Old-school Buffalo Bills hit their stride

ORCHARD PARK, N. Y. -- The Buffalo Bills led the NFL in rushing last season at 152 yards per game, and they are starting to find their groove this year after a 193-yard output against the Los Angeles Rams, keyed by LeSean McCoy's 150 yards.

"We're kind of built old-school," said Bills left guard Richie Incognito. "We're built to run it and win. Ground and pound. We'll win however we have to. (Coach) Rex (Ryan) loves that. That's why I'm here. Rex loves to ground and pound and that's why we're all here."

McCoy had a 53-yard run in the second quarter, his longest since joining the Bills. It set up a Mike Gillislee touchdown. And he had a huge 24-yard run in the fourth quarter which set up the final touchdown, a pass reception by Marquise Goodwin.

"Stats-wise, yeah," McCoy said when asked if this was his best game as a Bill. "But there were some plays I missed today. I could have easily had over 200 yards. Just small things -- I get so wrapped up in just trying to make too many plays. Sometimes you do things and make it harder on yourself when you don't have to. There were some plays I should have just ran it and picked up 10, 15 yards."

During the game, McCoy became just the sixth active running back to reach 8,000 career rushing yards, and he now has 28 career 100-yard games.

--Linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, who was supposed to be a special teams player for the Bills this season, is turning into the second coming of Bruce Smith. With three sacks Sunday, Alexander now has an NFL-high seven in the first five games. Entering this season, in his 132-game NFL career, Alexander had nine sacks, and he'd never had more than 2.5 in one season. So yes, getting three in one game was certainly a surprise.

"If you're in the NFL, you can play," said Alexander, who became a starter in the offseason when first-round draft pick Shaq Lawson went down because of shoulder surgery. "And I think our guys are doing a good job of taking advantage of their opportunities, understanding the game plan, understanding the (other) team and how they're attacking us, and any time you're prepared, you can go out there and make plays."

Ryan was asked if he expected this kind of production when the Bills signed Alexander.

"Absolutely, we knew what we were getting," Ryan said with a smile. "We thought we were getting a great pass rusher. It's just his name might not have been Lorenzo Alexander (a reference to drafting Lawson). We're hoping that young kid comes in and provides what we thought he would when we drafted him. But Lorenzo, you just can't say enough about him. You talk about a great pro that you wish every one of your players would emulate."

--The Bills thought defensive tackle Marcell Dareus would be making his season debut against the Rams following the end of his four-game substance abuse suspension. Instead, he suffered a hamstring injury during Friday's practice trying to run down backup quarterback EJ Manuel, and he was inactive for the game.

Dareus made the trip to Los Angeles, and he did test the hamstring in a pre-game workout, but it wasn't good enough to go. His status will be updated when the Bills return to practice on Wednesday.

--Right tackle Seantrel Henderson was activated, with safety Colt Anderson placed on injured reserve with a foot injury. Henderson was suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2016 season for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy. Henderson, 24, passed his physical on Aug. 22 and returned to practice for the first time in nearly nine months after battling Crohn's disease since last season. According to ESPN, the positive test was apparently caused by a treatment for the disease.