Colts Running Game could limit Bills offense

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

25 minutes ago, QLBillsFan said:

Colts fans see our run D as a huge flaw. While not perfect it’s improved significantly. Like Henry Bills can focus and limit run game. Colts are 2nd best team for scoring on opening drive. If we can manage their run game and eliminate points on opening drive we should be good. Bills early jitters could make it close at half. But agree control Taylor force 3rd and long. 

Even when our run D was bad early in the year, we could at least sell out to stop the run if we needed to. That’s what we did against Tenn. unfortunately, Tanny killed us through the air and on his QB scrambles. But now we that our D has improved, we can play a bit more Balanced on D, and I think still do pretty well against the run.

 

I think people though are expecting too much out of the D. Taylor averages 5 YPC, basically against everyone. The colts Ran pretty effectively even against the Steelers (not a ton of carries— but good YPC).  We just have to make some key stops, especially on 3rd down and in the redZone, and avoid huge homerun runs. 

[dlonce]

39 minutes ago, Jpsredemption said:

Not sure this is the team we should have wanted to face most. As time goes on the more I realize this is terrifying and the Colts could steal this one. 

 

Im nervous, only because of the gravity of the game. Win or go home.

 

A lot of people seem to believe the Colts will run all over the Bills and that could happen.

Yet, the only way the Colts can keep up with our scoring is through turn overs and short fields.

No stupid plays, pick 6 plays or turnovers in our territory then this will not be a close game.

 

I don’t care if they ran for 500 yards last week. They played a 1-14 Jacksonville team going through the motions  and they

were less then a score ahead going into quarter 4.

 

Lets hope we start out hot and not take much figuring out time.

[KollegeStudnet]

Indy is dink and dunk offense. Odds are if they did run the ball and control the clock, Rivers has to throw the ball. He’s had issues doing that. Bills win by +11

[1ManRaid]

Indy struggled against JACKSONVILLE, while the Bills dropped 56 on the #1 scoring defense in the league.

 

Bills' weakness against the run is exaggerated, as we improved from 125 rush yards per game pre-bye to 94 per game post-bye.

[Nelius]

Bills weakness against the run is exaggerated but I feel like Jonathan Taylor's rise over the past 5-6 weeks has been pretty understated. He's really good. 253 yards last week. He's not Henry but he may be the most complete back that we've seen since Henry. I can envision awful scenarios where Taylor and Hines chunk it up while Rivers game manages and dinks and dunks efficiently. Colts shouldn't be able to keep up with us so I hope Allen airs it out early and often. 

Edited January 9, 2021 by Nelius

[Hapless Bills Fan]

NO LIMITS BABY!  LET'S GO BILLS!

[Nelius]

2 hours ago, BillsBytheBay said:

Taylor was good but come on people... he put up 150 on Vegas... and 250 in week 17 against a jags team that mailed it in.

  I expect them to have a couple of splash plays,  but the Colts haven't controlled anything with the run at all this year.

 

I know that people discount RB performance because "they're a dime a dozen" and all that but are really going to overlook 400 yards over 2 NFL games now? That's really good. He also did that over the last 4 weeks of the season after he seemingly figured something out. Jonathan Taylor is good and could be a problem tomorrow. A small problem hopefully, but not one that should be completely dismissed. Hard to just toss away the fact that the put up 250 yards in just his last game, c'mon now.

[PrimeTime101]

Bs.. with a minute left last game josh had no problems getting a TD. to many teams already tried limiting Josh and our offense  via run. This team can drive down the field for 7 minutes or score in a minute... Im not going to be scared of a running attack...  The only thing that scares me is if Rivers manages to get hot on a cold day...

[JESSEFEFFER]

I think it's more likely that the Bills' offense limits the Colts running game.

[Scott7975]

They will only limit themselves if they think they are going to ground and pound their way to a win.  Then again it may limit the Rivers choke.

[Solomon Grundy]

30 minutes ago, Nelius said:

Bills weakness against the run is exaggerated but I feel like Jonathan Taylor's rise over the past 5-6 weeks has been pretty understated. He's really good. 253 yards last week. He's not Henry but he may be the most complete back that we've seen since Henry. I can envision awful scenarios where Taylor and Hines chunk it up while Rivers game manages and dinks and dunks efficiently. Colts shouldn't be able to keep up with us so I hope Allen airs it out early and often. 

Bills defense have to be wary of the checkdowns to the RBs. 

[Nelius]

2 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

Bills defense have to be wary of the checkdowns to the RBs. 

 

It's Philip's favorite play. It's how Ekeler started winning fantasy games. Hines isn't Ekeler, but he's an athlete that runs a 4.4 and Rivers seems to love him. LBs might get a workout tomorrow.

