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The Buffalo Bills rolled up 470 yards of total offense on the No. 5 defense in the NFL. Jeff Tuel, the undrafted rookie starting at quarterback, was not sacked at all. That might sound like a recipe for success against the Kansas City Chiefs; instead, the Chiefs scored two touchdowns on Bills turnovers and outscored Buffalo 20-3 in the second half, erasing a 10-3 halftime deficit for a 23-13 win.
Buffalo ran at will against the Chiefs, with C.J. Spiller (116 yards on 12 carries) and Fred Jackson (77 yards on 16 carries) spearheading a 241-yard effort. Tuel started the game on fire, completing five of his first seven passes for 112 yards, including a 59-yard strike to Marquise Goodwin to give the Bills an early 7-0 lead. The teams traded second quarter field goals going into the break.
From that point on, Tuel was completely shut down by Kansas City, even as the Bills succeeded in keeping him clean in the pocket. Tuel completed 13-of-32 passes for 117 yards and two interceptions after the first quarter, the first of which was a brutal pick-six on Kansas City's goal line. Sean Smith returned that pick 100 yards for a game-tying touchdown; a Bills score there - Stevie Johnson was wide open in the end zone on that play - makes it a 17-3 Bills lead. Instead, it was 10-10. The second pick led to a go-ahead field goal, and the Chiefs added another score when T.J. Graham fumbled in the open field, with Tamba Hali returning it for six.
That's really all you need to know about this game: a strong game plan in all phases was undone by three Bills turnovers, which led directly to 17 Chiefs points. It doesn't matter how well you play as a team, expectations aside, when you can't do something basic like perform well in the turnover department - especially against the Chiefs, who led the league in turnover differential coming into the game.
Buffalo falls to 3-6 on the season, while the Chiefs remain 9-0 heading into their bye week. The Bills are back on the road next weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers - and if they're lucky, EJ Manuel will be back under center.