It wasn’t perfect, but it was another conference win on the road for Buffalo
The Buffalo Bills beat the Indianapolis Colts in Indianapolis on Sunday for the first time since 1998, winning 30-20 in a game that had plenty of back-and-forth to it. Well, the first half was hotly contested, anyway, as Buffalo jumped out to a 10-0 lead, trailed 13-10, and then ultimately ran out to a 30-13 lead before allowing a garbage-time touchdown.
While that late touchdown didn’t do much for anyone — unless you bet the over — it did make the final margin of victory look closer than it should have. On defense, Buffalo did plenty of things well, and while the offense turned it over twice in a single game for the first time this season, they still won the turnover battle by forcing four more turnovers of their own on defense.
Our five Bills to watch certainly played a big part in the outcome of the game, and if not for a wayward pass from quarterback Josh Allen, they would have done even more. Here’s how our five Bills to watch fared this week.
WR Mack Hollins
Look, I’m not saying that Hollins should be a starter when Buffalo’s receiving corps is fully healthy. But, I’m not saying that he should be relegated to afterthought status, either. As the year’s progressed, Hollins and Allen have built much more chemistry, and while his red zone expertise wasn’t necessary this week, some of that chemistry came in handy.
Hollins caught all four of his targets for a game-high 86 yards. That included one huge play at the end of the first half where Allen eluded the Colts’ pass rush, high-stepped towards the line of scrimmage to avoid Laitu Latu, and hit Hollins for a 44-yard gain with eight seconds before intermission. Hollins not only made a sliding catch, but he had the presence of mind to jump to his feet and run out of bounds, thereby preserving Buffalo’s final timeout just in case something went wrong on the next play. Hollins also made a sliding grab on a Cover-2 “hole shot” to give the Bills a first down when they were backed up in their own end.
With Keon Coleman already ruled out for next week and Amari Cooper’s status up in the air, we should expect to see plenty more of Hollins against the Kansas City Chiefs. He’s been on a good run of late.
TE Dalton Kincaid
The Bills tried to give Kincaid some shots, and he saw four targets in the first quarter alone. Kincaid made two catches for 24 yards, as both of his grabs went for 12 yards. He would have had three catches for 52 yards and a touchdown, but Allen flat-out missed him on a wheel route late in the first quarter. That overthrow came on a third down, and Buffalo went for it on fourth down rather than attempt a 46-yard field goal. The stick route to Curtis Samuel (who caught four passes for 35 yards) went incomplete, and Buffalo came away empty.
Unfortunately, Kincaid injured his knee while diving for that pass. He returned for a few plays in the third quarter, and he was targeted once for an incomplete pass on that drive, but he ultimately left the game and didn’t return. His status for Sunday is up in the air at the moment.
DE A.J. Epenesa
Buffalo’s pass rush had a good day on Sunday, notching four sacks and six quarterback hits on the day. Epenesa, for his part, had a sack and three tackles. Between Epenesa, Greg Rousseau (who had a sack and a forced fumble to continue his excellent year) and Von Miller (who had a quarterback hit and a few other solid pressures), the Colts’ offensive line struggled to keep veteran Joe Flacco protected.
Flacco had four turnovers, adding three interceptions to that fumble, and much of the reason was because the Bills were able to bring steady pressure off the edge.
DT DaQuan Jones
Where the Bills didn’t bring much pressure was up the middle. Jones had just one tackle on the day, and if someone saw running back Jonathan Taylor’s line out of context (21 carries for 114 yards), they’d think the defensive line had a bad day. However, Taylor’s line was boosted by a 58-yard run early in the game, so on his other 20 totes, he had just 66 yards.
It’s so hard to evaluate interior defensive linemen because so much of what they do doesn’t show up in the stats. Instead, it shows up when the team’s linebackers, Dorian Williams and Terrel Bernard, have nine tackles each, or when they eat enough blocks in the middle to allow the edge players to have one-on-one chances at the quarterback. Jones isn’t going to post huge stat lines each week; however, if he’s not there, watch what happens to the guys behind him.
LB Dorian Williams
As we mentioned above, Williams had nine tackles, which tied for the team lead in the game with his running mate Bernard. Williams leads the team in tackles by a wide margin, as his 93 combined tackles is 32 more than the next-closest player, Damar Hamlin. Williams looked good in coverage, but he also made plenty of plays against the run, and especially in the second half.
Jonathan Taylor carried five times for seven yards in the second half, and while some of that was dictated by the score of the game, it was also because the Bills clamped down on defense. Williams has been a pleasant addition this season, and with Matt Milano’s 21-day practice window opening, we may see Williams make his final start of the season this week against Kansas City.