[Solomon Grundy]

Just now, Nelius said:

 

It's Philip's favorite play. It's how Ekeler started winning fantasy games. Hines isn't Ekeler, but he's an athlete that runs a 4.4 and Rivers seems to love him. LBs might get a workout tomorrow.

Gotta tackle. Milano needs another game like last week 

[machine gun kelly]

2 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

Even when our run D was bad early in the year, we could at least sell out to stop the run if we needed to. That’s what we did against Tenn. unfortunately, Tanny killed us through the air and on his QB scrambles. But now we that our D has improved, we can play a bit more Balanced on D, and I think still do pretty well against the run.

 

I think people though are expecting too much out of the D. Taylor averages 5 YPC, basically against everyone. The colts Ran pretty effectively even against the Steelers (not a ton of carries— but good YPC).  We just have to make some key stops, especially on 3rd down and in the redZone, and avoid huge homerun runs. 

Fair pt. Miyagi San.  Remember that guy who ran over 2000 yards this season (King Henry - 5.4 yds/carry) was kept to 3.0 in our game.

 

You make very good pts.  We can slow down Taylor like Henry and then what do they have to beat us.  They have one WR and a couple of good TE’s.
 

As far as the SB25 is not relevant.  We used a no huddle 2 min. offense the whole game, and Levy and Kelly were stubborn and outcoached.  BB stated he was not going to let our passing offense beat them.  Therefore he played 8 men back just like he tried this year in the wind game.  This coaching staff was smart enough to run the ball down their throat for approximately 190 yards.  Thurmon from memory ran about 145 yards on 14-15 carries.  Had Marv simply forced Jimbo to keep using the running game, it would have forced the Giants to play more up front eventually, or would’ve been a slug f3st between Otis and Thurmon and the Giants wouldn’t have been able to control the clock, as we would’ve done the same.  That singular point would’ve caused a different outcome.  We had a very good line back then.

 

Back to Saturday.  This coaching staff is better than that one, and Rivers is not Hostettler.

[machine gun kelly]

17 minutes ago, Nelius said:

 

It's Philip's favorite play. It's how Ekeler started winning fantasy games. Hines isn't Ekeler, but he's an athlete that runs a 4.4 and Rivers seems to love him. LBs might get a workout tomorrow.

They are known for that strategy like Tua and Miami.  Our DB’s jammed them at the LOS, and broke up their timing.  They don’t have an explosive offense like us.  They employ this strategy and we will kill them.  They have to try and keep up, and they can’t do it.

[MJS]

The Bills will still get at least 8 or 9 possessions regardless of what the Colts do. If they score TD's on half of those, that's still 28 points.

 

This isn't the 90's. I think Bills fans need to let go of that loss to the Giants. It has no bearing on this game.

[GunnerBill]

All the Jonathan Taylor talk does really leave me reflecting again on how he should have been the consensus #1 back in last year's draft. I don't give running backs first round grades very often. I had a first round grade on Taylor. He is a stud. 

 

On a team with a properly dangerous Quarterback he could be Derrick Henry good.

[billsbackto81]

Lets not over think this. Taylor is a good, not great player. He amassed half his rushing yards in Dec against teams like Hou (83), LV (150),Jax (253) and Pitt(74). HALF!!!That's  566 yards out of 1169 for the season. That means he ran for 603 yards in the previous 12 games in 3 months. 486 yards in Dec. against 3 teams that were a combined 13-35 with nothing to play for. The only D they actually played that was decent was Pitt and they choked away that game. 

 

Now they play a team that is motivated and knows the only chance they have to win is to run, kill clock and keep the Josh and the offense off the field. They will take Taylor out of the equation and force Old Man Rivers to win with his noodle arm in the cold. 

 

I like Taylor but he's not the second coming of Eric Dickerson. 

2 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

All the Jonathan Taylor talk does really leave me reflecting again on how he should have been the consensus #1 back in last year's draft. I don't give running backs first round grades very often. I had a first round grade on Taylor. He is a stud. 

 

On a team with a properly dangerous Quarterback he could be Derrick Henry good.

See above post. I like our debates on players and teams😊

[GunnerBill]

6 minutes ago, billsbackto81 said:

Lets not over think this. Taylor is a good, not great player. He amassed half his rushing yards in Dec against teams like Hou (83), LV (150),Jax (253) and Pitt(74). HALF!!!That's  566 yards out of 1169 for the season. That means he ran for 603 yards in the previous 12 games in 3 months. 486 yards in Dec. against 3 teams that were a combined 13-35 with nothing to play for. The only D they actually played that was decent was Pitt and they choked away that game. 

