Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 9/16

Game Day!!! Kansas City Chiefs at the Buffalo Bills today at noon (Arrowhead Time). Here's your news to get you ready for kickoff. Go Chiefs!

The 2005 NFL Draft will be forever defined by two quarterbacks: Alex Smith, taken first overall by San Francisco, and Aaron Rodgers, selected 24th by Green Bay...

...Delve deeper into that draft, and you'll find two quarterbacks taken in the seventh round. Matt Cassel was drafted by the New England Patriots with the 230th selection, and Ryan Fitzpatrick went 250th - five spots from Mr. Irrelevant status - to the St. Louis Rams.

Bills', Chiefs' QBs are under a microscope from KC Star

It's rare to see Crennel angry or short-tempered or even perturbed. Players have said that they love him for that. But beyond the locker room and organization, there is the question of whether Crennel is too nice to keep a team in line throughout a season.

Crennel doesn't see this as a question at all. Did you hear about his halftime speech last year in Indianapolis? Nothing nice about that. Players and assistants suggest Crennel isn't always the teddy bear he seems.

"You see one thing standing over here," linebackers coach Gary Gibbs said while Crennel stood near a group of reporters, "and you see another thing when it's inside (the team facility). And it's all business."

Can Crennel still play bad cop with Chiefs? from KC Star

KC Star Video: Dexter McCluster Talks About The Chiefs Starting Fast

KCChiefs.com Video: Focus Point: Week 2

Bottom line

As bad as both teams were last week, you need some intestinal fortitude to make a pick in this game. One of these teams will get well, if only for a week, and the guess here is that it will be the Chiefs. They have too many skilled players to be as bad as they were defensively against the Falcons. On offense, their running game might get ugly at times because of Buffalo's powerful defensive tackles, but the Chiefs should be rewarded if they stick with it - and if Cassel handles pressure better than he did last week.

Prediction: Chiefs 24, Bills 23.

Chiefs-Bills scouting report from KC Star

Sunday, when the Bills open the home portion of their schedule against the Kansas City Chiefs at sold-out Ralph Wilson Stadium, Spiller will be the primary running back and, one could logically presume, a key cog in Buffalo's offense. That's what he was for the final six games of 2011 when he stepped in for an injured Jackson and was one of the lone bright spots coming down the stretch of that disappointing season.

Buffalo Bills counting on C.J. Spiller to establish running game from The Rochester Democrat And Chronicle

On paper, all the trends go Buffalo's way including the fact that the Chiefs haven't won a game in Buffalo since the 1980's, and that the Chiefs defense makes Bills QB, Ryan Fitzpatrick, look like Hall-of-Famer, Jim Kelly.

While the Chiefs went comatose in the second half in a 40-24 loss to Atlanta last week, the Bills self-destructed on a monumental scale and lost 48-28 to the NY Jets. Both teams will be somewhat desperate to turn their fortunes around even though it's only the second week.

KC Chiefs/Buffalo Bills NFL Week 2 game preview from Examiner.com

It isn't Buffalo; it's about 1,000 miles across the country. But Kansas City Bills Backers President Joe Cirincione says the Fox & Hound Bar and Grill feels like a little piece of his hometown on Bills gamedays.

"It's amazing when people start talking about who worked at Bethlehem Steel, where they lived outside of Buffalo, and what they did during this and that snowstorm," Cirincione said. "There's an automatic link."

Not only does the club bring together those one-time Buffalonians who have moved to the Kansas City area - Cirincione says the club is frequented by travelers just passing through who want to watch the game with fellow Bills fans.

Bills Backers feel at home in Kansas City from BuffaloBills.com

If you're one of those fantasy owners who also likes to start members of the hometown Buffalo Bills, this could be your week.

In the first week of the fantasy football season, Buffalo's opponent Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs, gave up the most points to their opposing quarterback -- Atlanta's Matt Ryan. He scored 31 points in standard ESPN leagues last week against the Chiefs.

Fantasy Saturday: Week Two's best and worst matchups from The Buffalo News

Dexter McCluster, Kansas City Chiefs - Jamaal Charles' knee injury forced the Chiefs to have to use McCluster more frequently out of the backfield last season, but that actually hurt his fantasy value. Now that Kansas City has Charles back with Peyton Hillis backing him up, McCluster will play in the slot the majority of the time, giving him more of an opportunity to catch and run with the ball instead of hauling in short passes out of the backfield that go nowhere.

Aldrick Robinson strongest among Week 2 sleepers from The Sports Network

After being left off the Opening Day roster by head coach Chan Gailey last week, due to what Gailey felt was a lack of familiarity with the playbook and in general just not believing his rookie wideout was ready, the third-year head coach of the Bills had little choice but to put Graham in the lineup against the Kansas City Chiefs.

But with another week of practice behind him, Graham feels he is ready to contribute to the Bills' offense.

Bills' rookie WR? Graham ready for his shot from The Dunkirk Observer