The red zone has been a dead zone for the Buffalo Bills.

The Bills have scored just nine touchdowns inside the opponent's 20-yard line, tying the St.

Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders for the fewest in the NFL.

"It has been a struggle for us in that area," Bills offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt

said. "We really haven't had a whole lot of time to get down in there, unfortunately. I think

it's indicative of where we are offensively."

The Bills' 27 red-zone possessions are tied with the Detroit Lions and Sunday's opponent,

the Kansas City Chiefs, for the fifth fewest in the league.

The Bills haven't come up totally empty in the red zone. They have scored points on 88.9

percent of their opportunities.

But settling for field goals instead of touchdowns means the Bills are leaving valuable

points off the board. For a team that has struggled offensively, it needs to take advantage of

every scoring chance.

"Obviously we need and we want to be in the red zone more than we have been, and we need to

take advantage of it when we are there because three points, that's not enough," said

quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. "We had a couple shots there [last Thursday] in the Jets game

[one touchdown and one field goal in the red zone]. Three points isn't going to cut it for us.

We need to get the seven."

Van Pelt said the Bills need to run the ball better inside the 20. Of their 71 red zone

snaps, the Bills have rushed 39 times for 110 yards. Their 2.8-yards-per-carry average is the

result of 11 runs of zero or negative yards and seven other rushing attempts that netted no

more than a yard.

The problems running the ball are a byproduct of an offensive line that has been shuffled

and reshuffled, preventing the unit from establishing any continuity or an identity.

"It's always hard anytime you're changing guys," Van Pelt said. "But they're battling and

that's all we can ask for. We just have to be a little smarter in the play calling and do what

those guys do well."

Running backs Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch have had some good moments in the red zone.

Running behind some solid blocking, Jackson scored from 3 and 7 yards out in a win over the

Miami Dolphins two weeks ago. Lynch followed a season-high 35-yard run with a 15-yard TD burst

against the Jets.

But such plays have been few and far between as the offensive line has been unable to

consistently win control of the line of scrimmage.

Jackson said it's not just the line's fault.

"We have to help those guys," he said, referring to himself and Lynch. "It's a new offensive

line where some guys are playing in different spots and some guys are dinged up. So we have to

do our job as running backs and make some holes when there aren't any holes."

Even when plays are made in the red zone they have been negated by penalties. Mental

mistakes like false starts, holding or other illegal blocks have either taken touchdowns off

the board or put the Bills' offense in down and distances where it is forced to settle for a

field goal instead of going for seven points.

"Some of our problems offensively have been self-inflicted," Van Pelt said. "This league

is tough enough. When we make mistakes it's hard to overcome them. We have to find a way to

get better these last four weeks."

That might be possible Sunday. The Chiefs have allowed 23 touchdowns in opponents' 40

red-zone possessions, a 57.5 percent clip that is 24th in the NFL.

But no matter the opposition, the Bills know that success in the red zone comes down to one

thing.

"Execution," Fitzpatrick said. "It's kind of what our whole deal has been all year, just

making sure guys are getting in the right spots and being where they are supposed to be and

carrying out their assignments. Really, we just need to make plays down there, too."