter put the Bills ahead by putting a 27-yard field goal through the posts. The first was on a long pass to Jeremy Maclin, who made a diving catch streaking down field, but replays showed a very questionable catch as the ball appeared to hit the ground and move as it did.

The Bills (5-6) had a chance for a tying touchdown when they took over at their 10 with 3:25 left.

Key play: Taylor was run out of bounds short of the sticks on fourth down by Dezman Moses, which allowed the Chiefs to run out the clock the rest of the way.

Watkins added a 33-yard reception later in the first half, shucking Chiefs safety Ron Parker in the process, to set up his own 21-yard touchdown reception over Sean Smith’s flailing arms.

Play It Again, Sammy: The Bills’ decision to stop throwing to wide receiver Sammy Watkins after his incredible first half perplexed Gannon, who repeatedly said there are ways to get Watkins open by moving him around. “With the game being close like that with the weather conditions (rain and cold), you have to put your hands in the dirt and you’ve got to play inside the box”, said Ware. They stuck with it and made the most of their chances in this game. Perhaps, they can still get in by winning four of five down the stretch. West suffered the injury in last week’s game against San Diego.

Chiefs outside linebacker Justin Houston left due to a left leg injury with just under four minutes to play in the first quarter. Left tackle Eric Fisher hurt his neck while center Mitch Morses ustained a concussion.

What did he have to say in his Monday afternoon press conference?

Buffalo will be without starting linemen: defensive tackle Kyle Williams (knee) and defensive end Mario Williams (foot). The first game was between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Detroit Lions, although in essence only one of the teams seemed to turn up as the Lions routed the Eagles 45-14. The series ended however, with only a field goal making in 3 – 0. Bowles said Revis has made “slight progress”, but it’s too early to tell if he’ll be available.

The Chiefs answered by airing it out themselves.

Still, despite giving up far more pass completions to Chiefs wideouts than most National Football League defences have done over the past three seasons, the Bills scrapped their way back into the game in the fourth quarter.

It’s just another unusual turn in Kouandjio’s career, who has been a large disappointment for the Bills to this point. The Chiefs hoped he could still go against the Bills, but he was one of the seven inactive players named by the team.

“In a game like this, we know where we are going with the footing on the wet field”, said Maclin. The Bills went on and scored the only touchdown of the first quarter. New England passer Tom Brady holds the top mark with 358 consecutive passes over the 2010-11 seasons, leaving Smith 75 attempts to equal that mark.