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That's a lot of checks. Enough to add up to a resounding win on a sunny day and a rebirth of the feeling that maybe the Bills might be up to something in 2012.
Up to what, exactly? Well we'll see. How good are the Bills? I don't know. How good are the Chiefs? How about the Jets? What about the rest of the teams on the Bills schedule? It's still very early and therefore hard to say.
Here's what I do know. The Bills rebounded on Sunday in a major way. Take that as a good sign. If you were worried that the beat down last week in New York shook them up enough to linger, forget it. There is no doubt that the fan base needed it after the most promising of off seasons. I would guess that the players needed it too. They all talk about being able to shake off a terrible outing quickly but it would only make sense if they were questioning themselves at least a little. Well that went away in a well rounded win that featured plenty of contributions.
The biggest came from Spiller. Great vision, dynamic moves and tremendous instincts were all in full view against the Chiefs. Taking Fred Jackson's place in the line up can be tricky. Jackson is a very good player and maybe the emotional leader of the team. Spiller doesn't have to be the leader Jackson is and really, shouldn't even try. What he can do is provide the offense with a real breakaway threat and even a dependable running back who seems to be making better decisions by the carry. Big time game, to say the least.
The other monster game as I see it belonged to Kyle Williams. A menace in the backfield versus the run, Williams also had a great time teaming with Marcell Dareus to blow up the middle of the Kansas City line on many passing plays. Matt Cassel isn't very good and strong pressure up the middle made his day challenging. In the rush provided by the signing of Mario Williams it is possible that some of us, me included, just gave lip service to getting a healthy Kyle Williams back next to Dareus. Two games in, the Bills have done a great job against the run. Sunday, when the game was still hanging in the balance, the Chiefs could not get their ground game going at all. I would venture to say you have Kyle Williams to thank for that.
The Chiefs didn't really put up much of a fight at all and you can do whatever you like with that. Does this game mean the Bills are contenders? Almost certainly not. Would everyone be more impressed if the Bills beat New England? Duh, of course. What it means is that the Bills found a way to get the drop on an opponent and kept firing rights until the linesmen got in there. Despite how their season has started, I would expect that the Chiefs will be one of the teams hanging around the vast middle class of the NFL along with the Bills and about a dozen other teams.
Or maybe Kansas City will be a tire fire by Thanksgiving.
Either way, the Bills hammered them.
That's really all they could do Sunday.