PRO FOOTBALL : Christie and Smith Provide Everything the Bills Need : AFC: Kicker’s five field goals and defensive end’s four sacks lead Buffalo to 15-7 victory over Houston.

Steve Christie and Bruce Smith were up to their old habits again on Sunday--beating the Houston Oilers.

Buffalo’s Jim Kelly and Andre Reed played a personal game of catch to set up five field goals by Christie, and Smith stopped Houston’s offense with four sacks, leading the Bills to a 15-7 victory.

Smith battered Oiler quarterback Bucky Richardson all afternoon and delivered a jolting blind-side sack late in the third quarter that ended an Oilers’ drive at the Bills’ 27.

Smith’s sacks resulted in 28 yards in losses. It was his second four-sack performance; the other was against Indianapolis in 1990. Smith was going against veteran center Bruce Matthews, playing at tackle for the first time this season.

“They put a guy out there who hasn’t played out there in eight years,” Smith said. “It was real tough for him.”

The Bills (2-1) had five sacks and Matt Darby kept Houston (0-3) out of the end zone by intercepting Richardson’s pass in the end zone with 6:15 to play. Richardson averted the shutout with a 22-yard touchdown pass play to Patrick Coleman with 3:51 to play.

“Bruce played a great game, he got a lot of pressure on them,” Buffalo Coach Marv Levy said. “We didn’t prepare for a quarterback, we just prepared for the run-and-shoot and the things they do.”

The offensive problems brought criticism from Houston’s defensive players.

“We’ve got to get help from the offense,” safety Bubba McDowell said. “We got to get help. The Patriots scored 35 points against them.”

Christie beat the Oilers in the 1992 wild-card playoff game with an overtime field goal that capped the biggest comeback in NFL history for a 41-38 victory.

Christie warmed up with second-quarter field goals of 37, 42 and 48 yards, giving the Bills a 9-0 halftime lead that could have easily been bigger.

Christie kicked two more field goals in the second half, a 29-yarder in the third quarter and a 48-yarder in the fourth period that tied his career high for one game. He kicked five field goals against Miami in a playoff game after the 1992 season.

Richardson, subbing for injured starter Cody Carlson, failed to ignite the Oiler offense in the first half, despite the roaring cheers from the crowd when he was introduced as the starter.

Richardson had several of the scrambles that have made him a crowd-pleaser near the end of the game, but they came too late to help the Oilers avert defeat.