Bills at Colts Recap
The 8-2 Bills won a turnover-filled affair in Indianapolis for their fifth straight victory and their best start to a season since 1993. After a three-and-out by the offense, the defense opened the scoring with a Taron Johnson pick-six. Buffalo jumped out to a 10-0 lead fueled by turnovers but quickly saw themselves down 13-10 after a turnover on downs and an interception. They scored 10 points in the final three minutes to take the lead and go into half at 20-13. They wouldn’t look back, stretching the lead to 30-13 before a late touchdown by the Colts to make it 30-20 and hit the over for the gamblers out there. Joe Flacco finished the day with three interceptions and a fumble. Josh Allen has thrown an interception in three straight contests after tossing two on Sunday.
Bills at Colts Sunday, November 10, 2024
The Colts fall to 4-6, failing to take advantage of a Houston Texans loss, and questions mounting on if the team should return to second year quarterback Anthony Richardson as the offense falters for their third straight loss. Jonathan Taylor torched the Bills in the first half with 107 yards on the ground averaging 6.7 yards per carry. The second half was a different story, gaining 7 yards and averaging 1.4 ypc. Josh Downs, Adonai Mitchell, and Alec Pierce all had strong performances in the passing game with each player eclipsing 70 yards on the day accounting for over 80% of the yards gained through the air.
5 Things I Liked
Kicking Game - Tyler Bass and Sam Martin were perfect on the day. Bass made all six of his kicks for 12 points and put all six kickoffs into the endzone for touchbacks. Martin put both of his punts inside the 20. The Bills defense forced a turnover on both Colts’ drives following the punts.
Back-ups Stepping Up on Offense - Mack Hollins, in back-to-back games, has stepped up for the offense. Hollins finished the game as the leading receiver, catching all four of his targets for 86 yards. Curtis Samuel had four catches on eight targets for 35 yards. Not earth-shattering numbers by any means, but there was a conscious effort to get Samuel involved, and he made some plays early. I anticipate this will continue against the Chiefs with Keon Coleman already ruled out and Amari Cooper’s status in the air. Ty Johnson remained a reliable third-down back, picking up two first downs to extend drives. He finished the game with three catches for 32 yards.
Back-ups Stepping Up on Defense - Quinton Jefferson had a big sack on fourth down in his first game back with the Bills to stop the Colts when the score was 20-13. The Bills followed it with a 13-play drive ending in a 28-yard Tyler Bass field goal. Austin Johnson entered the season without an interception in his career. He now has two in the last three weeks. This one came three plays after the Bills could not recover a fumble with the Colts in field goal range. The Bills went on to kick a field goal on the ensuing drive to take a 10-0 lead. Cam Lewis had five tackles as the Bills moved into a dime package, bringing in a 6th DB during the game. Lewis also had an excellent play on special teams, downing a Sam Martin punt at the Colts’ four-yard line.
Big Names Showing Up - This was one of the best games I’ve seen from Terrel Bernard, Greg Rousseau, and Taron Johnson this season. Bernard’s ability to disguise his coverage as a linebacker is impressive and almost led to a fourth interception. Rousseau’s ability to rush the passer along with stopping the run like he did yesterday is a development in his game that makes him one of the better defensive linemen in the NFL. His sack numbers may not be high, but he plays the position at a high level overall. Johnson’s interception and return to start the game for the Bills was a big momentum shift after the offense failed to sustain their opening drive. Johnson finished the game with another pass breakup, a sack, and three tackles.
Third Down Defense - The Colts were 4-11 on third down Sunday, with one of those coming on a penalty against Rasul Douglas for a questionable illegal contact call. The Bills have sometimes struggled on third down, especially third and long. It was nice to see them make it difficult for the home team and stop them from extending drives.
