Bills Don’t Need Big Rally This Time : Pro football: Kelly passes for three touchdowns as Buffalo rolls to 35-7 victory over struggling Oilers.

The Buffalo Bills picked up against the Houston Oilers on Monday night where they left off last January.

This time, though, they didn’t have to fall behind by 32 points before winning.

With Jim Kelly passing for three touchdowns and Thurman Thomas rushing for 90 yards in the first half alone, the Bills defeated the Oilers, 35-7, in a rematch of their memorable playoff game 10 months ago. That’s when the Bills forged the biggest comeback in NFL history, erasing a 35-3 third-quarter deficit to win in overtime, 41-38.

This time, Buffalo used a 21-point second quarter to break a 7-7 tie and Houston turned the ball over seven times, continuing the horrific slide that started in that game on Jan. 3.

“It was an awful-looking mess out there,” said Houston Coach Jack Pardee, whose already shaky job security wasn’t helped. “We turned it over every way possible. We couldn’t stop them defensively. We stunk up the place.”

Buffalo got 28 of its points in the first half--its four offensive touchdowns in 30 minutes was one more than it had produced in its previous three games.

“The way we played today is an indication we can score some points,” said Andre Reed, who caught two of Kelly’s touchdown passes.

But it was also an indication of the futility of the Oilers (1-4), who have lost their last three games.

Buffalo (4-1) is tied with Miami for first in the AFC East.

Houston, which had a week off to try to end its slide, continued instead to fall apart. On one series just before the final Buffalo touchdown on Kenneth Davis’ three-yard run in the fourth quarter, the Oilers were called for pass interference, then had 12 men on the field on two consecutive plays.

But that was only the culmination of the Houston futility.

Said Pardee, asked about his job security: “My No. 1 worry is the players. I don’t have control over anything else.”

On offense, the Oilers couldn’t hold the ball and gave up four sacks. Before being lifted in the third quarter, Warren Moon threw three interceptions, giving him 11 in five games. And on defense, particularly in the first half, the Oilers couldn’t corral Thomas or cover Reed and Don Beebe.

“It’s something that feeds on itself,” Buffalo Coach Marv Levy said. “We thought we had a good defensive plan going in and the more success we had, the more confidence we got.”

Kelly completed 15 of 25 passes for 247 yards while Thomas ran for 92 yards in 24 carries.

Moon completed 16 of 25 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown before he was lifted with 4:13 to play in the third quarter.