Colts May Have Been Exactly What the Bills Needed

[mjt328]

The Colts had a better gameplan, and outplayed us for the majority of 4 quarters.

But they also made some key mistakes, at very key moments.

 

Phillip Rivers missed very few passes on Saturday.  But one was on 4th and Goal.  The other was on 3rd Down, just before the missed field goal. 

They also had very few penalties.  But one was on 4th Down, a few plays before the Bills put the ball in the endzone.

 

I don't like using the term "lucky" because the Bills made lots of plays on offense, and capitalized on all of the Colts' errors.  But make no mistake.  The Bills were very fortunate to escape Sunday with a victory.  They were dominated at the line of scrimmage.  They weren't sharp in the passing game for most of the 1st Half.  They were baited into playing Frank Reich's game, instead of what led them to 13 regular season wins.

 

I can't imagine a team being less than 100% focused in the playoffs.  But hopefully the Bills come to play on Saturday.  The Ravens have a very similar team to the Colts, and we need to employ a similar strategy to win.  Another week of getting dominated at the line of scrimmage, failing to cover Tight Ends, or wasting drives running the ball 3 times in a row into a brick wall, and I don't think we escape with another victory.

 

[Royale with Cheese]

1 hour ago, Bobby Hooks said:

The thing is the offense was clicking fine when we did what got us there. 

 

When we were passing and let Allen do his thing we were slicing up the D like a hot knife through butter. 

 

Too many odd playcalls were the reason for the slow start. I truly don’t understand Daboll continuing to ask our 240lb qb to try these sweeps to the outside. Our running backs don’t even have the speed required for those runs. 

 

People think Reich overcoached, Daboll put him in that position. Game shouldn’t have been as close as it was. 

 

It didn't seem normal and didn't seem like it was the same offense in the first quarter.

[Cruiserplayer]

2 hours ago, dollars 2 donuts said:

 

 

I can agree with some of your sentiment, Gugny, but I can't agree with "stealing a game" wherein they never trailed during an entire half of football...especially when it is the second half and they had a 2 td lead at one time. 

 

..and it is not like the refs also did the Bills "a solid" to ensure the victory.

You must not listen to SiriusXM. Bills got All the calls. Well except for that fumble that should’ve ended the game.

[CSBill]

Let’s hope.

[dollars 2 donuts]

16 hours ago, theRalph said:

 

I took his "stealing" in a statistical sense...accurate therein. But stats aren't situational. Plus, if the fumble is correctly adjudicated, this win would feel a touch different and this isn't as much of a discussion.

 

I think of stealing as you have no business winning the game (just like you have no right to steal something), but you win it, anyways.

 

I never felt that way about the Bills on Saturday, especially with our QBs playing so very well...record settingly well, actually.

 

 

 

14 hours ago, Cruiserplayer said:

You must not listen to SiriusXM. Bills got All the calls. Well except for that fumble that should’ve ended the game.

 

Isn’t it weird, Cruiser, after a WIN that you feel like you have to tune things out?

 

Ridiculous.  I’m right there with you, brother.

Edited January 12, 2021 by dollars 2 donuts

[Dukestreetking]

3 hours ago, theRalph said:

The effect of Hail Murray on the Bills is undebatable

Indeed.

 

So it appears that the Hail Murray, followed by the Phail Mary, will be the two inflection points of the entire season.

[TFBillsfan]

I’m fully expecting another white knuckle game. Ravens D is even better than the Colts. Just like Josh, Lamar is a playmaker.  Can we contain him, stop their running games and limit damage from their TE’s and deep threat WR’s? No easy task but nothing’s easy once you get to the playoffs. 

 

Bill’s MUST tackle better this week,  keep Lamar from breaking containment, score early to force the Ravens to play from behind, be just as physical and protect the ball.

 

Hopeful that playing NE, Pitt, Miami and Indy have prepared us for the Raven’s D.

[Success]

I'm still amazed that we pulled it out.  Our scores were more like short bursts of playing well. It felt like the Colts dictated the tempo, controlled the ball and were able to put together much more sustained drives.

 

The end of the half was obviously a big turning point.  I was already thinking 17-7, and a big uphill battle against that D.

 

I'm really curious which Bills defense we'll see Saturday.  I think we all felt like they turned a corner over the past 5-6 games, and then the Colts game was how they looked in September.  Probably the most alarming aspect was the secondary - Colts players were just open, all day (though no pass rush can contribute to that also).

 

[3rdand12]

4 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

I have had that thought myself - winning a bit too easy can make a team start "eating the cheese" and feeling itself too much, no matter what the coach says.

"Steel sharpens Steel", as McDermott likes to say.

 

 

I thought they looked yippy more than overconfident.
except Allen. he cannot help himself and we need to live with it ( he might be right )

[billsfan89]

Winning that game I hope gets the Bills to play less tight and play better and more loose. I could tell late in the game esp after that Josh fumble they really had the feel of them choking but they pulled through. Hopefully the coaching and the players perform better knowing they can win against a good team.

[Xwnyer]

Our offense was too vanilla against colts, very little motion, no jet sweeps.  Maybe field position or lack there of dictated the scheme who knows.  Our returner is pro bowl but man that one he only got to the 10 yard line and than a holding penalty gotta be more willing to accept getting ball at the 25.   Colts are a well coached team on every side of the ball and executed a perfect game plan.  Hoping. The distractions of coordinators interviewing for jobs does not get In the way of game planning.   

[JMF2006]

The Colts being top 10 in all 3 phases made for a very tough first round match up.

 

Every opponent going forward will be as tough or tougher than the Colts.

 

Coaching and preparation are going to get the Bills to the Conference Championship game

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

16 hours ago, That's No Moon said:

It wasn't that they went to sleep. The Colts picked up the pace and stopped grinding clock. They moved the ball the whole game. They just moved it faster in the 4th.

This. Only forced a punt twice. 

[PromoTheRobot]

This is why I was in favor of playing starters sharing the Dolphins. They put up a fight early on. I wonder how KC will look after essentially 2 weeks off?

[Last Guy on the Bench]

Re-watching parts of the game - it wasn't as bad as I remembered. Yes, there were some big blown plays by the defense. But Rivers converted a bunch of close ones too where he was just about to get hammered and the receiver was pretty well covered. Hats off to him. He's a HOF QB in my eyes.

 

On the other side, we had no cheap points whatsoever. No turnovers. Brutal field position. Colts forced us to punt 4 times. Good defense. But we also had great drives: TD drives were 85, 96 (1!), and 77. Massive. And the FG drives weren't short: 44 and 39. 

 

I think it felt worse than it was, because three of the punts were on three and out possessions. We are not used to those. But they happen. All it takes is a small mistake. We've been spoiled. Didn't the Bills set the team record for first downs this year? And they were near the top of the league for fewest punts and fewest three and outs, I think I remember hearing.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Last Guy on the Bench