The Kansas City Chiefs are preparing for the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. Todd Haley talked recently about the Bills offense. They're the 19th ranked offense in the league and Chan Gailey is running the show so you know they'll get offensive production regardless of the personnel. It should be an interesting matchup and a chess match of sorts as the Chiefs try to stop Gailey's offense.
Here's what Haley had to say on the Bills offense.
On Buffalo losing 37-34 to Baltimore last week: "I thought Buffalo went out, had 500 yards of offense, overcame a couple early turnovers and then were not able to overcome the final one in overtime."
The Bills had a big lead in that game QB Ryan Fitzpatrick had a huge game. This is exhibit 1A in taking this team seriously despite their record.
On the running backs: "This is an explosive team on offense, they’ve got multiple backs that can score from anywhere on the field, much like the Houston Texans had."
Scoring from anywhere would be a reference to C.J. Spiller. He is Buffalo's version of Dexter McCluster and is definitely dangerous. The Chiefs will see what it's like to play against a McCluster-like player.
On the receivers: "They have receivers that are big-play receivers, Lee Evans is a guy I’ve liked for a long time at the position from the time he came out of college – he scores, even though the touchdown count is not where I think it will be before this year is up. He is a dangerous, dangerous player every time he lines up out there. They’ve got a couple, one not so young in Roscoe (Parrish) – another guy that I really liked and wanted on our team where I was at the time. He’s a quick, water bug-type that’s getting to play a bunch of receiver and looks like doing a very good job at it; always been a dangerous, dangerous returner. They’ve got a young receiver from Kentucky in (Steve) Johnson that looks like had a big, big game last week. He’s another quick, explosive guy averaging 15 yards a catch."
Can you tell Haley was a former receivers coach? He talked on and on about these guys. Chiefs fans should remember Lee Evans. He's put up some good games against KC including a two-TD performance in 2005 and a 110 yard performance in 2008. The Chiefs contained him in 2009 with just 11 receiving yards (but lost the game).
On QB Ryan Fitzpatrick: "The quarterback looks really, really dangerous. He is a quick thrower, the ball comes out fast, has no fear and once he makes a decision it is coming out. Those are dangerous quarterbacks to play against because the ball does come out quick. In addition, he’s clearly the best blocking quarterback in the league, which as you watch the tape of (Ryan) Fitzpatrick out there in front of these runs, it’s really, really impressive and it’s not just a one or two-time thing, it happens all the time, so they essentially gain an extra blocker. You can’t do that with many quarterbacks in the league, so he is a dangerous player – he can hurt you with his feet, he can hurt you blocking and he can obviously hurt you throwing as he showed the last couple weeks."
Best blocking quarterback in the league? That's a strange compliment. Fitzpatrick isn't a big name but he's putting up some good numbers. Last week against Baltimore he had 374 yards and four TDs. He's completing 64 percent of his passes with 11 TDs and just four INTs. He's doing a lot of things right.