Buffalo Bills quell 0-2 jitters with pair of impressive wins

After an 0-2 start that had many fans in Buffalo ready to jump off cliffs, the Bills have done a superb job of rescuing their season with back-to-back victories over a pair of teams -- Arizona and New England -- that, at least at the start of the season, were considered Super Bowl contenders.

"We didn't expect to be 0-2, but that was the card we were dealt," said Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams after Sunday's 16-0 victory at New England. "And we're not going to get too high with this win. We've won the past couple weeks because of our preparation and being able to execute our game plan."

On that point, there can be no argument. Last week the Bills put together a masterful plan on defense that had Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer befuddled all day. He threw four interceptions and was sacked five times as the Bills rolled to a 33-18 victory. Against New England, the Bills had a less daunting task because they were facing rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett who was making his second career NFL start, but it was still a highly impressive performance as they handed the Patriots their first shutout loss in 10 years, and their first ever at Gillette Stadium.

Without suspended Tom Brady, the Patriots managed to win their first three as Jimmy Garoppolo played superbly in the first game and a half before suffering a shoulder injury. Brissett was functional enough to get New England through the rest of the Miami game and then a victory over Houston. The Bills were a different story, though.

Rex Ryan has taken a lot of heat the last few years, but he seems to be regaining some mojo. The man can coach defense, and that's what he has done the last two weeks. The Bills locked up New England's wide receivers, did a nice job slowing down running back LeGarrette Blount, and when they pressured Brissett, he was basically helpless.

"We just put it into our mind that he's a third-string quarterback, make him look like a third-string quarterback," linebacker Zach Brown said. "He's not Tom Brady. We had to go down here, shut all these people out, because at the end of the day, we play our defense."

Ryan said the 0-2 start was embarrassing, especially when Ryan Fitzpatrick of the New York Jets threw for 374 yards against his defense in Week 2. He said after that game the best thing for the Bills would be to play the next two games against quality opponents like Arizona and New England because he felt that was the type of challenge his team needed to take on -- and meet.

"Yeah, not one of the more brilliant statements I've had, but you know, it's typical, probably," Ryan quipped. "But no, meaning that they are some of the better teams in the league, if not, the best teams. So, for us to prove it, you know you can't feel sorry for yourself, you better go out and face the best. And that's what we are doing and now obviously we have a huge challenge in front of us going, you know, all the way out to the West Coast (to play the Los Angeles Rams).

"We know we have a good football team and we just got to stick together, ride together and that's exactly what we've done and how we've dug ourselves out of this hole."