 

Now they play a team that is motivated and knows the only chance they have to win is to run, kill clock and keep the Josh and the offense off the field. They will take Taylor out of the equation and force Old Man Rivers to win with his noodle arm in the cold. 

 

I like Taylor but he's not the second coming of Eric Dickerson. 

See above post. I like our debates on players and teams😊

 

I agree he is not quite a "great" player right now. But he will be. He is an absolute beast. He has elite vision. Beyond Derrick Henry and the two playmaker backs who aren't really just running backs - McCaffrey and Kamara - I am not sure there is a back in the NFL I'd swap him for. 

 

I don't disagree with the general point on the Colts... I have been on the "overrated" train all year with them and to be honest am a little surprised they managed to win 11 games. But Taylor? He is legit. 

Edited January 9, 2021 by GunnerBill

[billsbackto81]

2 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I agree he quite great player right now. But he will be. He is an absolute beast. He has elite vision. Beyond Derrick Henry and the two playmaker backs who aren't really just running backs - McCaffrey and Kamara - I am not sure there is a back in the NFL I'd swap him for. 

 

I don't disagree with the general point on the Colts... I have been on the "overrated" train all year with them and to be honest am a little surprised they managed to win 11 games. But Taylor? He is legit.

I expect him to be a much better player as time goes but I gotta say, unless the run D lays an egg I see no reason why a motivated Bills team can't slap the brakes on him.    

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, billsbackto81 said:

I expect him to be a much better player as time goes but I gotta say, unless the run D lays an egg I see no reason why a motivated Bills team can't slap the brakes on him.    

 

The easiest way to slow Jonathan Taylor is score on offense. Put this game in Philip Rivers's hands. 

[machine gun kelly]

Something small, but we were 6-3 against winning teams, and the Colts are 4-4.  We have been on fire against some top defenses (Rams, Chargers, Steelers, and 49ers).  These four teams ended up in the top 10 for the year.  To the contrary, we have the second best offense in the NFL in both yards and points.

 

It will be fine.

[MJS]

7 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

Something small, but we were 6-3 against winning teams, and the Colts are 4-4.  We have been on fire against some top defenses (Rams, Chargers, Steelers, and 49ers).  These four teams ended up in the top 10 for the year.  To the contrary, we have the second best offense in the NFL in both yards and points.

 

It will be fine.

Miami was supposedly a good defense too and we murdered them.

[Rick 'r Mortis]

I don't see Taylor doing anything close to what he did last week.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

2 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

Something small, but we were 6-3 against winning teams, and the Colts are 4-4.  We have been on fire against some top defenses (Rams, Chargers, Steelers, and 49ers).  These four teams ended up in the top 10 for the year.  To the contrary, we have the second best offense in the NFL in both yards and points.

 

It will be fine.

True even the mediocre teams weve played have had solid defenses.  Committing to a run the football/possession type game on the Colts part is a bit of a double edged sword because they're also running out the clock on themselves if they can't punch it in.  We've given up big chunks but based on the eye test we've been pretty stout against the run in the red zone 

[machine gun kelly]

GBF, welcome to the board as I see you’re a little new, so sincerely welcome.  You know pick you’re stat.  Best at throwing on first down, best at 3 and 10, and so on and so on.

 

I was just watching NFLN, and they claimed the last (can’t remember exactly how many games) a top 5 defense.  These guys were claiming why the Bills are destroying teams partially by the defense.  They were saying which we know the offense has been explosive, but the defense is just pounding teams.

[1ManRaid]

1 hour ago, Generic_Bills_Fan said:

True even the mediocre teams weve played have had solid defenses.  Committing to a run the football/possession type game on the Colts part is a bit of a double edged sword because they're also running out the clock on themselves if they can't punch it in.  We've given up big chunks but based on the eye test we've been pretty stout against the run in the red zone 

 

I am 100% fine with Indy riding Taylor to field goals while Allen punches in touchdowns.  Don't get why people keep talking like it's an automatic win for Indy if they get Taylor going, as if that somehow precludes Buffalo from also having a good, if not better offense.

[MarkyMannn]

1 hour ago, machine gun kelly said:

 

I was just watching NFLN, and they claimed the last (can’t remember exactly how many games) a top 5 defense.  These guys were claiming why the Bills are destroying teams partially by the defense.  They were saying which we know the offense has been explosive, but the defense is just pounding teams.

Amazing we got 3 D Td's starting Steelers game. Plus a punt return TD.  You can go all season and not get one

[PrimeTime101]

1 hour ago, 1ManRaid said:

 

I am 100% fine with Indy riding Taylor to field goals while Allen punches in touchdowns.  Don't get why people keep talking like it's an automatic win for Indy if they get Taylor going, as if that somehow precludes Buffalo from also having a good, if not better offense.

