‘The Bills’ defense registered a season-high four takeaways, a major factor in sometimes-ugly 30-20 victory – one that lifted them to an 8-2 record for the first time since 1993, maintained their vise grip on the AFC East and set up an enormous showdown with the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs next weekend in Orchard Park.’
Archives for November 11, 2024
Ryan O’Halloran: Good enough to beat Colts, Josh Allen must be better against Kansas City
‘There will be days like Sunday, when Josh Allen’s not quite up to being Superman. On those days, the Buffalo Bills need someone else to step up. Against the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium, it wasn’t just one person stepping up, however. It was an entire unit.’
Depleted at receiver, Buffalo Bills find ways to win with Khalil Shakir, Mack Hollins, Dawson Knox
‘With wide receivers Amari Cooper and Keon Coleman sidelined because of respective wrist injuries, the Bills once again needed multiple players to step up, and they made it work. It wasn’t the prettiest outing, and it was a close game for longer than it needed to be, considering the four takeaways by the Bills defense. Tight end Dawson Knox joked that on this day “everybody eats” applied to the defense more than the offense.’
Three questions: The Bills are at a 31-year high. What does that say about them – and the Chiefs game?
‘Buffalo hasn’t started 8-2 since the 1993 season. That was 31 years ago. Amazing. Few people had the Bills sitting 8-2 at this point, and nobody expected them to hold a five-game lead in the AFC East.’
Takeaways, game balls from Buffalo Bills’ win over Indianapolis Colts
‘The defense produced four season-high four turnovers to aid an offense that was playing without receivers Amari Cooper and Keon Coleman.’
Plays that shaped the game: How Josh Allen left the Colts grasping on key running plays
‘The Bills offensive line gave Allen great blocking on his 13-yard touchdown run to give Buffalo the lead for good, 17-13.’
Report Card: How the Buffalo Bills’ run defense rebounded in win over Indianapolis Colts
‘It was not great that there was miscommunication on the second play from scrimmage for the offense. It was not a great start for offensive coordinator Joe Brady’s group. Calling an Allen run inside the Colts’ red zone on the second offensive possession was just one of the play-calls that was easy to second-guess. The offense looked disjointed through a fairly large part of the game, and Brady has to share in the blame for that. Still, this is only the fifth time in franchise history the Bills have won at least four straight games and scored 30-plus points in each one of them. Looking at the big picture, the Bills are 8-2 for the first time in more than 30 years. They won in Indianapolis for the first time since 1998. The Colts had not lost a game by more than eight points all season, and trailed by 17 with only 2 seconds left. It wasn’t always pretty, but head coach Sean McDermott had his team focused on the task at hand and not looking ahead to Kansas City in Week 11.’
Josh Allen shakes off miscues to lead shorthanded Bills to gritty victory over Colts
‘But Allen somehow found a way to get the Bills past a pesky Colts team because he made just enough of those Allen-esque plays to will Buffalo to a 30-20 victory over the turnover-plagued Colts.’
Bills report card: Buffalo shows resiliency, defense forces 4 turnovers to beat Colts
‘I wasn’t enamored with Joe Brady’s play-calling in the first half, but he got more in line in the second half. Same for Bobby Babich who had a few challenging moments in the first half, but dialed up a great plan in the second as the Bills limited the Colts to a garbage time TD with two seconds remaining.’
Bills-Colts takeaways: Taron Johnson lifts Buffalo to road win for 8th victory
‘Johnson was the best player on the field and gave the Bills a charge in the first quarter after a Bills punt to open the game. Colts quarterback Joe Flacco threw the first of three interceptions on the day to Johnson, who got turned around quickly before recovering and running backward to jump in front of a Flacco changeup. Johnson then started to run it back before waiting for a few blocks to develop. He followed the blockers for a touchdown to give the Bills an early lead.’
Bills haven’t lost since Taron Johnson returned: How he set the tone in win over Colts
‘Johnson became the first Bills defensive player to record an interception for a touchdown and a sack in the same game. The interception was impressive, but Johnson’s immediate understanding of where he was on the field to quickly push for the end zone turned the play into a spectacular highlight.’
Buffalo Bills players talk trash to former Syracuse standout following 30-20 win over Colts
‘It appears that former Syracuse Orange linebacker Zaire Franklin and Buffalo Bills players will not be exchanging Christmas cards this holiday season.’
Bills end road losing streak to Colts, move to 8-2 for first time since 1993 (Encouraged/worried)
‘Jonathan Taylor was able to rush for 107 yards on 16 carries in the first half. There was a big run mixed in there, but Taylor’s ability to break off big runs was apparent.’
Bills force 4 turnovers, win fifth in a row vs. Colts
‘Kicker Tyler Bass drilled a 28-yard field goal to put the Bills ahead 23-13 with 11:01 remaining in the final frame to put Buffalo a two-possession lead they would not give up the remainder of the way.’
Five Takeaways: Bills create 4 turnovers, use formidable first-half drive to surge past Colts and earn 5th straight win
‘Buffalo fell behind 13-10 midway through the first half, but stormed back to seize the advantage entering the break before stifling the Colts in the second half to record the conference victory and send Indianapolis to 4-6 on the year.’