KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Head coach Rex Ryan believed the Buffalo Bills needed to "force the issue" and get the ball to receiver Sammy Watkins, and that's exactly what they did in the first half of Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Watkins had six catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns in the first half as the Bills led 16-14 at halftime. Watkins made the Chiefs' secondary -- especially cornerback Sean Smith -- look helpless even as Kansas City attempted to double-cover Watkins.
It's a dramatic reversal from last week, when Watkins wasn't targeted in the first half and finished with just three catches for 39 yards in a Monday Night Football loss to the New England Patriots.
Watkins' lack of targets last Monday night led Ryan to declare multiple times last week that Watkins, whom the Bills selected fourth overall in the 2014 draft, needed to get the ball because of his playmaking abilities.
Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor agreed Watkins needed the ball more but noted "coverage dictates where the ball goes, ultimately."
Watkins hasn't even needed to get open Sunday. He's made the Chiefs look silly even when Taylor has thrown into tight coverage, adjusting to Taylor's throws in the air and putting himself in the right spot to make the catch when Chiefs defenders have been over-running the route or otherwise not focusing on the pass.
Taylor has benefited. He had 236 passing yards at the half, the second most for the Bills in the past 15 seasons behind Ryan Fitzpatrick's 246 first-half passing yards against the Patriots in 2011.
