2000

Bills 21
Kansas City 17

Attendance: 78,457

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Who says Rob Johnson can't scramble?  

When Buffalo coach Wade Phillips benched popular, nimble-footed Doug Flutie and announced Johnson would start Sunday, many Chiefs fans thought it would help their team. After all, Kansas City lost the two previous weeks to shifty quarterbacks at Oakland and San Francisco.

But Johnson threw two touchdown passes and got the go-ahead score on a Flutie-like scramble in the fourth quarter to lead the Bills (7-4) to a 21-17 victory.

"I don't know what (the Chiefs) estimated me as, scrambling-wise," said Johnson, who had sat out four games with a shoulder injury while Flutie went 3-1.

"If they didn't think I could scramble, then that was good."

With the Bills trailing 17-14 with about three minutes to play, Johnson was sacked for a 5-yard loss on second down back to the Kansas City 12. Then, again under pressure, he scrambled out of the pocket and jumped to the end-zone pylon.

Officials first ruled that Marvcus Patton and William Bartee shoved him out of bounds on the 1. But the Bills got the call reversed, making it 21-17 with 2:58 left.

"The receivers were covered, and he just found a way," said Bartee. "He did it. Did he get the ball across?"

Wide receiver Eric Moulds, who caught eight passes for 67 yards and a touchdown, was put in for defense and batted away Elvis Grbac's pass into the end zone as time expired on the third straight loss for the Chiefs (5-6).

"It is very big getting a win like that here," said Johnson, who was 21-of-36 for 196 yards, with touchdown passes to Moulds and Jay Riemersma. "It hurts them in the playoff race. It helps us."

A few minutes after Buffalo went ahead 14-10 early in the fourth quarter, Grbac engineered a 13-play, 63-yard drive and put the Chiefs on top 17-14 with a 9-yard TD pass to Tony Gonzalez, who also had a 13-yard TD catch in the third.

But the Bills went 67 yards in 11 plays for the winning touchdown that got them off to a rousing start to the toughest stretch of their schedule -- Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Miami and Indianapolis in consecutive games.

Early in the winning drive, Moulds appeared to fumble to Patton. But officials ruled the ball was down by contact and not reviewable.

"The down by contact (rule) is a tough call," Chiefs coach Gunther Cunningham said.

The Chiefs failed to get a turnover for the third straight game, the first time in franchise history they have gone that long without one.

Pat Williams, who blocked a short field-goal attempt at the end of the first half, recovered Grbac's fumble on the 37 early in the frantic fourth period as the Bills took a 14-10 lead.

After the Bills drove to a first-and-10 from the 24, there were penalties on four consecutive plays, three on Buffalo. Then, on first-and-goal from the 18, Johnson's pass went through the hands of linebacker Donnie Edwards straight to tight end Riemersma in the end zone with 13:35 left.

"I got all my hands on that ball," Edwards said. "I've got to catch that. That's a big play I've got to make."

Johnson got loose for a 20-yard scramble on Buffalo's first possession and hit Moulds with a 9-yard TD pass.

Todd Peterson kicked a 19-yard field goal after the Chiefs won a play reversal and got a first-and-goal from the 4. After the replay, officials ruled that Derrick Alexander got both feet down in bounds on a 35-yard pass from Grbac. But two running plays failed to move the ball, and a third-down pass was incomplete.

In the final minute of the half, Williams blocked Peterson's 35-yard attempt, preserving the Bills' 7-3 lead.

NOTES - It was Buffalo's first win at Arrowhead since 1986. ... Moulds has caught a ball in 45 consecutive games, breaking the team record held by Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed. Moulds also went over the 1,000-yard mark for the second time in his career. ... Grbac has a career-best 23 touchdown passes. ... Chiefs guard Will Shields played in his 121st straight game. ... Gonzales tied Carlos Carson's team record with 44 consecutive games with a reception. ... Alexander became the 12th Chiefs receiver with a 100-yard receiving game this season.

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