|
|
 |
Game 11: Bills vs. Colts
The Bills downward spiral continued last week against the Texans as they have now gone three straight games without scoring a touchdown. Their prospects don't get much better this week as the powerful Indianapolis Colts come to town. While the Bills may finally get into the end zone against a mediocre defense (although we won't bet on it), this battle will come down to how the high ranked Bills defense can shutdown the 2nd ranking offense in the league.
FACTS AND FIGURES
| Matchup: |
Buffalo (4-6) vs. Colts (8-2) |
| Place: |
Ralph Wilson Stadium |
| Television: |
CBS |
| Announcers: |
Dick Enberg, Dan Diedorf, & Bonnie Bernstein |
| Spread: |
Colts by 3 |
| Series: |
Bills 34-28-1 |
| Last Meeting: |
Colts 30-14 in Buffalo (2001) |
| Colts Offense: |
Rush (t-26th); Pass (1st); overall (2nd) |
| Colts Defense: |
Rush (24th); Pass (9th); overall (16th) |
| Bills Offense: |
Rush (25th); Pass (26th); overall (29th) |
| Bills Defense: |
Rush (12th); Pass (2nd); overall (4th) |
INJURY UPDATE
The Bills are battling the injury bug. Eric Moulds remains bothered by a groin tear that has plagued him the last five games. He missed the Texans games but hopes to play this week. Travis Henry cracked his fibula against the Texans and will very likely miss the game if not more. S Izell Reese suffered a concussion against Houston that may keep him out also. Willis McGahee remains inactive with his knee injury although he is on the active roster.
The Colts are also banged up as they had a very lengthy injury report last week, they were without WR Marvin Harrison against the Jets with a hamstring injury and TE Marcus Pollard with a knee injury. While RB Edgerrin James is finally healthy, three backups are hurting, Ricky Williams, James Mungro, and Dominic Rhodes but they did play last week. OT Tarik Glenn missed the game against New York with a knee injury.
 Bills Daily Injury Page
KEY MATCHUPS
CB Nate Clements vs. WR Reggie Wayne:
Clements is coming off of a horrible game, while Wayne is coming off of a huge game against the Jets. If Harrison remains out than Wayne will once again become the focal point of the passing attack.
LT Jonas Jennings vs. DE Dwight Freeney:
Freeney is just tearing up the NFL and may be the quickest end in the league. Jennings needs to be healthier than he has been to have a chance at slowing down Freeney who has eight sacks on the season.
DTs Pat Williams and Sam Adams vs. C Jeff Saturday:
The Bills behemoths in the middle have done an excellent job lately in clogging up the middle. It will be up to Saturday to unclog that area to open up holes for Edgerrin James.
Bills Safeties vs. QB Peyton Manning:
The Colts like to hit big plays offensively and the Bills safeties will need to play a bit more conservatively to try and keep the potent offense down.
DE Aaron Schobel vs. LT Tarik Glenn or Makoa Freitas:
With Glenn out last week, Freitas moved over from the guard spot to start. If Glenn is out again this week or is slowed it may give Schobel a chance at a breakout game. He is in desperate need of one.
QB Drew Bledsoe vs. Himself:
Interesting battle here, Bledsoe has lost all confidence and he needs to be able to right his mentality to overcome the adversity that has plagued this team. If Bledsoe can hit a few big plays early than the team may be able to get something going offensively.
GAME PLAN
When The Bills Have The Ball: Pray! The Bills haven't scored against anybody recently. Teams have been able to run on the Colts but with Henry's broken fibula the Bills may be hard pressed to do it. Their only chance is to beat the Colts with a big play early to gain confidence for the offense. If they can score a touchdown early, it may steamroll to more scores.
When The Colts Have The Ball: This will be a classic battle, the league's top ranked passing offense against the 2nd ranked passing defense. The Colts will try to beat the Bills with big plays in the passing game, something Teams have had success doing against Buffalo. If that succeeds it will open up more holes for a very good running game.
BILLS DAILY PREDICTION
We are going to go out on a limb and predict the Bills will finally get a touchdown this week. But probably only one when the Colts are playing prevent defense with the game well in hand. The Bills haven't played well since week 2, why would they start now? Expect the defense to finally get demoralized by the putrid offense and the damn will break against the high powered passing attack of Indianapolis:
Colts 38, Bills 10
Season Prediction Record: (5-5)
Season Record Against The Spread: (7-3)
Print Friendly Version
Complete Gameday Review - Coming Sunday!
Gameday Grades - Coming Sunday!
Gameday Homepage
|
|
