Matchup with the Buffalo Bills
 

Going to Buffalo. The Bills have been blowing people out and we have not matched up well with playoff teams this year. I give us a puncher's chance in this one.

Keys to the game:

The Bills have the 27th ranked run defense and the 3rd ranked Passing offense in the league.

To win the Colts need to run the ball effectively and limit the big passing plays.

On defense, the Colts have to keep Allen from running too much especially when running to his right which he really throws well out of. They will have to play their contain rush which they have been doing a lot lately. But this defense has a problem with scrambling QB's, it breaks the defense down.

On offense expect Tredarius White to be on Hilton, if he takes him away that will be it. The running game will need to keep their LBs closer to the los and Rivers will have to know when that happens and throw out of it. If they play their LBs back, don't get cute, just run on them. Its their biggest weakness, take advantage of it. Most importantly, Rivers can't turn the ball over which worries me because I think he is hurt and that toe is affecting his accuracy.

The key to the game for the Colts on defense is not letting Stefon Diggs do Stefon Diggs things. Keep him in check, and Allen is no better than several QBs the Colts have flustered throughout the season. Play him like DeShaun Watson and he could have a long day. Khari Willis's availability for the game could be a big factor IMO.

On offense, as has been mentioned, take advantage of a ground game that has found life as of late, and use it to set up the passing game to make life easier on old man Rivers. Getting into a shootout with the Bills seems like the worst possible strategy for a Colts win in this game, and I think a ball control, clock eating, sustained drive offense will be the best strategy.

Rhodes should be pretty familiar with Diggs. I don’t know if that makes any difference whatsoever, but Rhodes should stay with Diggs regardless.

Pound the run on offense quick passes and screen passes, tight man coverage on defense, get up on them early let them feel that playoff pressure when you’re expecting to win and haven’t had any tough games in a month

Hines will need to have a big game.

Can’t hurt

The colts O line and d line will determine the game. If the colts run the ball well we keep the bills offense on the sidelines.

If the colts d line cant get to Allen, it will be a long day.

The Colts seem to play better when they're underdogs. They are definitely underdogs in this game.

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Colts Beat Packers in Wild Overtime Contest

(By Michael David Smith)

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...rtime-contest/

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I think that both of these teams are teams that most would like to avoid in the playoffs if they could ...... the 13-3 Bills with Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs a little more so than the 11-5 Colts, who hold 2 impressive wins this season against the Packers and the Titans.

In the AFC, I think that if teams could choose an opponent to play against, they would probably opt for the Titans more than anyone else. After that, I think that their 2nd choice would be the Browns. Their 3rd choice would probably be the Steelers, who have shown chinks in their armor after their 11-0 start to the season.

Lamar Jackson and the Ravens are kind of scary because of Jackson. And the Chiefs ....... well, they are the Chiefs.

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I think part of the problem is most teams are set up to defend the pass, not a run centered team like the Titans or Colts. But I think our pass defense is a potential weakness bc we lack a consistent pass rush. We are slow to the QB. That might change if Turay picks it up in the playoffs. A lot riding on JT and Turay this playoff season. And of course, Rivers not making mistakes.

I think Rivers' future rides on this game. If he plays well and leads the Colts to victory, he could probably get another contract from the Colts. If he doesn't, the Colts will look elsewhere.

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Big component ...... VERY BIG component.

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We can beat anybody if we play thru 4 quarters, the offensive line plays up to its potential as does our defense for a full game. We really haven't done that this year yet so I am not confident. On the other hand this is the first time in a long time I have felt that the Colts could win without playing over their head. If they just do what they are capable of we could take this. For years I have wanted a team that could run the football and stop the run. Now that the Colts can do that I think they can make a deep run.

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This is going to sound weird, but I think that if Rivers winds up taking 3 or 4 sacks in the game against the Bills, that may not necessarily be a bad thing ...... because perhaps that will be a sign that he won't be forcing the ball into coverage when he doesn't have an open receiver, and making a bad situation (a sack) worse (an INT.)

Ideally, we would like Rivers to take not more than 1 sack in the entire game, not throw any INT's, and have a high completion percentage on 3rd downs ...... but very rarely in the highly-competitive playoffs do you get everything that you want.

Balancing being aggressive enough to be effective and at the same time consciously going out of your way not to make big mistakes is the hardest thing in the world for an NFL quarterback to do ...... but that's life in the post-season, and that is often what separates great/very good quarterbacks from average ones. Welcome back to the big-time with your new team, Mr. Rivers. The ball is in your court.

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I agree with this, completely. Even in their 2 best games of the season (against the Packers and against the Titans), the Colts did not play well through-and-through for the entire game.

The good news is that in spite of this glaring flaw, the Colts still found a way to win 11 out of 16 games ...... so the talent/potential is obviously there. They are not over-matched, like the Titans are. They just need to find a way to play well for at least 75-80% of the game, and not just 50-60% of it.

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How Josh Allen Went from Mediocrity to NFL MVP Contender

(By Kevin Van Valkenburg)

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-mvp-contender

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Put the pressure on them early just like we did bs Steelers except this time......

Finish the fuckin job, pound the fuckin run until they stop it, I don’t care what “run blitz” look the defense gives you

I'd say its pretty clear what we need to do to win.
On offense: we gotta pound it. Blow them off the line. Taylor needs to bang all the holes. We need to use tight ends, deep, over and over, and somebody has to go all the way.
On defense: we gotta penetrate. Get Allen from behind. Get plenty of ball pressure, but not too much, just right.

Sounds like a plan for a good fuckin

You all are really going to freak out (Waynesworld)when you see the Colts playing zone most of the game. Understand if they play man to man then Diggs and Brown will kill us deep. We have no one that can cover them. Allen is one of the highest rated deep ball passers in the league. The Bills will move the ball up and down the field. Get ready for that, its going to happen. They are not as high percentage in the red zone though so that is where the Colts can make their stops. (typical of a Cover 2.. T2 defense) Hold them to 3-4 field goal and keep the score int he 20's and we have a fighting chance.

If we keep them in the 20’s I would count that as a win. Hopefully it will be windy. What we need to stop is the 3 and outs. By our offense. We gave the Jaguars way too many possessions. Need to stretch that clock and convert those 3rd downs.

If they dont hold them to FG's in the redzone they will put up 40+. People freak the fuck out when the opposing team moves the ball. I say who the fuck cares? Just dont let them score

Yards per game isn't on the scoreboard.

But there will be major over reactions on the game thread and people will give up in the 1st quarter.

Bend don’t break defense. Gives up yards. As long as our O converts those 3rd downs. I think we hang. But Buffalo is a good team and they are playing well right now. Won’t be easy.

Run it right at Jerry Hughes all game long ofcourse

Beasley and Diggs are both questionable.

Maybe in some "worlds", in particular Waynes, but some of us won't panic that early. ;)

I like the top part. Leonard loves the Twitter fuel.