I 100% agree with this message

 

[YoloinOhio]

2 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

GBF, welcome to the board as I see you’re a little new, so sincerely welcome.  You know pick you’re stat.  Best at throwing on first down, best at 3 and 10, and so on and so on.

 

I was just watching NFLN, and they claimed the last (can’t remember exactly how many games) a top 5 defense.  These guys were claiming why the Bills are destroying teams partially by the defense.  They were saying which we know the offense has been explosive, but the defense is just pounding teams.

I’m glad that was brought up on NFLN because I just mentioned in another thread that I feel like no one (the analysts) talking about how well the bills D has been playing. Colts D getting all the hype. 

[YoloinOhio]

6 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

The easiest way to slow Jonathan Taylor is score on offense. Put this game in Philip Rivers's hands. 

I watched him a lot in college, obviously. Buckeyes played him 3x. He had a good game the third time. I was never a huge fan. Fumbled a lot and seemed to shrink when the D focused on stopping him. He was really good against bad defenses and not so much against good ones. That’s my very layman’s viewpoint. I don’t watch film, just a fan’s perspective. 

[GunnerBill]

3 minutes ago, YoloinOhio said:

I watched him a lot in college, obviously. Buckeyes played him 3x. He had a good game the third time. I was never a huge fan. Fumbled a lot and seemed to shrink when the D focused on stopping him. He was really good against bad defenses and not so much against good ones. That’s my very layman’s viewpoint. I don’t watch film, just a fan’s perspective. 

 

I remember you weren't a fan. I loved him as a prospect. I went back and looked at every fumble and I think was comfortable enough that it didn't put me off him. His vision at the line is elite and he has plenty of speed and power once he hits the gap. 

 

I understood why the Chiefs took CEH at #32 because of their scheme but as much as I liked Dobbins and Swift if I wanted a pure runner they were behind Taylor for me.

[DCofNC]

Everyone and their brother is going to try to do this to the Bills, Chiefs, Packers, Saints, Bucs, ya know how successful it was this year? The worst record of the group was 11-5.  I’ll take better than 2:1 odds on their plan failing.  Their D has to be able to stop the Bills from scoring and their O has to be flawless to make it happen.   How many times did the Bills think they could “keep Brady off the field and we have a chance?”. You have to play to win, not to not lose.

[billsherd]

Anytime you have a veteran QB and running game in playoffs you will be in the game.

[machine gun kelly]

2 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

I’m glad that was brought up on NFLN because I just mentioned in another thread that I feel like no one (the analysts) talking about how well the bills D has been playing. Colts D getting all the hype. 

The great Yolo has spoken!

 

let’s have fun today bud watching us beat these guys.

[Nick the Greek]

The Bills will stack the box in anticipation for the run, therefore daring Rivers to pass. It will be on him to move the football. 

[Doc]

3 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

I’m glad that was brought up on NFLN because I just mentioned in another thread that I feel like no one (the analysts) talking about how well the bills D has been playing. Colts D getting all the hype. 

 

Yeah and hopefully it's pissing them off.  Especially all this talk of how a rookie RB who gained a lot of yards against the worst team in the NFL is going to run all over them.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

5 hours ago, 1ManRaid said:

 

I am 100% fine with Indy riding Taylor to field goals while Allen punches in touchdowns.  Don't get why people keep talking like it's an automatic win for Indy if they get Taylor going, as if that somehow precludes Buffalo from also having a good, if not better offense.

Same...its like our game against the chiefs...they dominated on the ground about as much as a team possibly can and if we force out that fumble a split second earlier towards the end of the game we had a shot to punch it in for the win

[BillsBytheBay]

10 hours ago, Nelius said:

 

I know that people discount RB performance because "they're a dime a dozen" and all that but are really going to overlook 400 yards over 2 NFL games now? That's really good. He also did that over the last 4 weeks of the season after he seemingly figured something out. Jonathan Taylor is good and could be a problem tomorrow. A small problem hopefully, but not one that should be completely dismissed. Hard to just toss away the fact that the put up 250 yards in just his last game, c'mon now.

You totally missed my point.   I think the kid is good.   I expect him to have big plays.  But the Colts haven't controlled any games this year.  His big game was against a team that wasn't playing hard. 

  I didn't remotely call him dime a dozen. I think that's a stupid cliche especially considering we dont have any good RBs.  so please don't put your words in my mouth. 

  My only point is they aren't running Derek Henry at us.  They have a very good back that hasn't dominated anyone but a jags team that was already on vacation.

 

[Coach Tuesday]

Hines might be more of a concern today than Taylor.  Screens all day.