KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs ran 55 offensive plays against the New York Jets on Sunday before quarterback Alex Smith was sacked. It came on the last offensive play of the game as Smith was taken down for a 3-yard loss.

Smith said he took the sack on purpose.

“That’s one where I was just going to keep the clock rolling rather than throwing the ball away there and taking an incompletion,” Smith said.

That’s 32 passing plays and just one sack, a ratio that even a month ago would not have seemed possible for the Chiefs’ offense. While the progress has not been fast enough, the offensive line has gotten better, and it really showed against the Jets.

“I don’t know if it was our best game,” said center Rodney Hudson, the most consistent player all season among the five blockers. “But I do know that it was necessary. We had to give our offense time to make things happen.”

New York came into the game tied for fourth with 24 sacks. The Jets have two of the best young pass rushers in the conference in Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson. Veteran Jason Babin has taken down a quarterback or two over his career.

But the Jets got to Smith just that one time, with Babin getting credit for the takedown.

“It’s our job to keep him clean in the pocket,” Hudson said. “For the most part, we did that. I think, for the most part, we did a good job of protecting the quarterback.”

Halfway through the season, the Chiefs have allowed 19 sacks in 265 passing plays, basically one sack for every 14 pass plays. That ranks No. 23 in the league. But in the last four games, protection has jumped as they’ve allowed just six sacks.

Left tackle Eric Fisher has improved his pass protection. Left guard Mike McGlynn has struggled at times. At right guard, rookie Zach Fulton is getting the hang of what the coaches want from him and journeyman Ryan Harris continues to hold the right tackle spot, even though Donald Stephenson has returned from an NFL suspension.

“Any time you face a front like that, the protection unit has to be on the same page,” Smith said. “They like to create chaos. They’ve got guys walking around playing all the different positions, doing a lot of stuff especially on third down.

“Collectively we did a great job handling that today. That was a good, good front that has gotten a lot of pressures these last few weeks. I thought we handled it well. It starts with the guys up front, setting the tone.”

That tone will have to continue Sunday when they face Buffalo. The Bills have 28 sacks, among the top half-dozen productive pass rushes in the league.

“We have a ton of room to improve still, but they are getting better,” coach Andy Reid said of his line. “They are making progress every week.”

NOTES: LB Jerry Franklin suffered a strained hamstring Sunday and his status for Week 10 is unknown. … WR Donnie Avery is expected to return to practice this week after coming off sports hernia surgery. … CB Chris Owens is expecting a full return to practice on Wednesday after taking part on a limited basis last week. … LB Josh Martin and CB Jamell Fleming sat out Sunday with hamstring strains.

REPORT CARD VS. JETS

–PASSING OFFENSE: B — There were not a lot of major passing plays in the Chiefs’ victory over the Jets. The longest completion was 34 yards and there were no other completions of more than 15 yards. Alex Smith was efficient, completing 67.7 percent (21 of 31) for just 6.4 yards per attempt. Smith had two touchdown passes and was sacked just once.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: C — Andy Reid did a good job of sticking with the run game, although that should not have been that tough considering the Chiefs had the lead from the first quarter and were never really challenged by the Jets. Rookie De’Anthony Thomas added a nice factor to the run game, turning in the longest running play of the day on a 26-yard end-around. But Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis combined for 87 yards on 23 carries. This was not a performance that met Chiefs standards.

–PASS DEFENSE: C — The Chiefs allowed the Jets just 196 passing yards. They were not able to handle Percy Harvin, who rang up 129 receiving yards on 11 catches, including a 42-yard reception. The pass rush got to Michael Vick three times.

–RUSH DEFENSE: B — Chris Johnson did not touch the ball until early in the second quarter; and, after the way he ran through the Chiefs, it’s a wonder he wasn’t a bigger part of the offense earlier in the game. Johnson showed he still has the speed to outrun just about any defender in the league. The Jets ran a number of wildcat plays, but those did not produce much.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: B — Rookie returner De’Anthony Thomas turned in a nice return, bringing a kickoff back 78 yards and setting up the Chiefs’ third touchdown. But they also gave up a 65-yard kickoff return by Percy Harvin, where kicker Cairo Santos tried to bring him down with a leg tackle. Dustin Colquitt spent the game kicking for field position rather than distance, so his numbers were down.

–COACHING: B — This matchup featured coaching staffs that knew each other well and worked the same schemes on offense and defense. Reid and crew did a good job of preparing their units for the type of performance necessary to win the game. Offensively, the Chiefs were conservative because of the Jets’ defense and very windy conditions at Arrowhead Stadium. Defensively, the Chiefs did a good job keeping Vick surrounded and not letting him running all over the place.