Zeroes add early momentum in Leslie Frazier's second chance to be an NFL head coach

Old friend Leslie Frazier appears to be getting smarter and more defensively guru-esque by the shutout.

While his buddy Joe Woods was earning praise for taking a sledgehammer to the Vikings' vaunted offense as Browns defensive coordinator on Sunday, Frazier was in Buffalo posting something only two other defensive coordinators can boast of doing during the Super Bowl era.

"Anytime your shut out a team in the NFL, that encourages you," Frazier said Monday, the day after a 40-0 blanking of a Texans team that came close to hiring him as head coach a year ago. "When you do it twice in a four-week span?"

As Leslie would so often say, "Mmm, that's a big deal."

After a season-opening home hiccup against a bad Steelers team, Buffalo has outscored Miami, Washington and Houston 118-21. They beat the Dolphins 35-0 in Week 2 and have joined 1991 Super Bowl champion Washington and 2000 Super Bowl champion Baltimore as the only teams with two shutouts through four weeks since 1966.

Granted, Leslie has had the incredibly good and rare fortune of facing three consecutive backup NFL quarterbacks in Jacoby Brissett, Taylor Heinicke and rookie Davis Mills. A Marshmallow's Row of front-line signal-callers, to be sure.

But let's give Buffalo the benefit of the doubt for now and reserve the right to reconsider Leslie's guruship after the Bills defense travels to Kansas City to face one of the greatest of all non-backups in Patrick Mahomes on Sunday.

Points per game allowed (11.0)? Yep. Yards (216.8), passing yards (148.8), interception rate (5.79), first downs (12.0), red-zone percentage (33.3), point differential (22.5) and takeaways (11)?

You betcha.

Not a bad start for a nice guy who finished last in the NFC North and in NFL scoring defense (30.0) when he was fired as Vikings head coach after the 2013 season.

Themes like this — perceived dunderheads resurrecting résumés in new locales — are a common story line in NFL circles.

Let's look at a few on defense:

Getting back to Buffalo, the Texans posted 109 yards of offense and 100 yards in penalties. Mills threw four interceptions as the Bills became the seventh team of the Super Bowl era to post two shutout wins of 35 points or more.

One of the other six teams was the legendary '85 Bears. Frazier was a starting cornerback on that team.

The Bills, of course, lost to the Chiefs twice last year, including a 38-24 defeat in the AFC Championship Game at Kansas City. Mahomes threw for 325 yards, three touchdowns, no turnovers and a 127.6 passer rating that day.

"We're not the same team and defense we were a year ago," Frazier said. "I think we've improved in certain areas. Our goal is to slow them down because I don't think anybody can stop them."

Frazier is hoping takeaways tell the story. In the Chiefs' two losses, Mahomes threw two interceptions against the Chargers and one against the Ravens.

And whether Frazier keeps the early momentum going in his quest for a second chance at being an NFL head coach.