In the 15 years since the Buffalo Bills last made the playoffs in the 1999 season, the Indianapolis Colts have qualified for the postseason 13 times. Only in 2001 and the Peyton Manning-less 2011 season, have the Colts been on the outside of the playoffs looking in, yet for all those tries at a Lombardi Trophy, the Colts have only advanced to the AFC Championship four times, the Super Bowl two times and earned a ring just one time.
Colts vs. Bills 2015: Indianapolis aerial attack will face a scary Buffalo pass rush
No team threw for more passing yards or touchdowns than the Colts in 2014, but the team starts off 2015 against a Bills defense that led the NFL in sacks last year.
So when the Colts and Bills face each other in Week 1 of the 2015 season, both squads will enter with the goal of turning a corner, although the corner is a little different for each team.
For the Colts, it will be turning the elite play of Andrew Luck into something more than an early exit from the playoffs and for the Bills, it will be starting a new era of Buffalo football off with a trip to the postseason.
Those are lofty goals for both, but the reality of the expectations of fanbases that are getting tired of the franchises stuck in neutral. No team in the NFL has been out of the playoffs longer than the Bills and three 11-win seasons during the Luck era haven’t resulted in a trip to the Super Bowl for the Colts. It’s time for something more for both teams.
That puts the spotlight directly on Ralph Wilson Stadium, where Rex Ryan’s first game in Buffalo will come against a top-flight perennial contender, offering an immediate litmus test for the status of both franchises.
Digits
While the play of Tyrod Taylor and LeSean McCoy will keep eyes tuned to the Buffalo offense, the great matchup will be the Colts offense against the Bills defense, matching up the strengths of the two teams.
The Colts finished with the No. 3 offense in the NFL in 2014, thanks to Luck leading the way. No team tallied more passing yards or passing touchdowns than Indianapolis as the Colts relied heavily on Luck, who threw 616 passes, compared to just 343 rushing attempts for players other than Luck or Matt Hasselbeck.
Attacking the Bills through the air can be a tall task, though. Buffalo finished No. 4 in the NFL in total defense and allowed just 16 passing touchdowns all year, the lowest mark in the NFL. While a lot of that had to do with a strong secondary, it had even more to do with a group of elite pass rushers, which led the league with 54 sacks.
Keeping Luck away from pressure and out of the reach of pass rushers like Mario Williams, Kyle Williams and former Colts first-round pick Jerry Hughes is a key for the Colts to get things going offensively.
On the other side of the ball, the Colts finished near the middle of the league at No. 11 in total defense and No. 19 in scoring defense. That likely would've been a good enough unit to shut down the 2014 Bills offense, which finished No. 26 in the NFL, but with so many changes and additions in the offseason, it's anyone's guess how good the Buffalo offense will actually be now that it features speedy players like Taylor, McCoy and Percy Harvin.
Who to Watch
Ronald Darby - The second-round rookie looked good at times in the preseason and was picked on at other times. With so many weapons on the Colts offense, including the addition of Andre Johnson, Darby will likely be asked to deal with the speed of T.Y. Hilton, which could be a good matchup for the athletic rookie or a nightmare that ends up sinking the Buffalo defense.
Trent Cole - Robert Mathis is questionable for the first game of the year after suffering an Achilles tear in 2014, so even if he does play for the Colts, the team will likely have to rely on the veteran addition of Cole to take some significant snaps. While the 34-year-old defensive end hasn't recorded double-digit sacks since 2011, he still managed 14.5 sacks as an outside linebacker in the new-look Philadelphia Eagles defense and now transitions to the traditional defensive end role that resulted in 55 sacks over a five-year span earlier in his career.
How to Watch
When: 1 p.m. ET
Where: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, N.Y.
Announcers: Spero Dedes, Solomon Wilcots
TV: CBS
Online: NFL Game Pass
Preliminary Judgment
The experts are split almost dead even between the Bills and Colts, with CBS Sports’ eight-man panel perfectly split with four picks on each side. Our own picks at SB Nation are split, too, although the Colts get the slight edge with five picks, while the Bills only have the backing of Stephen White, Joel Thorman and Danny Kelly.
Odds
The Colts are 2.5-point favorites on the road with an over/under of 45, according to OddsShark.com.
Further Reading
For more on the Bills, head on over to Buffalo Rumblings. For everything Colts, check out Stampede Blue.
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