Colts head to Buffalo for playoff rematch
Winners of four of past five, Indianapolis looks to avenge January wild-card loss to Bills
Difficult as it was for Frank Reich to open the week being reminded of how Indianapolis fell short in its most recent trip to Buffalo, the Colts coach also found reason for optimism.
“I’m not going to lie. It was painful to watch that game on tape again … but yet it was also encouraging,” Reich said, referring to a 27-24 loss to the Bills in an AFC wildcard playoff in January.
What also stood out was how the Colts were one of any several plays away from a chance at victory.
The potential turning points included getting stopped four times inside Buffalo’s 4, defensive end Kemoko Turay jumping offside on fourth down to extend an eventual Bills touchdown drive, and Rodrigo Blankenship banking a 33-yard field-goal attempt off the right upright.
“We know there’s no consolation prize. But at the same time, I feel like it was a great effort by our team,” Reich, who was a backup QB for Buffalo during his NFL career, added. “I feel like we’re a better team this year.”
That remains to be seen as the Colts (5-5) travel to face the Bills (6-3) on Sunday with questions still unanswered as to how good either team might be.
While the Colts have rebounded from a 1-4 start to win four of five, they’re 0-5 against opponents who made the playoffs last year.
The Bills, meantime, have padded their record by beating opponents entering Week 11 with a combined 18-39 record.
By comparison, they’ve lost to Tennessee (8-2), Pittsburgh (5-3-1) and Jacksonville (2-7). With Buffalo’s AFC East lead down to a half-game over New England (6-4), the team enters the meat of its schedule with its next six opponents currently .500 or better.
The hope is carrying over momentum from a 45-17 rout of the New York Jets.
Buffalo’s offense shed its inconsistencies by scoring a season high in points, and a resurgent defense forced five takeaways for a second time this year.
“We can go wherever we want, but we just have to focus on us,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said. “We are the only people that can stop us from going where we want to go, and that’s just to say that we are our biggest opponent.”
While the defense has been stout, Buffalo’s Josh Allen-led offense has under-delivered despite scoring 280 points, the secondmost in the NFL behind Arizona, which has played one more game.
What’s missing are fourth-quarter comebacks with all three of Buffalo’s losses decided by seven points or fewer.
The Colts have also had difficulty finishing, with two of their losses decided in overtime, and being outscored by a combined 96-62 in the fourth quarter.
In a 23-17 win over Jacksonville last weekend, the Colts nearly squandered a 20-6 fourth-quarter lead before the Dayo Odeyingbo and DeForest Buckner sealed the victory with a strip-sack of Trevor Lawrence at midfield with a minute left.
The win is all that mattered to quarterback Carson Wentz, with Indy back in the playoff picture.
“At the end of the day, we’re heading into late November and December here and we’re sitting at .500,” Wentz said. “We would love to say it could’ve looked different. All of that kind of goes out the window. It’s pretty wide open.”