Buffalo Bills Inside Slant

Buffalo's 29th-ranked offense has been deemed the team's weak link. However, the defense is giving plenty of worry to the team's front office as it plots the future.

Buffalo's defense has plummeted to 23rd in yards allowed after last Thursday's dismal display in a 19-13 loss to the New York Jets in Toronto. The biggest concern is the continued demise of the club's run-stopping ability. The Bills rank 32nd -- dead last -- at stopping the run, allowing an average of 172.1 yards per game. They are on pace for a historically bad finish.

"If you can't stop the run and you can't get off the field on third down, you're never going to win," defensive tackle Kyle Williams said in disgust after the Bills yielded 249 yards to the Jets and yet another 100-yard individual rusher.

Thomas Jones feasted on the Bills for a second time this season with 109 yards on 23 carries.

When the Bills (4-8) travel to Kansas City (3-9) on Sunday, they won't have to contend with Larry Johnson, who averaged 11.6 yards per carry on just seven attempts in a 54-31 Chiefs shootout loss a year ago. Johnson was waived and has since signed with Cincinnati.

However, Jamaal Charles (4.8 average per carry) is no picnic, and as Williams said, if a team can't stop the run and get off the field, it's never going to win. Against the Jets, linebacker Bryan Scott went so far as to suggest the defense quit.

"We just kind of gave it up," Scott said. "Whether it was guys missing their gaps or flowing too fast or over pursuing, whatever the case with the poor tackling. We just had to do such a better job with it. It's really disappointing."

The Bills have myriad issues to deal with when it comes to stopping the run.

For starters, their defensive ends -- Aaron Schobel (243 pounds), Chris Kelsay (261) and Ryan Denney (264) -- are undersized by NFL standards.

At linebacker, they are just plain undermanned. Starters Kawika Mitchell and Keith Ellison and key backup Marcus Buggs were lost for the season with knee injuries, leaving middle linebacker Paul Posluszny flanked by Scott, a converted strong safety, and veteran free agent Chris Draft, who was signed to plug the leaky dike.

"We're not as physical as we need to be sometimes," Posluszny said. "It's unacceptable for us to get pushed around like we have been."

Then there's the matter of scheme and technique.

The Bills are being victimized with regularity by cutback plays, and opponents are adding more and more such runs. Zone blocking is particularly effective for opponents who can get the Bills defense flowing in unison one way, creating those cutback lanes for its running backs.

For whatever the reason, Buffalo's defenders aren't disciplined enough to stay in their gaps or when they do, they miss the tackle.

"We're a fast-flow defense," Posluszny said. "We try to get downhill as fast as we can. Sometimes the ball does come back. We have to be disciplined. Until we do a better job of playing smarter and tougher, teams are going to continue to run on us."

And if they do over the final month of the season, the numbers will be profoundly horrible. Right now, Buffalo:

--allows 11 more yards rushing per game than any other team.

--is on pace to become just the fifth NFL team all-time to allow more than 170 yards per game.

--is on pace to surrender 2,753 yards. That would rank as the second-highest total ever, behind the NFL-record 3,228 the 1978 Bills team allowed.

--has allowed 60 runs of 10 yards or more and an NFL-most 16 runs of 20 yards or more.

--is allowing a league-worst 4.9 yards per carry, which would be a team record.

--has allowed eight individual 100-yard rushing games.

SERIES HISTORY: 38th regular-season meeting. Bills lead series 20-16-1. They beat the Chiefs 54-31 last year at Arrowhead. Trent Edwards accounted for four touchdowns, two running and two passing, while Lee Evans caught five passes for 110 yards. The teams combined for 906 total yards. Buffalo is 2-1 against the Chiefs in playoff games.