Rex Ryan's football fantasy played out Sunday, with the Buffalo Bills stampeding over the San Francisco 49ers in a blowout 45-16 victory.
The Bills rushed the 44 times for 312 yards. Tyrod Taylor threw for just 179 yards through the air but earned two passing TDs. Meanwhile, Ryan's defense smothered Chip Kelly's offense.
Speaking of his ground-and-pound approach, Ryan admitted it was old-school methodology.
"I know it's boring football," Ryan said, via the Buffalo News, "but we just want to win, whether that means we're going to put it up 30 or 40 times a game or just run the football. Obviously, I'd prefer to run. There's no question about that. Maybe that's the old school in me, but I still think you run the ball to win games.
"We know we need to do a better job of passing it and I thought we did today. The main thing is being efficient."
We'd tend to disagree that watching LeSean McCoy and Taylor shake the shoes off defenders is "boring," but Ryan's point is understood -- it's not the Greatest Show on Turf.
The Bills move to offensive Anthony Lynn has unleashed McCoy, who has racked up 100-plus rushing yards in three of the past four games. Since Lynn took over, McCoy has averaged 6.4 yards per carry in Buffalo's four-game winning streak. Shady averaged a paltry 3.8 YPC in the first two games.
Ryan's defense has swarmed to the ball. After starting the season on the hot seat, Ryan has once again proven he can coax production from spare parts, with linebackers Lorenzo Alexander (NFL sack leader) and Zach Brown causing havoc on a weekly basis.
Rex can play the "boring" card for his run-first offense, but Buffalo fans know there is nothing dull about winning.
