Seen and Herd, Week 14: Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Did we watch a professional football game on Sunday in Kansas City? It surely didn't look like one.

The Buffalo Bills victory over the Kansas City Chiefs more closely resembled a junior varsity opener between teams that make the defenses look like brick walls, not because they are truly great, but because the offenses are that anemic.

The Bills home loss to the Browns earlier this season is the only game that rivals this one in terms of sheer ugliness.

Regardless of the game's lack of excitement, the Bills did find a way to win, something they've had extreme difficulty doing for the majority of the 2009 season.

Stat Crunching

Ryan Fitzpatrick led the way with a 65.4 quarterback rating, and Matt Cassel's 224 yards through the air were negated by his four interceptions. Great quarterbacking.

The game included seven turnovers, a combined 10-30 on third downs, and a pedestrian average of 4.2 yards per attempt between Fitzpatrick and Cassel.

However, as expected, both teams did run the ball fairly well. That's what kept me from walking out of the room.

The teams averaged 5.7 yards per rush, Marshawn Lynch galloped to a 47 yard run, while Jamaal Charles sprinted to a 76-yard score.

On paper, that seems like a good sign. Over 200 yards rushing, while Lynch and Jackson eclipsing 80 yards? Great. Grand. Wonderful.

In reality, the Chiefs defensive line, though loaded with Top-10 draft picks, is one of the worst in the AFC, and we should take the Bills rushing success with a grain of salt.

Remember last season, when the Trent Edwards-led Bills dropped a 54 spot on these very same Chiefs? Turk Schonert sat in the press box for the game, and we thought his new vantage point would lead to an offensive revival.

We were wrong. Sure an exciting, touchdown-filled game was won against the Denver Broncos on the road, but in the finale against the New England Patriots the Bills again, looked like a practice squad.

When Buffalo rushes for over 200 yards against a respectable defensive, let me know. Until then, they'll remain a team with two above-average backs with an injury ridden offensive line that lacks anything resembling consistency.

Enough

I've reached the brink of embarrassment regarding the Bills being involved in these putrid games. It seems like every week, we find a new low. Even the most high-strung, wound-up football fans would have fallen asleep watching yesterday's contest.

If the Bills defense were a pitcher, they'd be leading the league in home runs given up. It seems like every game, for at least one play, Buffalo's defensive unit loses focus, gap responsibility, and their tackling fundamentals and they give up that big, momentum shifting run.

Let's thank Chris Chambers for dropping that perfectly thrown seam route on the two-yard line with nearly two minutes to play. We might be talking about the 4-9 Bills had he made that catch.

I'll take a win whenever the Bills can get one, but I wasn't in my usual good mood after yesterday's victory. The Bills once again, failed to blow out a very bad team. I've known it all along, maybe didn't want to admit it, but they never win big over a tremendously flawed team because they, themselves, have their fair share of weaknesses.

Even in a win, they re-affirmed to many, including myself, that they'll need to make plenty of changes this offseason. They'll have to trust the new front office to make good summer month decisions because the Bills have been stuck in mediocrity for a decade now.

Trent Edwards

Man, if Roscoe Parrish is in the dog house, then where is Trent Edwards? After two games in which he didn't eclipse 100 yards passing, Ryan Fitzpatrick was named the starter by interim head coach Perry Fewell on Monday.

Wow.

Now, we've seen worse decisions from the Bills sideline, especially in the last three seasons, but I guess the staff figures that Edwards had his time to prove his worth and that time is up.

The Patriots defense isn't what it once was earlier in the decade, but I'm not expecting much from the Harvard-grad this Sunday.

How far Trent Edwards has fallen in one and half seasons.

What's Ahead

As alluded to, the New England Patriots strut their not so Patriot-like 8-5 record into Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday.

They look to be on the down slope of a legendary run, but you can't ever bet against New England, and in all fairness, they do have Buffalo's number. 

I'll be watching how Randy Moss rebounds from a week of criticism following his poor effort against Carolina.

That's all I got on the Patriots. I dislike them so much that I don't even like writing about them.

Head to the stadium this weekend, to make this contest as close to a playoff-game atmosphere as possible. It's the closest we're going to get.

We really need to break this 12-game skid against the Pats. Oh yeah, that'll hurt their playoff chances as well, which would make mine, and probably all Bills fans' Christmas's that much better.

Who wants snow for this one? I do.