The Opposition’s Depth Chart: Buffalo Bills

Thursday's game between these two divisional rivals will be an interesting matchup.  Both teams are coming off losses, both teams have exactly the same season record at present and both teams cannot find the consistency needed to put their opponent to the sword.

Lets delve a little deeper and check out the Buffalo Bills' depth chart.

Offense

Led by Kyle Orton, Buffalo's offense struggled to take advantage of red zone opportunities against the Kansas City Chiefs.  The team were 0-4 in the red zone on the day, and even failed to score when they started on the 25-yard-line.  On another drive, Bryce Brown was only a few yards short of the endzone when he was stripped of the ball, resulting in a touchback.  This seemed to be the theme of the day for the Bills who, after all the hard work of getting the football into Chiefs territory, but ultimately they failed to put points on the board.

However, Miami's defense will still have their work cut out for them.  Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods are both talented young wide receivers that can slice open any defense on their day, while veterans Scott Chandler and Fred Jackson have done the business in the NFL consistently for many years.

Defense

At the opposite end of the scale, the defense once again played terrifically well against the Chiefs and kept them in the game.  The defensive unit sacked Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith 6 times.  Marcell Dareus came up with 3 of those, tacking his tally to 10 on the season.  Jerry Hughes also had 2 sacks, while Mario Williams came up with 1.

The big play of the day on defense was when Nigel Bradham forced a fumble and Jarius Wynn recovered the football for a turnover.  However, the offense failed to capitalize on the Chiefs' 31-yard-line, and could not score a touchdown.

The defense kept this team in the game in a game Buffalo really should have won.  Ryan Tannehill and the offense will have to return to their best form against this unit.

Special Teams

Leodis McKelvin had an up and down game, giving the team two great returns and affording the Bills great field position.  However, he also made a mistake after the ball was stripped from his hands on a fielded punt at the Bills' 31-yard-line, that resulted in a touchdown for the Chiefs to win the game 17-13.

Former Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter continues to be reliable, while Colton Schmidt had one of his best games on Sunday, averaging 47 yards per punt.  In fact, the Chiefs started their offensive drives inside their own 20 four times.

With both teams struggling on offense, but exceling on defense, this week couldn't produce a closer matchup.  This is a must-win game for both teams as they pursue a playoff berth in a crowded race.

Alex Parish is an Associate Editor at The Phinsider. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @AlexParish89.