Bills Can’t Convert Their Yards Into Points : Raiders: McDaniel, Lott stymie Reed while reserve defensive backs come through. Kelly is sacked five times.

Twenty-two first downs and 350 yards in offense usually means a lopsided victory for the Buffalo Bills.

However, those statistics didn’t provide a touchdown against a fired-up Raider defense that led a 20-3 victory at the Coliseum on Sunday.

The two-time defending AFC champion Bills have lost two consecutive games.

“Losing like this is not a wakeup call,” said Bill running back Thurman Thomas, who gained 52 yards in 16 carries and had three catches for 27 yards. “We just got our butts beat for the second week in a row. The Raiders came in and played better than we did.”

Buffalo’s offense, which entered the game rated No.1 in the league, was able to move the ball against the Raiders, but had problems when it got close to the end zone.

Quarterback Jim Kelly, who was bothered by a sore passing elbow he suffered against Miami, completed 26 of 45 passes for 302 yards. However, he was unable to make the plays he needed to make.

Kelly was sacked five times, losing 44 yards, fumbled once and threw an interception to Terry McDaniel deep in Raider territory late in the first half.

“We really didn’t get the big play,” Buffalo Coach Marv Levy said. “(Our yardage) was probably pretty good again, but that doesn’t count. We didn’t get into the end zone. We are straining to get there.”

By assigning cornerback McDaniel to cover all-pro wide receiver Andre Reed throughout the game, the Raiders stopped Buffalo when it counted.

“Terry McDaniel is one of the better cover guys in the whole league,” Raider safety Eddie Anderson said. “We mixed up our coverages a little, but (McDaniel) did the job on Reed.”

Said Reed, who had six catches for 85 yards: “They had McDaniel playing five yards in front of me all game. We expected them to play man(-to-man defense), but he really was in a zone because Ronnie Lott was sitting on top of him. So, they really were double covering me, and I couldn’t really do anything.”

The Raiders were playing five defensive backs on nearly every play, and backups Dan Land and Torin Dorn had to play big roles when veteran cornerback Lionel Washington suffered a groin injury.

With the help of Lott and Anderson, the Raiders’ reserve cornerbacks kept Buffalo’s receivers from completing a big play.

“It wasn’t tough (to cover the Bill receivers)” Land said. “Playing against Buffalo you have to be patient. If you get uptight and tense, that’s when they’ll beat you. They wear you down and beat you like that.”

Even though Buffalo had success moving the ball with its no-huddle offense, the Bills’ attack appeared slower than in years past.

“I don’t feel that we were listless,” Levy said. “We went up against a team that made some great plays.

“Our pace on offense is possibly a little slower than before. But it could just be that people are now used to seeing it.”

In its first five games, Buffalo had converted on 49% of its third-down plays. Against the Raiders, the Bills were successful on only three of 19.

“We are getting the matchups we want in our three-wideout lineup,” Buffalo offensive coordinator Tom Bresnahan said. “Our passing game is there. Our running game is there. We just manage to screw things up when we get close to scoring.”

Tight end Pete Metzelaars agreed: “Before we were playing real well and we were clicking. The last couple of games, we haven’t had the breaks go our way. And when that happens, you got to make some plays, and we didn’t make any big plays.”

Injuries also were a problem. In addition to Kelly, Thomas played despite an injured neck and knee and center Kent Hull left the game during the first quarter because of a hamstring injury.

Hulls’ absence was felt when the Raiders were able to pressure Kelly with a strong middle rush from Howie Long, who had two sacks.