Bills 27, Colts 24 Notebook: Turnovers Galore, Rookies Shine in Comeback Win
Fans were out in abundance Saturday for Week 1 of the preseason at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, NY, as the Buffalo Bills faced the Indianapolis Colts in a battle of AFC foes.
Coach Sean McDermott and the Bills enter the season with clear Super Bowl-or-bust expectations. But despite a plethora of turnovers and what seemed to be too-little-too-late offensive production, the Bills secured an preseason-opening win they prevailed 27-24 on Tyler Bass' game-winning field goal as time expired.
Star quarterback Josh Allen and Pro Bowl receiver Stefon Diggs got to watch from the sidelines, as veteran signal-caller Case Keenum was handed the start.
On defense, newly-signed linebacker Von Miller was a spectator along with secondary standouts Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde.
As a result, the Bills had multiple rookie draft picks make an impact with some highlight plays along the way.
From the struggles to the positives, a review of some of the biggest takeaways from Saturday's game:
Defensive rookies shine
First-round cornerback Kaiir Elam had a first-quarter pass deflection that got most of the initial attention. But then rookie linebacker Terrel Bernard made his mark in a huge way with a 69-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown that gave Buffalo a 7-3 lead in the second quarter.
Elam was all over the field. Covering primarily on the left side of the defensive formation, he remained tight against each of his assignments with some impressive hand-fighting and stride-for-stride speed. Even on completed passes, he showed his first-round ability, as Colts quarterback Nick Foles fit the ball in the tiniest of windows against Elam's blanketed coverage for a minimal gain.
He was also a bit aggressive at times, resulting in a pass interference call and some jersey pulling that went uncalled.
Elam's afternoon ended after a collision late in the second quarter saw him take a visit to the medical tent to be evaluated for a head injury. Per the Bills broadcast, he was medically cleared but never returned.
Along with his highlight touchdown, Bernard also showed quick-twitch reaction as a coverage linebacker, keeping up well with tight ends down the sideline and displaying little hesitation when running toward the ball on short passes in the middle of the field.
The strong early play from the team's top two defensive draft picks was even more impressive considering the Colts played their offensive starters till midway through the second quarter.
Cornerback Christian Benford and Baylon Spector were steady contributors as well.
Benford had a first-half pass defense that resulted in a turnover on downs as the Colts were approaching field-goal range. He also had two solo tackles.
Spector, a seventh-round pick out of Clemson, was a pleasant surprise and was hard to ignore. He filled the run gaps well, showing solid discipline as a tackler. In the third quarter, he had a big sack that was called back due to penalty, but made up for it with an impressive pass deflection as he rushed Colts quarterback Sam Ehlinger on a blitz a few plays later.
Hello, Khalil Shakir!
In an offense that failed to do much till late in the game, Shakir was one of the team's top playmakers. He totaled five catches for 92 yards in his NFL debut.
Shakir got his busy day started right out of the gates in the first half. His first catch went for 25 yards on the second play of the game.
He also served as Buffalo's primary punt returner while also being the team's clear top passing option with three catches for 46 yards through two quarters.
But Shakir's most impressive spurt came in the third quarter. He caught a toughly-contested 25-yard pass down the right sideline before adding another 20-yard gain on the next play as the offense went in hurry-up mode.
Shakir will have an uphill battle in a deep receiving room, but he was arguably the best player on the field Saturday.
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers
Keenum is entering his 10th season as an NFL quarterback, but he was sick with the turnover bug for most of the first half.
The Bills had four of their seven first-half possessions end in turnovers. Overall, the Colts scored 17 points off five Buffalo turnovers.
Keenum had a tipped pass for an interception that was understandable, but then he lost a fumble as he stepped up in the pocket against the pass rush before forcing a pass at the goal line that resulted in another giveaway.
Third-string quarterback Matt Barkley then had a tipped pick of his own early in the fourth quarter that set Indianapolis up inside the red zone. The Colts scored three plays after, as Buffalo's defense blew coverage in the back right corner of the end zone.
Buffalo was tied for the eighth-fewest turnovers (22) last season. Getting this mistakes out of the way in the preseason opener is the best-case scenario for McDermott's offense.
