Bills open playoffs with victory over Indianapolis Colts: Five observations

It was tense finish, but the Buffalo Bills broke through with their first playoff win since 1995 by holding on for a 27-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday.

Here are five takeaways that immediately jumped out.

1. Josh Allen redeemed.

He was admittedly uptight heading into his first playoff game a year ago, and it showed. But quarterback Josh Allen was a different animal this time around, picking up where he left off in an MVP-caliber regular season.

Though he did fumble on a play that could have cost them the game on their final series, he was the biggest reason they were in the lead throughout the fourth quarter and were able to hang on.

Allen was 26-of-35 for 324 yards and two touchdowns. He also was their leading rusher, with 54 yards on 11 carries.

2. Fumble or not?

For a second straight year, the Bills were victims of a questionable call near the end of regulation in a playoff game.

This time they prevailed in spite of it.

In the closing seconds on Sunday, Colts receiver Zach Pascal caught a pass as he hit the deck at the Buffalo 46-yard, started to get up in an attempt to advance the ball further but lost it when immediately hit by Jordan Poyer. The Bills jumped on it but Pascal was ruled down by contact, which was upheld by a replay review, giving the Colts a first down.

Though they appeared to make the wrong call by upholding it, the officials did not charge the Bills with using their last timeout, which was called by frantic coach Sean McDermott just before the Bills snapped the ball on the next play.

His stoppage there allowed them to conclude they should have stopped the game for a review because replay challenges are not allowed during the final two minutes.

MhcDermott was then able to use that final timeout just as the ball was being snapped on a completion that would have put the Colts in field-goal range. But the play didn't count, and it led to the Colts having to try a desperation pass on the final play. Rivers threw short of the end zone and it fell incomplete.

The Bills were victimized by an egregious ruling of a peel black block near the end of regulation in their playoff loss at Houston last year, knocking them out of field-goal range in a tie game. They lost in overtime.

3. Analytics failed Reich.

A neutral-zone infraction by Buffalo on the extra-point try following a fourth-quarter touchdown that cut the Bills' lead to eight points changed Colts coach Frank Reich's mind about trying to kick. He put the offense back on the field to go for two points.

But linebacker Matt Milano sniffed the running play to Jonathan Taylor and stopped him.

Near the end of the first half, the Colts failed to get any points after Reich decided to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 4.

Quarterback Philip Rivers had Michael Pittman open in the end zone but they couldn't connect when Pittman dropped the ball.

Michael Pittman Jr. "absolutely" thought the fourth-down play in the end zone was going to work. "I think that I have to catch those anyway." #Colts
— George Bremer (@gmbremer) January 9, 2021

4. Ball control nearly won it for Colts.

The Colts knew they'd have to keep the ball out of the hands of Buffalo's offense as much as possible to have any chance to pull the upset. They executed that plan to near-perfection, shredding Buffalo's defense for 163 rushing yards while finishing with a 34:17 to 25:43 advantage in time of possession.

In the end, they also outgained the Bills by nearly 100 yards, 472-397.

5. Mixed results on blitz.

No matter how many extra pass rushers the Bills threw at savvy veteran quarterback Philip Rivers, they couldn't get him down. He was not sacked.

However, they did force some errant throws and got their hands on just enough of them to keep him from having comfortable at-bats every time.

Rivers was 27-for-46 for 309 yards and two touchdowns.