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Chiefs rally to beat Bills

Nov 9, 2014 - 11:51 PM Orchard Park, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Jamaal Charles and Alex Smith both ran for touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the visiting Kansas City Chiefs rallied to beat the Buffalo Bills 17-13 on Sunday.

Smith completed 17-of-29 passes for 177 yards and Charles finished with 98 yards on 15 carries for the Chiefs (6-3), who have won four straight games and six of seven after a slow start.

Kyle Orton was 29-of-48 for 259 yards and a touchdown for Buffalo (5-4), which carried a 10-point edge into the fourth quarter and squandered opportunities to put the Chiefs away.

Defensive end Jerry Hughes sacked Smith on the second play of the fourth quarter, setting up a 3rd-and-16 from the Kansas City 46. After a 15-yard reception by Dwayne Bowe, Charles took a pitch on fourth down 39 yards for a touchdown.

The Bills, who were seeking a third straight win and their first 6-3 start since 1999, then got flagged for a false start while trying to draw the Chiefs offside on fourth-and-inches near midfield. The penalty forced a punt which, for some reason, De'Anthony Thomas fielded at his own 2.

After a three-and-out, Leodis McKelvin fumbled on a punt return. Anthony Sherman recovered his own forced fumble, giving Kansas City the ball at the Bills' 26-yard line. Two plays later, Smith ran in from eight yards out to give the Chiefs the lead with 8:59 remaining.

Dustin Colquitt later punted from the Kansas City end zone, and the Bills had excellent field position when McKelvin gained 23 yards on the return to the Chiefs' 25.

Buffalo, however, wound up turning the ball over on downs as Orton threw four consecutive incomplete passes from the 15.

"A couple missed opportunities which, when you're playing a good football team, usually comes back to haunt you," Orton said.

The Chiefs converted a key third down prior to the two-minute warning, and ran out all but the final 14 seconds.

Buffalo fumbled a lateral on the game's final play.

"There are games you're gonna have like this where everything is not pretty and you've got to play through it," said Kansas City head coach Andy Reid. "There's a certain toughness that it takes, not only to play in the National Football League, but to be able to come back from a deficit like that. Our guys showed that today."

The Bills got off to a good start as the defense forced a three-and-out and the offense orchestrated a scoring drive. Orton converted two third downs and then threw a perfect pass to wideout Chris Hogan on a seam route for a 25-yard touchdown.

Kansas City responded on its next drive with a 36-yard field goal from Cairo Santos.

The Bills capitalized on a second-quarter turnover to extend their lead.

Linebacker Nigel Bradham forced a fumble by running back Knile Davis with a hit and defensive end Jarius Wynn made the recovery, setting up a 26-yard Dan Carpenter field goal.

Buffalo had a chance to score points to open the second half, but a Bryce Brown fumble spoiled an impressive drive. Brown appeared to be on the verge of running for a touchdown when Chiefs defensive back Ron Parker knocked the ball loose at the 5-yard line with a karate chop. The ball bounced into the end zone and tight end Scott Chandler failed to corral the ball before it rolled out of the back of the end zone for a touchback.

Kansas City is the only team to not allow a rushing touchdown this season.

The Bills were back in the red zone on their next drive and went up 13-3 on a Carpenter 21-yard field goal.

Game Notes

Defensive tackle Marcell Dareus registered half of Buffalo's six sacks ... Bills running back Fred Jackson played in his 100th career game after being listed as questionable with a groin injury ... Bowe caught eight passes for 93 yards ... This marked the seventh straight year the teams have met in the regular season.