Top 3 Things We Learned

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Top 3 things we learned from Bills at Colts | Week 10

Nov 10, 2024 at 09:16 PM

Alec White

Content Coordinator

The Buffalo Bills notched their fifth consecutive win Sunday, going on the road to defeat the Indianapolis Colts 30-20.

The Bills won their first game in Indianapolis since 1998 & tallied the team's first 8-2 start since 1993.

Here are the top three things we learned from Bills-Colts:

1 — Defense flusters Flacco with four turnovers

The Bills entered Week 10 leading the league in turnover differential, and that continued Sunday as Buffalo forced four turnovers against the Colts, including a Taron Johnson pick-six on Indianapolis' first offensive play of the game.

In the 30-20 win, the Bills intercepted Flacco three times and recovered a strip sack. The Bills scored 17 points off turnovers.

"I think it's huge," CB Taron Johnson said of the four TOs. "I know we're banged up on offense, but defense came out, and especially in that second half, we made a lot of plays, and I feel like that helped us win for sure."

Not many would have predicted coming into the year that defensive tackle Austin Johnson would record an interception — he had zero INTs at any level prior to this year — but the DT came away with a pick off a screen play on the Colts' second drive of the game.

"Just blessed to be in the right position," Austin Johnson said postgame.

Johnson had a similar interception on a screen pass in Buffalo's win at Seattle two weeks ago.

"Every time that's happened, someone's hitting the quarterback. So the ball's coming my way just gotta catch it," he added.

Buffalo forced two more turnovers in the second half. DE Greg Rousseau forced a strip sack that Damar Hamlin scooped up and now has 2.5 sacks over his last three games.

S Taylor Rapp came down with his first INT of the season in the fourth quarter that came at an important point in the game. With the Bills leading 23-13, they were able to drive down the field on a 13-play, 84-yard drive and scored on a James Cook rushing TD. The possession took nearly seven minutes off the clock to seal up the win.

"The defense and the takeaways was a big time difference in the game," Bills head coach Sean McDermott said.

Buffalo is now +13 in turnover differential through the first 10 games of the season, tied for their best mark since 1990.

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2 — Allen makes it work without top playmakers

The Bills knew prior to the game that they'd be without two of their top wide receivers as Amari Cooper and Keon Coleman were listed as inactive due to injuries. Matters were made worse when TE Dalton Kincaid suffered a knee injury in the first half.

Kincaid attempted to return in the second half but eventually left the game once more and was downgraded to doubtful to return.

Down three of their top pass catchers, the Bills got contributions elsewhere in the passing game as QB Josh Allen showed trust in some of his other playmakers.

WR Mack Hollins led the Bills in receiving yards with a season-high 86 yards, WR Khalil Shakir paced the team with nine targets for 58 yards and WR Curtis Samuel recorded a season-high four catches.

"Guys stepping up, knowing their job, knowing their assignment, and going out there and executing," Allen said.

Allen was, at times, choppy in his performance. He was picked off twice and missed a few open throws. "That's on me," Allen said of his two INTs.

Still, the MVP candidate stepped up when he needed to and finished with a season-high 330 scrimmage yards. He totaled 280 passing yards, 50 rushing yards and a rushing TD that moved him into a tie for 2nd place all-time in Bills history with his 57th career rushing TD.

"Just trusting the play calls, trusting the guys that were in there, and just trying to run our offense to the best of my ability," Allen said. "And again, I don't feel like I did that today. You know, wish I had a couple throws back, especially early on, but we'll take 8-2."

The quarterback praised the offensive group around him for the way they battled throughout the game, even when things weren't going their way at times. He said he was "proud" of the team's 13-play TD drive in the fourth quarter to go up 30-13 and effectively close out the win.

"Going down there and getting six the way we did, it was a long, grueling drive, and a lot of guys that just gritted it out, and guys are hurt, playing through injuries. So I'm proud of our guys," he said.

3 — Best start since '93

Sunday's win marked the first time in the Josh Allen & Sean McDermott era that the Bills are 8-2 in their first 10 games. The last time the Bills started a season 8-2 or better was the 1993 season.

"Awesome to get eight wins through 10 games. Still got a lot of season left, so we're not really looking at it as that. It's just really on to the next," Allen said.

Head coach Sean McDermott said one of the things that's stood out to him this year is how connected the team is week in and week out.

"They take a lot of pride in not letting each other down. They love each other. I think that's a big piece of this. This is a team that has a pretty strong bond," he said.

During the team's five-game winning streak, Buffalo has scored 30+ points in four of the five contests and has allowed more than 20 points just once. They own a 148-87 (+61) point differential during that span.

"We're out there playing for each other," WR Khalil Shakir said. "The other 10 guys want to do it with you. It's a very up and down game. We just kept putting our heads down and just kept putting one foot in front of the other."

The Bills will now turn their attention to the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs (9-0) who visit Buffalo next Sunday at 4:25 p.m. on CBS. The game has huge implications for the AFC No. 1 seed but the Bills want to approach it just like any other game.

"It'll be Week 11. Again, we're just gonna try to put our best foot forward, have a good week of practice and try to win a football game against a really good football team. It's the biggest one because it's the next one," Allen said.