ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WROC) — Back on their home field after a bounce-back win against the Jets, the Bills were looking to stack a winning streak together to keep ahead of the Patriots in the division race.
Jonathan Taylor had other ideas.
The second-year running back had five total touchdowns as the Colts ran all over the Bills for a commanding 41-15 victory.
The Bills were missing Star Lotulelei, on the Covid list, and Tremaine Edmunds, out with a hamstring injury. But they weren’t using that as an excuse.
“We always preach next man in and we feel like whoever steps in is going to go out there and compete,” said safety Micah Hyde. “You guys have seen it plenty of times with the guys that step in end up having big games. Just unfortunately, no one really played well today and I don’t think it was that position it was just everybody didn’t play up to their capability.”
Taylor had 32 carries for 185 yards and four touchdowns and added a 23-yard receiving touchdown as the Bills’ defense had no answers for the Colts’ physical offense.
“I really feel like maybe this game and a little bit of the Titans game were probably our worst two defensively of the season where maybe we got pushed around a little bit. Again, I’ve said before you need to make adjustments,” said head coach Sean McDermott. “You need to see where you’re at and make adjustments based on where you’re at and where you need to fix things and that’s what you do as coaches and as a team.”
Indy’s only four drives of the first half ended with three touchdowns and a field goal, each touchdown by Taylor.
Josh Allen threw an interception on the Bills’ first drive of the game but responded with a touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs to make it 14-7 early in the second quarter.
But after the Colts kicked a field goal, Isaiah McKenzie fell and fumbled on the ensuing kickoff return, which was returned to the Bills’ two yard-line. Taylor punched it in for another touchdown to make it 24-7. A missed field goal by Tyler Bass made that the halftime score.
Buffalo could not get anything going in the third quarter, with their drives ending with a three-and-out, a missed field, and an interception.
“We’re a really good football team when we don’t bite ourselves in the butt,” said Allen. “What we put on the field today is not who we are. I got a lot of trust and a lot of faith in our team and there’s no secret that we need to do a better job on all fronts.”
Taylor ran for two touchdowns in the second half, putting the game out of reach and pleasing his fantasy owners with five total scores.
Allen added a touchdown to Diggs with the game out of hand.
Allen ended the game with 21/35 passing with 209 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. He was sacked once.
“We can not turn the ball over. We turned the ball over 4 times today, which turned into 21 points,” said McDermott. “You just can’t do that. This team feasted on taking the ball away and then we turned the ball over not only on offense but on special teams. You can’t do that and expect to win, you make it really hard on yourself.”
Dawson Knox led all receivers with six catches for 80 yards while Diggs had only four catches for 23 yards, two of those going for touchdowns.
“I think it goes into the category of flush it and just let it go and move on,” said Dion Dawkins. “We have a game in a couple of days. We ain’t play our best ball and it shows.”
The Bills fall to 6-4 with the loss and trail the 7-4 Patriots in the division.
“Offense, defense, and special teams we’ve got the parts we need to succeed,” said Knox. “You learn a lot from games like this and we’re going to get right back in the film room and get ready for Thursday. I think it’s good to have a game coming up quick so we can get that bad taste out of our mouths.”
The Bills travel to New Orleans to play the Saints on Thanksgiving night.