KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- There was not much of a difference between how Tyrod Taylor performed in Sunday's 16-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs and how he played before his benching two weeks ago.
There was, however, a big difference in how well the Buffalo Bills' defense stopped the run. That was one of the biggest reasons for the Bills' upset victory Sunday, snapping a three-game skid. If sustained, it will be part of the formula for Buffalo to end its 17-year playoff drought.
Chiefs running backs Kareem Hunt and Akeem Hunt gained a total of 7 yards Sunday, the fourth-lowest total in a game this season for any team's running backs. It was also the fewest rushing yards the Bills have allowed to opposing running backs in any game since at least 2001.
"I thought our run defense was outstanding," coach Sean McDermott said after the game. "I thought we played fundamentally good football, and that is a credit to the hard work the guys have put in, the coaches included."
It was a remarkable turnaround for a Bills defense that two weeks ago allowed 294 yards to the New Orleans Saints' running backs, the most any team has allowed since the Indianapolis Colts gave up 331 yards to Chiefs running backs in 2012. Buffalo had surrendered an average of 155 yards per game to opposing running backs over its previous three contests -- losses to the Jets, Saints and Chargers.
What was the difference Sunday?
"We just made some adjustments to allow our linebackers to play more downhill versus bumping everything and kind of moving side to side," linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. "So it really allowed Preston [Brown], Ramon [Humber] and Matt [Milano] just to have their eyes focused, have their gaps and not really worry about all that 'ghost' motion, 'jet' motion, that can really mess with your eyes as a defender. I think that was the biggest difference today."
Alexander gave credit to both McDermott and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier for the switch, saying the two meet every week to assess the defense.
"That's really been one of the big things, teams doing the 'jet' and 'ghost' motion and you have linebackers moving side-to-side," Alexander said. "We want to play downhill. That's kind of in our DNA and philosophy. This week we made some adjustments to where the safeties would take care of that and allow the linebackers to play downhill."
The Bills' pass defense also showed improvement from its three-game skid in which Buffalo allowed a total of 135 points, tied for the fourth-most over a three-game span since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. Struggling Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith completed 4 of 11 passes in the first half for 41 yards.
Overall, Kansas City's offense managed only one first down before halftime, the fewest first-half first downs the Bills have given up since the Saints gained only one against them in a 2001 game.
The Bills' formula through the first quarter of the season, over which they allowed an NFL-low 13.5 points per game, was to stay stout against the run and force turnovers. They were able to accomplish both Sunday, intercepting Smith in the closing minutes to seal the win. It was Buffalo's second takeaway in its past four games after the Bills had 17 through their first seven games.