KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The optimist would look at Tyrod Taylor's performance in the Buffalo Bills' 16-10 win Sunday over the Kansas City Chiefs and say first-year coach Sean McDermott wisely corrected his decision to start rookie Nathan Peterman, and the move puts the Bills (6-5) back in favorable position for a playoff bid.

The pessimist would look at Taylor's afternoon and conclude the Bills' offense has only returned to the problems that plagued it through the first nine games before the quarterback switch, and the unit will have little chance of keeping up with the New England Patriots' offense next Sunday at New Era Field.

Although Peterman threw five interceptions in the first half of a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, it is debatable whether Taylor did enough himself to win Sunday's game at Arrowhead Stadium.

For the first time since last December, Taylor led the Bills on a touchdown drive in the first quarter, scoring on an 11-yard pass to rookie Zay Jones. But that was the Bills' most productive drive of the game. The offense stalled five times in Chiefs territory and was unable to gain a first down late in the fourth quarter when the Bills could have sealed a victory.

"I told the offense it wasn't the prettiest, but [it was good] for us to come get a win on the road, with our backs against the wall, people not believing in us," Taylor said. "I think Coach [McDermott] showed us something [Saturday] night that 17 out of 19 people didn't pick us to win this one."

As usual, it would be unfair to pin the offense's issues all on Taylor. He completed a respectable 65 percent of his passes for 183 yards and ran for 27 yards. He was working without top receiver Kelvin Benjamin, inactive because of a knee injury, and got little help from LeSean McCoy, who finished with 49 yards on 22 carries.

However, a familiar feeling persisted with Taylor. He played it safe, held the ball too long and came up short when the Bills could have turned a close game into a more comfortable lead.

Sunday's win should have come more easily. A week after allowing 37 first-half points to the Chargers, the Bills' defense let the Chiefs gain only one first down before halftime. Chiefs running backs Kareem Hunt and Akeem Hunt combined for 7 yards on 12 carries after Buffalo gave up 638 rushing yards to its previous three opponents.

Instead, the Bills kept it interesting by gaining only four first downs in the second half and punting on their final four possessions before the end-of-game kneel-down.

Luckily for Buffalo, Alex Smith slung an interception to Bills rookie cornerback Tre'Davious White with less than two minutes remaining to bail out the offense.

Don't count on Tom Brady doing that next week.