Visitor:  Kansas City Chiefs

Home:  Buffalo Bills

Date:  January 5, 1992  (AFC Divisional Playoff)

 

Scoring:

Team                1          2          3          4          Final

KC                  0          0          7          7            14

BUF                 7          10        7          13          37

 

Visitor playmakers:

RB Barry Word, CB Eric Everett, S Deron Cherry, LB Lonnie Marts, WR Fred Jones

 

Home playmakers:

RB Thurman Thomas, WR Andre Reed, WR James Lofton, S Leonard Smith, Kirby Jackson, Leonard Smith

 

Network:  NBC  (WGRZ Buffalo)

Announcers:  Dick Enberg, Bill Walsh

 

Pregame:  Yes

Halftime:  Yes – Bob Costas, Bill Parcells, Will McDonough, O.J. Simpson, and a look back at the 1967 KC-BUF AFL Championship Game.

Postgame:  Yes

Commercials:  No

 

Grade:  Good

 

Notes:  Kansas City was coming off its first postseason victory since Super Bowl IV, but that triumph proved quite irrelevant as Buffalo pounded the Chiefs into submission early in a 37-14 win.  The Bills raced out to a 17-0 halftime lead and salted the game away behind RBs Thurman Thomas and Kenneth Davis who combined for 41 carries and 175 rushing yards.  Defensively, Buffalo picked off back-up QB Marc Vlasic four times and held the Chiefs to just 213 yards of total offense as the Bills marched to their second straight AFC Championship game.

 

After both teams traded a pair of punts to open the game, QB Jim Kelly hit a pair of completions to WR Don Beebe to put the Bills in scoring position and then fired a 25-yard pass to WR Andre Reed to give Buffalo a 7-0 advantage.  Kansas City caught the game’s first break when CB Eric Everett picked off Kelly early in the second quarter.  But the Chiefs offense would go three-and-out.  Four plays later, Kelly found Reed for a 53-yard scoring strike to make the count 14-0.  Despite throwing three INTs himself, Kelly would finish the contest with 273 passing yards and three TDs.

 

S Deron Cherry picked off Kelly on Buffalo’s next possession, but again, the Chiefs could not capitalize.  The Bills would tack on a 33-yard K Scott Norwood field goal to end the first half with a 17-0 lead.

 

The second half wouldn’t start much better for Kansas City.  RB Harvey Williams fumbled on the club’s first snap of the third quarter, but TE Jonathan Hayes would recover.  The Chiefs wouldn’t be as fortunate on the next play as Vlasic – who entered the game in the second quarter when starting QB Steve DeBerg was knocked out of the game with a hand injury – suffered the first of four second-half interceptions.  Buffalo took over on the Chiefs 36-yard line and six plays later Kelly had the Bills ahead 24-0 after finding WR James Lofton for a 10-yard TD.

 

Vlasic would be picked off again on the Chiefs’ next drive, but LB Lonnie Marts returned the favor with an interception of his own to give Kansas City a ray of hope late in the third quarter.  This time the Chiefs would get on the board as RB Barry Word bulled into the end zone from three yards out to cut the margin to 24-7.

 

Thomas and Davis took it from there as the Bills methodically began grinding down the clock.  After a Buffalo FG made it 27-7, Vlasic was picked off twice on his next three attempts.  The Bills would turn those two miscues into 10 points as Buffalo took a commanding 37-7 lead with 4:57 left in the game.

 

Vlasic would hit WR Fred Jones on a 20-yard TD with 2:07 remaining to make it 37-14, but it was too little, too late as Buffalo recovered KC’s onside kick attempt and ran out the clock, ending the Chiefs’ postseason aspirations.

 

The commercial breaks are rough, but this is a good quality game.

Thanks Jim!

 

Running time:  2:54  (2 discs)