KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Arrowhead Stadium and its fervent fans used to give Kansas City a major home-field advantage. Not any more. With the Chiefs stumbling and attendance slipping, the confines look a lot friendlier for the Bills.

Arrowhead Stadium used to be home sweet home for the Kansas City

Chiefs and a house of horrors for their opponents.

The fans always packed the house, creating a roaring sea of red that gave the Chiefs a

home-field advantage few teams enjoyed. From 1990 through 2006, the Chiefs fashioned a 102-34

record at home, a winning percentage of .750.

However, times have changed for the worse. The Chiefs have won just two of their last 17 home

games since 2007 and are 1-4 this season heading into today's visit by the Buffalo Bills, who

scored the second most points in franchise history during a 54-31 victory here last year.

The Bills are facing the Chiefs in a month in which they once were all but unbeatable at

Arrowhead. The Chiefs were 37-8 in December between 1983 and 2006 but they haven't won a home

December game in nearly three years, losing their last five.

It's so bad that the Chiefs' loyal fans are staying away. The team needed an extra 24 hours

beyond Thursday's deadline to sell the remaining tickets for today's game. The extension

allowed the Chiefs to avoid a television blackout for the first time since 1990.

Even if all the tickets are gone, no one expects a full house today.

"I said at the beginning we were going to have to earn the fans back," Chiefs first-year

head coach Todd Haley said this week. "I understand there hasn't been a lot of winning going

on around here and this year one [win] at home and two on the road isn't enough to earn that

back. But that'll come as we have success. I know the fans will be on board and I know from

past experiences that this is the toughest place as far as I'm concerned to play on the road."

Opposing teams have made themselves right at home in Arrowhead this season. It could be the

same for the well-rested Bills, who are 10 days removed from a 19-13 loss to the New York

Jets.

This sets up as a get-well game for the Bills. The Chiefs are coming off back-to-back

losses where they gave up more than 40 points in each game, the first time that has happened

since 1983.

But if you think the Bills are going into the game today expecting an easy time of it,

guess again.

"No, we don't assume they'll play poorly," said Bills coach Perry Fewell. "We know that

they can rally and win a football game on Sunday, so we've got the mind-set that we've got to

go in and take control and take charge of that football team on Sunday from the start of the

whistle."

Taking charge offensively would be a good place to start.

The Bills' offense struggled last week against the Jets, but could have a breakout game today.

The Chiefs own the NFL's worst defense in terms of yards allowed and have yielded the third

most points.

The lack of a pass rush (the Chiefs have the second fewest sacks in the league) has exposed

the secondary to big plays. Kansas City has given up a league-high 15 pass plays of 40-plus

yards.

Bills offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt will be looking to exploit the Chiefs' young

cornerbacks and get some explosive plays from wide receivers Terrell Owens and Lee Evans.

"Any time we've had a chance to get the matchups we like outside we've tried to take

advantage of it," Van Pelt said. "We've got two great players out there and we have to find

ways to get them involved. We tried to get them involved last week against the Jets, but they

did a good job in some coverage and schemes against us. We definitely have to play to our

strengths now and those are two of our strengths."

The Bills would like to set up their vertical passing game by running the ball. Marshawn

Lynch, who lost his starting job to Fred Jackson, ran for 60 yards ... his highest total in six

games ... on only six carries and scored a touchdown against the Jets. Jackson had just 31 yards

on 13 attempts, but will remain the starter.

The Bills would love to duplicate the effort of the Denver Broncos, who shredded the Chiefs

for 245 rushing yards in a 44-13 rout last week.

"Establishing the run is something we look to do every week," Jackson said. "But whether

it's running or passing, we have to help our defense out by staying on the field and scoring

points."

The Bills catch a bit of a break with the Chiefs' top receiver, Dwayne Bowe, still serving a

four-game NFL suspension. Chris Chambers has been a good midseason pickup, but the offseason

trade of future Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez to Atlanta has not helped quarterback

Matt Cassel, who has been up and down during his first year in Kansas City.

In order to make the Chiefs one-dimensional, the Bills will have to take away the run. They

aren't facing a household name in Kansas City running back Jamaal Charles, who became the

starter when Larry Johnson was released. But Charles has outstanding speed and is a big-play

threat as a runner and receiver, which he showed against the Bills last year with a 36-yard

touchdown reception.

After being gashed by the Jets, who ran for 249 yards last week and totaled 567 in two

games, the Bills' run defense is sure to be tested by Charles.

"If you're the guy that is able to line up back there, you can play some ball," Bills

defensive tackle Marcus Stroud said of Charles. "We're going to prepare for him like we would

anybody else. We've been having problems trying to do that all year. We know they're going to

try and establish the run and it's up to us to go out there and stop it."