Kansas City, Mo. ? With the steely nerve of a riverboat gambler, Kansas City cornerback Eric Warfield took one of the biggest risks of his NFL career.

As Buffalo quarterback Drew Bledsoe prepared to let fly with the potential game-winning touchdown pass, Warfield deliberately let Peerless Price, one of the league’s most dangerous receivers, get a step on him deep.

On a dead run, Price put out his hands. But at the last second, Warfield leaped high for a perfectly timed interception with 4:14 left to preserve the Chiefs’ 17-16 victory Sunday against the Bills.

“Instead of trying to make a break earlier, I let Drew think he had the lead on me,” Warfield said. “Right at the last minute, I just broke underneath. He thought he had a step on me. Yet he didn’t.”

Added linebacker Scott Fujita, “Eric Warfield won the game for us.”

Chiefs quarterback Trent Green, not known for his mobility, had darted nine yards up the middle for the go-ahead touchdown with 4:45 to play.

“A lane opened up, so I took off,” he said. “Then I saw those guys closing hard. So I just closed my eyes and dove as hard as I could.”

After Warfield’s interception, Priest Holmes gained 49 yards on six carries to help the Chiefs (5-5) run out the clock.

In describing his clinching play, Warfield said he’d stopped a similar pass toward Price earlier in the game and recognized this one immediately.

“I kind of knew his speed from covering him throughout the game,” Warfield said. “I didn’t figure he would run past me. That’s when I gave him the step.”

Kansas City defensive back Eric Warfield (44) intercepts a pass intended for Buffalo wide receiver Peerless Price in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs clipped the Bills, 17-16, Sunday in Kansas City, Mo.

Bledsoe agreed Warfield made the play of the game.

“I should have brought Peerless across the field more than I did, rather than taking him straight up the field,” he said. “That guy made a great play on the ball.”

Mike Hollis kicked three field goals for the Bills (5-5), whose high-powered offense failed for the second game in a row to get two touchdowns.

Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil began to weep when he talked about all the criticism Warfield has taken in what’s been a rough season for the fifth-year cornerback.

“I would say it’s his best game, because he competed against what we all gave credit to as the league’s finest skilled receiving tandem,” Vermeil said.

Buffalo, which started the day tied with Miami and New England in the AFC East, took a 16-10 lead on Hollis’ 27-yarder late in the third period.

Bledsoe was 24-of-36 for 225 yards and became just the fifth man in NFL history to pass for more than 3,000 yards in his first 10 games.

Holmes, who finished with 104 yards on 31 carries, gave Kansas City a 7-0 lead in the first quarter with a 4-yard run.

Kansas City running back Priest Holmes, right, gets past Buffalo linebacker Landon Fletcher. Holmes rushed for 104 yards as the Chiefs beat the Bills, 17-16, on Sunday in Kansas City, Mo.

The Bills had first-and-goal from the 5 early in the second period, but Hollis wound up kicking a 23-yarder.

Buffalo then took the Chiefs completely with an onside kick. But again the Bills blew a great touchdown opportunity after getting a first down at the 11 and having a 9-yard pass to Eric Moulds that was first ruled a touchdown overturned on review.

The Bills then settled for Hollis’ 33-yarder that made it 7-6.

A 15-yard facemask penalty on Buffalo defensive lineman Pat Williams helped set up Morten Andersen’s 38-yard field goal with 6:40 left in the half as the Chiefs took a 10-6 lead.

Moulds beat backup cornerback Corey Harris on a 7-yard TD pass with 32 seconds left to give the Bills a 13-10 lead. Harris had come into the game a few minutes earlier after cornerback William Bartee went out with an ankle injury.

Hollis’ third field goal capped a frustrating 71-yard drive, after the Bills failed to overcome 30 yards in penalties, including a 15-yard unnecessary-roughness call on Price for shoving Warfield after Price caught a 9-yard reception.

“If that’s a personal foul, then this game has gotten real soft,” said Price.”

Travis Henry had 126 yards on 24 carries for the Bills., Notes: Chiefs K Morten Andersen was wide left on a 45-yard field goal attempt with just over 12 minutes left in the game. It was only the second miss in 22 attempts for Andersen, the NFL’s second-leading career scorer. … Kansas City TE Tony Gonzalez caught two passes for 17 yards, moving him past Kimble Anders into fifth place on the Chiefs’ career receptions list. Gonzalez has 378 and needs 47 more to pass Henry Marshall for the most catches in team history.