Week 2: Bills vs. Chiefs
at
Sunday, Sept. 16th
1:00pm ET
The Bills head home licking their wounds figuratively and literally after the Jets dominated them on opening day. The suddenly banged up Bills will have the fans behind them for their home opener against a Chiefs team that is coming off a loss of their own.

FACTS AND FIGURES

Matchup: Buffalo (0-1) vs. Kansas City (0-1)
Place: Ralph Wilson Stadium
TV/Radio: Network: CBS; DirecTV: 708; Sirius: 112
Announcers: Spero Dedes and Steve Beuerlein
Spread: Bills by 3½
Series: Bills lead 22-17-1 (Bills 2-1 in playoffs)
Streak: Bills Won 1
Last Meeting: Bills 41-7 in Kansas City (2011)
Chiefs Offense: Rush (5th); Pass (18th); overall (7th)
Chiefs Defense: Rush (15th); Pass (25th); overall (20th)
Bills Offense: Rush (1st); Pass (25th); overall (8th)
Bills Defense: Rush (21st); Pass (t-19th); overall (22nd)


INJURY UPDATE

The Bills have lost two of their most important offensive players for this game and beyond. Fred Jackson will miss about a month with a sprained knee suffered on opening day. David Nelson is out for the year with a torn ACL. Marcell Dareus should be back with the team in time for the game. He left the team to be with his family after the tragic murder of his brother. Stevie Johnson (groin) and Mario Williams (wrist) should be full go as they battle nagging injuries.

The Chiefs could be without three defensive starters for the game. CB Brandon Flowers (foot), S Kendrick Lewis (shoulder), and NT Anthony Toribio (ankle) all missed the opener. Flowers is practicing on a limited basis but the other two are still sidelined. WR Devon Wylie has been sidelined this week with a hamstring injury as has DL Allen Bailey with an ankle injury.

Check out our Bills Daily Injury Page throughout the week for the latest updates on the injured players.

KEY MATCHUPS

WR Stevie Johnson vs. S Eric Berry:
Johnson won't be locked up with the safety one on one but Berry will be making plays over the top against Johnson. The reason this is a key matchup is because of the history between the two players. Berry thought Johnson gave him a cheap shot when tried to tackle him on opening day last year causing a season ending injury. This will be interesting to watch.

LT Cordy Glenn vs. OLB Tamba Hali:
Glenn played pretty well in his first career start protecting Ryan Fitzpatrick's blind side. Hali will be out for blood after missing the first game after being suspended for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Hali has had 26½ sacks over the past two years for Kansas City.

DE Mario Williams vs. RT Eric Winston:
Williams is under pressure after his very poor performance in the opener against a player who was making his second career start. This week he goes against a seven year player who is in his first year with the Chiefs after a successful run in Houston. Williams took criticism for ripping the replacement referees for non calls in the loss to the Jets. He said he will get to the quarterback by any means necessary. It will be interesting to watch him all game to see if he performs better than last week.

QB Ryan Fitzpatrick vs. Chiefs Defensive Backs:
Fitz needs to bounce back in a big way and that means no interceptions. He will need to be more aware of where the defensive backs are this week than he was last week against the Jets.

CB Aaron Williams vs. WR Dwayne Bowe:
Williams performed better than the highly touted rookie Gilmore in the opener and will need another solid performance against the Chiefs top receiver Bowe. Williams will get help by being rotated out for Terrence McGee on some series.

DT Marcell Dareus vs. RB Jamaal Charles:
Dareus will be emotional but will he be ready to go after a tragic week? If he isn't ready mentally there can be more holes for Charles to run through. He seems to be completely recovered from his torn ACL last season.



KEYS TO THE GAME

1. No Turnovers: The Bills turned the ball over four times last week, if they do it again they will lose again.
2. Quick Start: The 12th man can be the Bills best friend on Sunday or their worst enemy. It all depends on how quickly the Bills get going. They need to make plays early.
3. Pressure Cassel: The Bills need to put much more pressure on Matt Cassel than they did Mark Sanchez. He likely will try to get rid of the ball quickly so the Bills may need to send more than the four defensive linemen. That means Dave Wannstedt needs to dial up some blitz packages.


BILLS DAILY PREDICTION

The Bills are reeling and there may have been an overreaction to the blow out loss to the Jets. Home cooking may be all they need and I think they are catching the Chiefs at the right time. The Jets made a statement last week it is time for the Bills to make one this week:
Bills 24, Chiefs 13

Season Prediction Record: (0-1)
Season Record Against The Spread: (0-1)

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