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Wildcard weekend GDT: Colts @ Bills 1:05pm Saturday


Trentwannabe

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Last 5 Games:
2018: Buffalo 5 @ Indianapolis 37
2017: Indianapolis 7 @ Buffalo 13
2015: Indianapolis 14 @ Buffalo 27
2012: Buffalo 13 @ Indianapolis 20
2010: Indianapolis 7 @ Buffalo 30 

The home team has won the last 6 match ups.
Indianapolis has not won in Buffalo since 2003.

Old faces, new places:
Colts HC Frank Reich was a long time Bills QB during the late 19080's and 1990's.
Bills OL coach Bobby Johnson was the assistant OL coach in Indianapolis in 2018.
Bills DE's Mario Addison and Jerry Hughes were teammates on the Colts in 2011 and 2012.

Stats:
Bills

OFF
Yds/gm - T-2nd
Yds/play - 6th
Rush/gm - 20th
Rush/play - 20th
Pass/gm - 3rd
Pass/play - 4th
PTS: 2nd (31.3)

DEF
Yds/gm - 14th
Yds/play - 15th
Rush/gm - 17th
Rush/play - 26th
Pass/gm - 13th
Pass/play - 9th
PTS: 16th (23.4)

Colts:

OFF
Yds/gm - 10th
Yds/play - 9th
Rush/gm - 11th
Rush/play - 14th
Pass/gm - 11th
Pass/play - 9th
PTS: 9th (28.2)

DEF
Yds/gm - 8th
Yds/play - 10th
Rush/gm - 2nd
Rush/play - 2nd
Pass/gm - 20th
Pass/play - 19th
PTS: 11th (22.6)

Analysis: 

Offense: Well it hasn't happened in over 20 years but the Buffalo Bills will host a playoff game this Saturday at 1:05pm in front of 6700 screaming fans. The AFC East Champions finished an impressive 13-3 and have won their last 9 out of 10 games. Coming to town is 7th place Indianapolis Colts who finished 11-5 on the season and are lead by rookie RB Jonathan Taylor. 

In a lot of ways this match up favors the Bills. Buffalo's offense is firing on all cylinders and QB Josh Allen has played at an MVP level all season. Stefon Diggs finished the regular season as the leader in receptions and yards. WR John Brown is back from injury and looked great during week 17 and key depth players, Isaiah McKenzie and Gabriel Davis proved they could be starters on most teams.

Even if the Bills don't get Cole Beasley back for Saturday, they shouldn't have any issues passing and scoring against the Colts defense that is middle of the pack at best against the pass. RB's Devin Singletary and Zach Moss will likely just offer some balance this weekend as the Colts are fairly stout against the run and it's not what Buffalo wants to do.

Defensively the Bills will have their hands full with Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines out of the back field. But the best way to neutralize them will be for the Bills offense to score early and often. QB Phillip Rivers has held this team back at times this season and he offers no mobility back there. If the Bills can get a lead, then rested veteran DE's, Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison can pin their ears back and go.

The Bills secondary has a big advantage over the Colts WR's. T.Y Hilton is still a dangerous deep threat but the Bills are still the best at limiting those big throws. Michael Pittman and Zach Pascal are good players, but they will need to step up in a big way against this Bills secondary to have a chance. 

I was happy to knock off the Dolphins and open the door for Indianapolis to make the playoffs, but I will be even happier to knock them out a week later. This has been a magical season for the Bills and their fans and it would be a catastrophic failure for them to lose at home against an inferior team during wildcard weekend. 

Prediction: I see the Bills offense doing what they've done all season long and the defense, who continues to get better by the week, help the Bills win in dominant fashion. Bills 34-13.

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Short week, got to make sure everyone is healthy. Game plan should be to continue to be aggressive on offense. We need to stop Taylor as he has been a solid RB for them and their go to guy. If we shut that down that will roce Rivers to throw and lately he has been making quite a few mistakes. Having Brown and Diggs out there is great but I do hope that Beasley is good to go if not we need Mckenzie to be ready to step in like he did this week against the Dolphins. 

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Not taking any game lightly but I was happy to see the Titans pull that game out yesterday. The Titans D hasn't been great but they have Derrick 2K Henry then at times a very good QB with weapons in AJ Brown and Corey Davis. Feels like the Colts have a lot less fire power but we'll see. 

I do like this matchup for us. The Colts have a solid run D but a pretty par passing defense. The thing the Bills love to do is spread it out and go shotgun every play with JA. The WR set of Diggs, John Brown, Beasley, McKenzie and Gabe Davis would be a nightmare. 

Dream scenario : get up early, make the Colts one dimension and throw the ball, rush Rivers and make him out duel Josh Allen. Early prediction 28-17 Bills 

Edited by The BILLievers
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9 minutes ago, The BILLievers said:

Not taking any game lightly but I was happy to see the Titans pull that game out yesterday. The Titans D hasn't been great but they have Derrick 2K Henry then at times a very good QB with weapons in AJ Brown and Corey Davis. Feels like the Colts have a lot less fire power but we'll see. 

I do like this matchup for us. The Colts have a solid run D but a pretty par passing defense. The thing the Bills love to do is spread it out and go shotgun every play with JA. The WR set of Diggs, John Brown, Beasley, McKenzie and Gabe Davis would be a nightmare. 

