Bills Get Offense Flickering, 27-17 : AFC: Kelly throws touchdown pass on a trick play and Buffalo finally solves Denver defense.

Nothing else was working, so Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills resorted to trickery.

A reverse flea-flicker, which ended with Kelly connecting on a 64-yard touchdown pass play to Don Beebe, ended the Bills’ five-quarter offensive drought against the Denver Broncos and started Buffalo toward a 27-17 victory Saturday.

“We were getting ready to put something in, but I don’t think Jim even looked over at the sideline,” Levy said. “Any time you do stuff like that, it’s gutsy.”

The play, which the Bills (10-4) put in this week specifically with the Broncos in mind, wasn’t called by Levy, but by Kelly.

He handed to Thurman Thomas, who ran to the left and handed to Andre Reed, who headed to the right. Reed flipped the ball to Kelly, who found a wide-open Beebe.

Kelly, who completed 13 of 23 passes for 213 yards, said the Bills put in the play after seeing how quickly Denver safeties Steve Atwater and Dennis Smith came up to play the run.

Beebe finished with 104 yards on four catches.

The gadget play revived the Bills’ offense, which wasn’t able to score against Denver’s defense in last season’s 10-7 victory in the AFC Championship game or in the first quarter Saturday.

“It’s tough for somebody to stay with a wide receiver when the reverse is going the other way,” Bronco Coach Dan Reeves said. “They just caught us.”

The Bills scored touchdowns on three consecutive second-quarter possessions to take a 21-0 lead.

The Broncos (7-7), who lost their third game in a row without John Elway, scored 17 points in the second half to get close.

“The guys came out and fought hard in the second half,” said Denver’s Greg Lewis, whose one-yard touchdown run cut Buffalo’s lead to 24-17 with 6:13 to play.

The Bills added touchdowns on Kelly’s two-yard run and an 11-yard run by Thomas, who had his fourth consecutive 100-yard rushing game with 120 yards in 26 carries.

Steve Christie’s 29-yard field goal midway through the third quarter made it 24-0.

The Broncos, alternating quarterbacks Shawn Moore and Tommy Maddox in place of Elway, finally scored on a fourth-down, one-yard touchdown pass from Maddox to Shannon Sharpe.

Brad Daluiso kicked, then recovered, an onside kick on the next kickoff, and David Treadwell kicked a 26-yard field goal to make it 24-10 early in the fourth quarter.

After Lewis’ touchdown run, Thomas broke off a 33-yard run to set up Christie’s field goal of 25 yards.

The Bills, who ended a two-game losing streak and lead Miami by 1 1/2 games in the AFC East, will clinch a playoff berth if Kansas City, San Diego, Cleveland or Houston loses today.