There’s No Stopping Kelly : Pro football: Buffalo quarterback struggles early, then throws for five touchdowns despite Wyche’s protestations. Bills win, 35-16.

Jim Kelly seemed bothered for a quarter Monday night. He recovered. Cincinnati Bengal Coach Sam Wyche was bothered for much of the game. He didn’t.

The Bengals, who are 0-7, failed to take much advantage of three interceptions of passes by Kelly in the first quarter.

He wound up throwing five touchdown passes. The result was a 35-16 victory by the Bills in a game punctuated by Wyche’s spontaneous, angry jaunt into the end zone.

Wyche, angered at what he felt was offensive interference on James Lofton’s second touchdown catch, joined a number of Bengal players in the end zone in a confrontation with several officials.

“I don’t stand around on the sideline with my arms folded,” Wyche said. “I go out there and I motivate the ballplayers.”

Wyche’s unusual motivational tactic cost the Bengals a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and led to questions about whether the Bengals’ winless season has produced a team out of control.

“We weren’t out of control,” Wyche said. “We reacted to some poor officiating calls.”

The Bengals didn’t react to a very poor start by Kelly. The NFL’s top-rated passer threw interceptions to end Buffalo’s first three drives, but all Cincinnati could do with the three first-quarter turnovers was a 32-yard field goal by Jim Breech.

“After I threw the third one, I said, ‘Guys, stick with me’ and they hung in there with me,” said Kelly.

Kelly, who had sustained a mild concussion a week earlier, completed 18 of 27 passes for 392 yards after his first-quarter problems.

Kelly victimized rookie Richard Fain for three of the touchdowns, including the two caught by Lofton. Fain was starting for Lewis Billups, who dislocated a finger Friday night and didn’t accompany the team to Buffalo.

“I think we realized that we had someone who had not had a lot of NFL experience,” said Lofton, who finished with a career-high 220 yards on eight catches.

The Bills pointed to the Bengals’ squandered opportunities in the first quarter as probably costing Cincinnati a chance at its first victory.

“Your first three drives and you have three picks, it’s not a great way to start the game off,” said Buffalo’s Pete Metzelaars, who scored on a 51-yard pass play. “Our defense did such a good job. The interceptions were all down in our end, and it could have been 21-0 or 17-0 real quickly.”

The Bengals got Breech’s field goal after the first turnover, but decided to try a fake field goal on fourth and sixth at the Bills’ 23. Holder Lee Johnson’s pass to Rodney Holman only went for a three-yard gain.

The Bills, winners of 15 in a row and 30 of their last 32 at Rich Stadium, improved to 7-1 going into their bye week. Cincinnati is off to its worst start since 1978.

After Kelly’s third interception, the Buffalo defense stopped the Bengals on three plays. Three plays later, on the first play of the second quarter, Kelly found Lofton running a fly pattern down the right sideline.

The veteran shook off Fain’s attempt to hold him and sprinted into the end zone for the 74-yard touchdown pass.

The Bills made it 14-3 when, on a third and one at their 49, they faked a run into the line and Metzelaars sneaked past Fain to take Kelly’s pass on the run on the way to a his touchdown reception.

Cincinnati moved 68 yards with the second half kickoff, with Boomer Esiason hitting Eddie Brown for a 19-yard touchdown pass that cut the Bills lead to 14-10.

Buffalo replied on its next drive, with Lofton beating Fain once again for a 48-yard touchdown pass.

The Bengals wouldn’t give up, though. An 11-play, 64-yard drive ended when Johnson, who kicks all of Cincinnati’s long field-goal attempts, connected on a 53-yarder that made it 21-13.

But Kelly found Andre Reed on a short crossing pattern and the receiver spilt two defenders on a 24-yard touchdown that made it 28-13.

Breech kicked a 42-yard field goal with 12:17 to play in the final period.

Kelly’s fifth touchdown pass was a five-yarder to Thurman Thomas with 4:51 to play.

The game was marred by constant pushing and shoving, the worst after the first play of the fourth quarter when Esiason was hit hard on the sidelines. Wyche again came on the field, this time as an apparent peacemaker. Esiason, who was 13 for 21 for 149 yards, was replaced by Erik Wilhelm, who completed nine of 13 for 80 yards.