5 Things I Didn’t Like
Injuries - Spencer Brown, David Edwards, and Dalton Kincaid added their names to the lengthy injury list. Brown and Edwards do not appear to be injuries that will lead to missed time, but Kincaid’s knee injury is something that the Bills should be cautious about. Kincaid hasn’t had the season fans were hoping for, but he was showing flashes against Indy. They don’t need to set him back by rushing his return before he is ready.
Turnovers - The two Josh Allen interceptions are passes that were the correct read but picked off. E.J. Speed was the beneficiary of a pass going to Khalil Shakir until Allen’s shoulder was bumped on the throw, leading to the inaccuracy. It's not an excuse, but it better explains a throw that was way off the mark. The second interception was Allen trusting his arm strength, and Kenny Moore made an excellent play to steal one. My main concern is that this is three straight games in which Allen has thrown an interception after not having one in the first seven games of the season.
Running Back Usage - The Bills handed the ball off to running backs 22 times in the game against the NFL’s 31st-ranked run defense. The lack of rushing opportunities was surprising. Cook finished the game with 80 yards and a touchdown, Davis only had three carries on the day, and Ty Johnson was clutch in the passing game but didn’t get an opportunity to run the ball. It felt like the Bills abandoned the run game early in the first half, especially after jumping out to a 10-0 lead.
Big Plays - Overall, the Bills’ run defense was pretty solid. Johnathan Taylor's 22 and 58-yard runs were the two blemishes on a day when they held him to a 1.8 ypc average on his 19 other rush attempts. In the passing game, Flacco completed 4 passes of 18 yards or more which made up 35% of his passing yards on the day. The Bills play a bend, don’t break style of defense but these are the plays that can hurt them with that approach.
Return Game - Brandon Codrington has been a solid return man in his rookie season. Sunday was the first time we saw him make a couple of mistakes that, fortunately, didn’t end up hurting the Bills. Codrington fielded the opening kick-off four yards deep in his end zone and returned it to the Bills 22-yard line. Eight yards short of where a touchback would have started them. After a Colts field goal to make it 13-10, he fielded a kick in the end zone again and fumbled it at the Bills 21-yard line. Fortunately for the Bills, Alec Anderson recovered the fumble, and the Bills started the drive from their 30-yard line and scored a go-ahead touchdown eight plays later.
Critical Plays From the Game
Josh Downs dropped a pass on third and goal from the Buffalo nine-yard line that would have been a walk-in touchdown for the second-year receiver. The Colts had to kick a field goal and were down 10-3 instead of 10-7.
On the final touchdown drive of the game, two players stepped up with clutch third-down catches to keep the Bills' drive going. Third and eight from the Buffalo 30, Khalil Shakir caught and ran the ball for 30 yards to get into Indianapolis territory. Three plays later, on third and three, Ty Johnson caught and ran the ball for 17 yards to put the Bills in the red zone with just under five minutes remaining, forcing the Colts to start using their timeouts. Five plays and three Indianapolis timeouts later, the Bills scored to make it 30-13, essentially icing the game with three minutes remaining.
Stat(s) of the Game
BillsBanter Group Chat Quote of the Game
“That dude was throwing haymakers on Allen”
Postgame Quote of the Game
“Guys stepping up, knowing their job, knowing their assignment, and going out there and executing.”
Postgame Perspective
This was the definition of a “trap” game. The Bills were favorites on the road against an inferior opponent with a matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday. The team did not let that affect them, as they overcame some sloppy play and won, putting up 30 or more points for the fourth consecutive game and the seventh time this season. The key takeaway I have as the season progresses and the level of competition increases is simple. The Bills need to prioritize getting players healthy. I would love to see Coleman, Cooper, and Kincaid on the field, but if missing a couple of games now means they are 100% healthy after the bye week and ready for the final stretch, then that’s the move to make. The opening of the 21-day practice window for Matt Milano is exciting news after thinking he may be lost for the season. I am confident the Bills will play this return safely and not rush Milano back to action before he is ready. It’s on to the Chiefs. Go Bills!
Up Next: Buffalo vs Kansas City - Sunday 4:25 PM