Dream scenario : get up early, make the Colts one dimension and throw the ball, rush Rivers and make him out duel Josh Allen. Early prediction 28-17 Bills 

Yes, ideally the bills and steelers win this weekend. I think that would be the best matchup out of titans/ravens, and steelers. Have the winner of ravens/titans face KC and avoid having to play 2 of the 3 as I feel like they are the hottest teams in the AFC right now that could compete with Bills.

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23 hours ago, Trentwannabe said:

Prediction: I see the Bills offense doing what they've done all season long and the defense, who continues to get better by the week, help the Bills win in dominant fashion. Bills 34-13.

Hard to picture a Colt win, but I certainly don't see a 21 point loss. 

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It will be closer then that. I still have reservations about this team being 0-2 in the post season while they have been lighting it up pressure is now on them more so then the Colts and I am just hoping we go in to this game with the mind set of what was being done the last 6 weeks and not the oh man its do or die. that big of a score would be shocking. I think Indy will grind it out on the ground to avoid Allen being in the game as much as possible. The defense stopping the run will be key if they struggle like they have shown this year then they may be able to get off to a good start. Rivers is a seasoned veteran and has seen more playoff games then any bills player. Frank Reich has experienced the pressure as a player and a Coach in the post season where McD needs to get that post season monkey off his back. He did it with the regular season by getting us to the playoffs for the 3rd time in 4 years, we got the division and the home game, the next step is to win a post season game and then there is nothing to lose at that point. We need to be clean minimal turnovers and penalties, we give this team a chance to stay in it, we can get burned like last year. If we get the ball first we need to make it a scoring possession and put the foot on the throats early and fast, never taking it off until the clock is 0:00.

35-24 is my guess but I wouldn't be shocked if it was closer. 

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12 minutes ago, Trentwannabe said:

 

Glad to see Feliciano back to full dont need any issues on the oline. Hopefully Diggs is just precautionary as we do not need him banged up either. Should bubble wrap him and just let him do walk throughs all week . Im curious if Stills will be activated or not, if so who gets left out. 

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4 hours ago, soflbillsfan said:

It will be closer then that. I still have reservations about this team being 0-2 in the post season while they have been lighting it up pressure is now on them more so then the Colts and I am just hoping we go in to this game with the mind set of what was being done the last 6 weeks and not the oh man its do or die. that big of a score would be shocking. I think Indy will grind it out on the ground to avoid Allen being in the game as much as possible. The defense stopping the run will be key if they struggle like they have shown this year then they may be able to get off to a good start. Rivers is a seasoned veteran and has seen more playoff games then any bills player. Frank Reich has experienced the pressure as a player and a Coach in the post season where McD needs to get that post season monkey off his back. He did it with the regular season by getting us to the playoffs for the 3rd time in 4 years, we got the division and the home game, the next step is to win a post season game and then there is nothing to lose at that point. We need to be clean minimal turnovers and penalties, we give this team a chance to stay in it, we can get burned like last year. If we get the ball first we need to make it a scoring possession and put the foot on the throats early and fast, never taking it off until the clock is 0:00.

35-24 is my guess but I wouldn't be shocked if it was closer. 

I don't think 2017 has anything to do with this team. Especially one offense with just Dawkins remaining. McDermott has already shown a growth mindset and this year has proven it. That loss to Houston has changed a lot of ways on how he calls games and his aggressive approach. I agree we need a win or there will be questions about McD playoff record, but the guys been to two Super Bowls and has a lot of playoff coaching exp. He knows what needs to be done and he will have everyone prepared.

I like the Colts, but they just are not on Buffalo's level this year and specifically right now. The run D is a weakness but other than the Chiefs game (where our offense played horribly) it hasn't really effected them. Teams are forced to abandon it, even when it's working because of how quickly we can score. 

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1 hour ago, Trentwannabe said:

I don't think 2017 has anything to do with this team. Especially one offense with just Dawkins remaining. McDermott has already shown a growth mindset and this year has proven it. That loss to Houston has changed a lot of ways on how he calls games and his aggressive approach. I agree we need a win or there will be questions about McD playoff record, but the guys been to two Super Bowls and has a lot of playoff coaching exp. He knows what needs to be done and he will have everyone prepared.

I like the Colts, but they just are not on Buffalo's level this year and specifically right now. The run D is a weakness but other than the Chiefs game (where our offense played horribly) it hasn't really effected them. Teams are forced to abandon it, even when it's working because of how quickly we can score. 

Im not concerned about the Colts as I am with this team making mental errors. We are the 4th most penalized team in the NFL. We are also 0-2 when Allen throws multiple Ints. If we can overcome by not making these mental mistakes I wont be that concerned. I know the last 5 weeks the offense has turned it on but there have been several games that the bills blew the lead and almost lost them, one being the Cardinals game. We just need to continue to play clean ball and not get in to the funk we use to be in come 3rd qtr going in to the 4th qtr. I may be over reacting but it could be the mental abuse this team has given me for over 3 decades that I question everything lol.... it is to good to be true that this team has been playing the way they have and it not ending negatively cause thats what they usually do. 

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