PRO FOOTBALL / PLAYOFF REPORT : AFC : No Controversy: Kelly Is the Starter

For doing more in seven days than many quarterbacks do in a lifetime, Frank Reich has earned a trip to the AFC championship game. But he might spend it on the bench.

Reich threw two touchdown passes to lead the Bills past the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-3, as Buffalo reached the AFC title game for the third consecutive season. Afterward, starter Jim Kelly said it’s possible he could be ready if Buffalo again makes the Super Bowl.

Kelly has sat out Buffalo’s two playoff games because of a sprained right knee ligament.

“I’m going to start rehabilitation on Monday,” Kelly said. “I’ll just have to wait and see how it feels. The decision is up to the coaches. If they go with Frank, he’ll be running the offense.”

“When Jim’s healthy, he’s our quarterback,” wide receiver Don Beebe said. “There’s no controversy here. Frank Reich is the best backup quarterback in the league.”

Coach Marv Levy has made it clear that when Kelly is healthy, he will be the quarterback.

There was a scary moment during the fourth quarter when Pittsburgh offensive lineman John Jackson, blocking on a running play, was sandwiched between Bills Mark Maddox and Darryl Talley.

Jackson was taken off the field on a stretcher after complaining of numbness in his legs. But tests at Allegheny General Hospital showed no serious damage. The preliminary diagnosis was a spinal cord contusion in the lower back.

It was expected that Jackson would be allowed to go home today.

Kenneth Davis rushed for 104 yards in 10 carries for Buffalo. Thurman Thomas was held to 54 yards in 19 carries. . . . Gary Anderson’s 38-yard field goal during the first quarter was his eighth in a row in the playoffs, the third-longest streak in NFL history.