Montana Inspires Faith in Chiefs : AFC: In first appearance in nearly a month, quarterback passes for two touchdowns in 23-7 victory over Bills.

As they have all season, the Kansas City Chiefs can continue to stomp and snarl and say they play no differently with Joe Montana at quarterback.

But they can no longer do it with a straight face.

Not after Sunday.

Not after Montana returned to work with the usual repertoire: wondrous pass completions, courageous audibles and stern lectures in which he demanded that his teammates believe.

After Montana used his first appearance in nearly a month to lead the Chiefs to a 23-7 victory over the Buffalo Bills at Arrowhead Stadium, it was difficult to find a Chief who had not been listening.

Keith Cash believes. After catching one of Montana’s two touchdown passes, a one-yarder in the third quarter, he spiked the ball, bouncing it high into the air.

Montana, standing 10 yards away with his hands in the air in his trademark celebratory pose, caught the ball without even moving.

“That right there was an omen,” Cash said. “It’s like Joe is always in the right place at the right time.”

Kevin Ross believes. While helping the Chief defense hold the Bills to a season-low 43 rushing yards, Ross, a safety, made his biggest play of the day on the sidelines.

As Darryl Talley was preparing to deliver a late hit on Montana out of bounds in front of the Chief bench, Ross stepped in front of Talley and hugged him.

“We cannot have anybody hitting our quarterback when it is not totally necessary,” Ross said. “We need Joe out there. He has this certain composure that rubs off on the rest of us.”

Phillips believes his ears. Phillips, the Chiefs’ defensive lineman who helped pressure Bill quarterback Jim Kelly into three interceptions and a sprained ankle, said an unusually loud crowd inspired everyone.

“I don’t know if they are cheering for Joe Montana or Joe Phillips or Jo’Mama,” Phillips said. “But today they were going nuts, and it affected us.”

The fans certainly believe. One of the many Montana signs bobbing up and down above the mass of red coats and sweaters read: “Joe Is Great, Joe Is Good.”

Even the statistics believe:

--When Montana plays more than one half, the Chiefs are 4-0. With Dave Krieg playing the majority of the game, they are 4-3.

--In Montana’s six starts, the Chiefs have given up 12 sacks, none on Sunday. In Krieg’s five starts, they have given up 17.

The opponents also feel it. Just ask Talley, whose Bills were 8-2 before Sunday, equaling the Miami Dolphins for the fewest losses in the NFL. “We ran into a buzz saw,” he said.

With the Chiefs leading the Denver Broncos by one game in the AFC West and with the Dolphins’ chances still uncertain because of quarterback injuries, Sunday’s matchup could be repeated in the AFC championship game.

The thought of that made the Chiefs smile even more. If the Chiefs and Bills finish the season with the same record, the championship game would be played in Kansas City because the Chiefs defeated the Bills.

The Chiefs are 0-4 in road playoff games since 1970.

“Right now, it’s all boiling down to Buffalo and Kansas City in that big game . . . and it would have to come back here,” said Derrick Thomas, a Chief linebacker. “That makes this win huge.”

If Buffalo hopes to win a rematch, it must find more ways to get Thurman Thomas the ball--he ran for 14 yards in the Bills’ second possession, and 11 the rest of the game, for a season-low total of 25.

The Bills also have to find a way to utilize their wide receivers, who caught passes for only 109 yards against the league’s seventh-ranked defense.

“I think we need to widen our horizons a little bit and maybe work on some other plays,” said Kelly, doing everything but openly questioning Coach Marv Levy’s play selection.

The Chiefs, well, they need only to keep Montana sound.

He said his tender left hamstring, which had sidelined him the last 14 quarters, felt fine.

After completing 18 of 32 passes for 208 yards, with one interception, he said his only problem was that he didn’t think he play very well.

“I was not as sharp as I would like to be,” he said.

But he was sharp enough to counter the Bills’ early scoring drive with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Allen in which he threw the ball sidearm past a rushing Bruce Smith.

Allen, who also had 74 yards rushing in a season-high 22 carries, hauled safety Matt Darby the final three yards on his back. Montana also was sharp enough to complete five of six passes for 44 yards in a second-period drive that gave the Chiefs the lead for good.

The drive, in which Montana once looked right for several seconds before hitting wide-open Fred Jones for a 16-yard gain in the other direction, led to a 30-yard field goal by Nick Lowery that made it 10-7.

“You could tell Joe was really in the game today because he was chewing out all kinds of people in the huddle, taking control,” said tight end Jonathan Hayes, who caught two passes for 50 yards. “Joe came back just like always.”

And always is when the Chiefs need him. With five games remaining, their fingers remain crossed.