Opponent: Buffalo Bills

2009 record: 4-8, with victories over Tampa Bay, Carolina, Miami and the New York Jets. They’ve lost to New England, New Orleans, Miami, Cleveland, Houston, Tennessee, Jacksonville and the Jets.

Last year’s record: 7-9, after they started 4-0 and then 5-1. They were 2-8 over the last 10 games. One of their seven victories was a 54-31 demolition of the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, where the Bills scored six touchdowns and four FGs. QB Trent Edwards threw two TD passes and scored two rushing touchdowns. CB Leodis McKelvin returned an interception 64 yards for a score.

Record for the last five seasons: 35-45, with no appearances in the playoffs. Their last winning record was in the 2004 season, when they were 9-7 under head coach Mike Mularkey.

Last appearance in the playoffs: 1999, when they were a wildcard team and lost a first-round game to the Tennessee Titans 22-16 in the game that gave birth to the Music City Miracle, where the Titans used a lateral on a kickoff return to score the winning points.

Head coach: Perry Fewell, who was named interim head coach on after owner Ralph Wilson fired Dick Jauron. Fewell was the team’s defensive coordinator and had never been a head coach on any level before being named to the post. He’s 47 years old and Fewell is the fifth head coach in this decade for the Bills, joining Wade Phillips, Greg Williams, Mularkey and Jauron, who was fired after going 24-34 since taking over in 2006.

Coordinators: Fewell remains defensive coordinator, Alex Van Pelt is serving as offensive coordinator after Turk Schonert was fired back on September 4th; Bobby April handles the special teams.

Roster overview: The Bills roster is a hodge-podge of draft picks and free agents. There are 25 Bills draft choices on the current active roster, including five first-round picks and nine choices from the second round. Eight of those 15 picks are in the starting lineup. Buffalo has signed plenty of free agents, including nine this year that are still on the roster. Those names include WR Terrell Owens, DT Marcus Stroud, CB Drayton Florence and QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Bills have 14 players on the injured-reserve list, including four offensive linemen.

Quarterback: Fitzpatrick is the current starter, replacing Trent Edwards six games ago. The Chiefs are familiar with Fitzpatrick, who was the quarterback for the Bengals in the final game of the 2008 season. Fitzpatrick was 18 of 30 for 129 yards in this game, and ran seven times for 29 yards. This year he’s thrown four TD passes, eight interceptions and sports an ugly 59.5 passer rating. Fitzpatrick will take off running, as he has 27 carries for 117 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown run.

Offensive threats: Owens has had a fairly non-descript season, catching 43 passes for 690 yards and three touchdowns. RB Fred Jackson has become the offensive force, as he leads the team in rushing with 632 yards on 156 carries and he’s caught 35 passes for 287 yards. RB Marshawn Lynch has 338 rushing yards. WR Lee Evans has caught 31 passes for 474 yards and five touchdowns.

Defensive stars: Rookie CB Jairus Byrd out of Oregon has been the Bills defensive player of the year. Byrd leads the NFL in interceptions with eight, for 100 yards in returns. DE Aaron Schobel is a two-time Pro Bowler with 75 career sacks, including seven this season. MLB Paul Posluszny is the team’s leading tackler with 76 total tackles.

Special teamers: Under special teams coach Bobby April, the Bills annually have one of the better kicking game units in the league. They are solid at both kicking positions with Kansas native Brian Moorman averaging 46.9 yards per punt. Veteran K Rian Lindell is 20 of 23 on field goals, and he’s 15 for 15 inside the 40-yard line, plus he hit a 56-yard FG two weeks ago. WR Roscoe Parrish handles the returns, averaging 5.3 yards on punts and 23.5 on kickoffs.

By the numbers: On offense, the Bills are 29th in the league, averaging 273.9 yards per game. They are 19th in rushing at 106.2 yards per game and 28th in passing at 167.8 yards per game. They are minus-62 in scoring margin, allowing 261 points while scoring 199 points. They are plus-2 in the turnover ratio, and they are No. 2 in the league with 21 interceptions. Buffalo is minus-11 in the sack ratio, allowing 36 and getting 25.

Top ‘09 draft picks: 1st-round DE Aaron Maybin has played in all 12 games, with no starts and he’s credited with 12 tackles ; 1st-round G Eric Wood started the first 10 games of the season at right guard before going to the injured-reserve list on November 23rd ; 2nd-round DB Jairus Byrd has played in all 12 games, with 10 starts and he leads the NFL with eight interceptions while picking up 38 total tackles ; 2nd-round G Andy Levitre has started 12 games, 11 of those at left guard, and another at left tackle.

Familiar faces: LB Kawika Mitchell is on the Bills injured-reserve list after suffering a knee injury.