Looking Ahead at Colts Facing Bills

INDIANAPOLIS — Before Sunday’s in-or-out playoff drama played out, Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich said he would be a huge Buffalo Bills fan come game day.

That was for Sunday. That won’t be for next weekend, when the Colts and Bills meet at Bills Stadium in the first round of the AFC playoffs.

A Bills team for which Reich played 10 of his 14 years as a backup quarterback provided the Colts with the help needed in a 56-26 home blowout of the Miami Dolphins. Then the Colts defeated the pesky Jacksonville Jaguars 28-14 at home to bypass the Dolphins and earn the AFC’s No. 7 playoff seed.

The Tennessee Titans (11-5) clinched the AFC South Division title with a last-second win at Houston because they have the tiebreaker on the Colts (11-5). But at least the Colts get to play another game in traveling to Buffalo to face the second-seeded Bills (13-3), who haven’t hosted a home playoff game since Dec. 28, 1996, a 30-27 loss to the Jaguars.

The Colts needed to beat the Jags and have either the Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, or Titans lose. The Dolphins did in an early game, so the Colts knew before kickoff this was “win and you’re in.” 

While the Colts clincher required some extra effort, rookie running back Jonathan Taylor provided much of that with a single-game, franchise-record 253 rushing yards. His 45-yard TD run late sealed the victory against the Jaguars (1-15), the NFL’s worst team.

During the week, Reich and Colts general manager Chris Ballard decided they wouldn’t show out-of-town NFL scores on the Lucas Oil Stadium video boards. They wanted to ensure the Colts were focused on the Jaguars.

Evidently, there was a change of heart. Colts fans cheered at the sight of video-board highlights of the Bills’ blowout of the Dolphins, shown with 12:56 remaining in the second quarter. Out-of-town scores were then shared. A short time later, the Colts scored for a 17-0 advantage.

Reich can tip his horseshoe hat to Bills head coach Sean McDermott, who played his starters for a half to try to ensure a large enough lead for clinching the second seed. Quarterback Josh Allen threw three TD passes in a 28-point second quarter for a 28-6 halftime lead.

Then the Bills turned to backups, who poured it on in the second half.

The Bills finished the season strong with nine wins in 10 games to clinch their first AFC East Division title since 1995. The only loss was bad luck as Arizona’s DeAndre Hopkins out-jumped three defenders to pull in an incredible Hail Mary touchdown pass on a final play.

Allen is where any Bills scouting report should start. The third-year pro has enjoyed a breakout year. Not only has he been named to the Pro Bowl, Allen is mentioned in the NFL MVP conversation.

He’s completed 69.1 percent of his passes for 4,320 yards with 34 TDs and just nine interceptions. As an elusive scrambler, Allen has rushed for 418 yards and eight touchdowns.

Look beyond the statistics, what’s striking about Allen is his poise in the pocket. He acts comfortably, aware of the rush, keeping defenders off-balance with pump fakes, and delivering decisive throws of any distance.

Every NFL quarterback can make some good passes, but the elite performers prove themselves as unique playmakers. Go ahead and put Allen in the class of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes.

And like the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who have several weapons around Mahomes, Allen has the NFL’s No. 1 wide receiver in Stefon Diggs. Eyebrows raised when the Bills parted with April draft picks in the first, fifth, and sixth rounds as well as a fourth-round selection in 2021 to acquire Diggs and a seventh-round pick from Minnesota in March.

Nobody doubts the decision now, after Diggs led the NFL with 120 receptions for 1,459 yards. He also scored eight touchdowns, not to mention the benefit of Allen having a go-to guy who in demanding extra defensive attention would open up the offense for others. It took Diggs until this sixth season to make his first Pro Bowl.

The Bills defense entered the final week ranked 10th in fewest total yards allowed and tied for 14th in fewest points allowed. By comparison, the Colts defense began Week 17 ranked eighth and tied for 12th in those categories.

It’s the second consecutive postseason for the Bills, who blew an eight-point lead in the third quarter and lost 22-19 at Houston in a first-round game.

The Colts will be making just their second postseason appearance since 2015, but it’s the second time in Reich’s three seasons as head coach. Two years ago, the Colts won 21-7 at Houston in the first round before losing 31-13 at Kanas City in an AFC Divisional round game.

A lot has changed since then. Andrew Luck was the quarterback then and won NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Then he retired in the next preseason.

It’s taken the Colts time to recover from losing their franchise player. Reich and general manager Chris Ballard were sold on signing veteran quarterback Philip Rivers to play his 17th season for $25 million. Ballard traded a first-round pick to acquire defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, a tremendous boost to the defense.

But as the Colts have been building, so have the Bills. Perhaps it was inevitable that their playoff paths would eventually meet.

Reich has a lot of memories from Orchard Park, N.Y., including being the answer to a trivia question about which backup quarterback engineered the greatest playoff comeback in NFL history? On Jan. 3, 1993, the Bills rallied from a 35-3 deficit with 8:53 remaining in the third quarter as Reich threw four TD passes in a 41-38 overtime comeback for the ages against the Houston Oilers.

Going back to Buffalo will be a trip down memory lane for Reich, although he’ll be fixated on helping his Colts make a new positive memory.