Chiefs defense takes them to 9-0 with two touchdowns vs. Bills

Chiefs cornerback Sean Smith had a 100-yard interception return against the Bills. (Al Tielemans/SI) The Kansas City Chiefs' defense, so stout and nearly

Doug Farrar | Nov 3, 2013

Chiefs defense takes them to 9-0 with two touchdowns vs. Bills /

Chiefs cornerback Sean Smith had a 100-yard interception return against the Bills. (Al Tielemans/SI)

The Kansas City Chiefs' defense, so stout and nearly unstoppable for the most part this season, has been surprisingly vulnerable against nondescript quarterbacks over the last three games. Houston's Case Keenum and Cleveland's Jason Campbell were able to make plays in close games until the Chiefs woke up and shut things down. On Sunday, it was the turn of Buffalo Bills rookie Jeff Tuel, starting because of injuries to EJ Manuel and Thad Lewis, to see what he could do.

Tuel connected with Marquise Goodwin for a 59-yard touchdown late in the first quarter and finished the first half with nine completions in 15 attempts for 139 yards, the scoring pass to Goodwin and one interception. Unfortunately, Tuel's second of two picks on the day went to cornerback Sean Smith, who returned it 100 yards for a touchdown with 10:58 left in the third quarter. That pick-six gave the Chiefs a 10-10 tie, marking the first time they hadn't trailed in the game.

The Chiefs and Bills then traded field goals, and it would once again be up to the Kansas City defense to break the logjam. With 12:47 left in the game, that's exactly what the defense did when outside linebacker Tamba Hali returned a fumble by T.J. Graham (it was forced by cornerback Marcus Cooper) and took it to the house, giving the Chiefs a lead they would never relinquish. With the win, the Chiefs took their 2013 record to 9-0.

For those interested in quarterback wins as a viable statistic, you may be interested to know that Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith completed 19-of-29 passes for 124 yards and no touchdowns on the day. This game marked the fifth this season in which Smith failed to throw a touchdown pass, so don't be fooled by the easy narrative -- the Chiefs are winning games with defense as much or more than with anything else.

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Published Nov 3, 2013

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.