Sunday, September 11, 2011

Bills destroy Chiefs, 41-7, in season-opener

The Buffalo Bills are 1-0 for the first time in three years, recorded their first victory on the road in the season-opener since 1996 and tallied their biggest win-margin in an opener in team history.

Point being: This was a big one.

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick tossed four touchdown passes – two to tight end Scott Chandler – in a 41-7 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Buffalo’s defense and special teams combined for four takeaways, including a forced fumble by George Wilson and a Drayton Florence interception.

"We probably surprised some people for us to score that much," Fitzpatrick said. "It helps when you get the turnovers, but it's one game."

The Bills wasted no time capitalizing on a Dexter McCluster fumble on the opening kickoff, as Fitzpatrick sniped one into Chandler to give Buffalo an early lead.

"That set the tempo," Bills coach Chan Gailey said of the fast start.

Stevie Johnson caught a leaper at the end of the quarter to put Buffalo up by two scores, and Fitzpatrick hit Chandler and Donald Jones for touchdowns in the third quarter before C.J. Spiller added to the embarrassment with a 9-yard scoring run in the fourth.

Ryan Lindell was good on two field goals in the second quarter, and Jamaal Charles found the end zone in the second quarter via a Matt Cassel pass for the Chiefs’ lone score.

Brandon Flowers grabbed Buffalo's lone interception, which came on a Brad Smith throw.

"All those people who thought we were as bad as they thought we were, we're not," Gailey said. "And there's a lot of people who will put us up on a pedestal, and we're not there yet."

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