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Why The Bills Offense Will Be Able To Eat in Indianapolis in Week 10

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The Buffalo Bills have won five straight games after losing two big games to the division-leading Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens. The Bills offense added Amari Cooper following a win over the New York Jets. Cooper hasn’t put up Ja’Mar Chase numbers, but his addition has helped the rest of the offense prosper.

Khalil Shakir remained the top target in the passing game while rookie Keon Coleman has put up over 70 yards in two of the three games with Cooper. Divisional games are usually close, and that was the case with the Miami Dolphins in Week 9.

The Bills needed a 61-yard field goal to escape with a big win over the Dolphins last week. Up next is an AFC showdown with the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are fighting to stay in the playoff race. Despite sitting at 4-5, Indianapolis is second in the AFC South behind the Texans.

Head coach Shane Steichen switched from flashy starter Anthony Richardson to trusted veteran Joe Flacco in Week 9 against the Minnesota Vikings. While Flacco and Richardson present different challenges for opposing defenses, Buffalo’s path to a Week 10 victory is clear – trust the offensive attack that has led to a 7-2 mark this year.

Why the Bills Offense Will Be Able to Eat in Indianapolis in Week 10

Run Your Horses

The best teams in pro sports take advantage of their opponent’s glaring weaknesses. The Colts are technically in the playoff hunt but their defense can be easily exploited by most NFL offenses. Indianapolis ranks toward the bottom of the league in the most basic categories.

  • Total Yards Against – 29th in NFL (383.56)
  • Passing Yards Against – 26th in NFL (233.78)
  • Rushing Yards Against – 31st in NFL (149.78)

In his two games against the Colts, Texans running back Joe Mixon cleaned his dinner plate. Mixon amassed 159 yards and a score in Week 1 and 102 yards and another score in Week 8. The defense clamped down on Vikings back Aaron Jones last week but gave up nearly 200 yards on the ground to Miami the previous week.

The Colts have three players with over 80 tackles on the year – Zaire Franklin (96), E.J. Speed (86), and Nick Cross (82). That can be deceiving since those players hold down the second and third levels of the defense making up ground for a porous defensive line.

With such a glaring hole in the defense, running backs James Cook and Ray Davis should have one of their better games of the year. Davis produces with more snaps as evidenced by his games against the Jets (Week 6) and last week against the Dolphins (90 total yards).

Cook will get the lion’s share of carries, but even quarterback Josh Allen can exploit the second-worst rush defense in the NFL. The Bills are 17th in the league on the ground and through the air but could increase in the rankings after Week 10.

Passing the Buck

If the Bills offense wants to truly flex its muscles, they’ll present a balanced attack against the Colts. Indianapolis isn’t much better at defending the pass, so losing Coleman for the game shouldn’t be a huge blow. It will slightly diminish the downfield attack but Allen can look in nearly every other direction.

Davis and Cook can feast in the screen and check-down game to put even more pressure on a struggling defense. Cooper is listed as questionable with a wrist injury heading into the weekend. He didn’t play last week but should return.

Tight end Dalton Kincaid hasn’t had that signature breakout game yet. He’s yet to eclipse 60 yards or seven receptions in a game this year, averaging around 37 yards receiving per game. With a slight uptick in targets with Coleman out, Kincaid could have that game against the Colts.

The same goes for Dawson Knox. Mack Hollins can take over some of the deep and red-zone targets since he has three scores this year.

The Bills defense will have to corral running back Jonathan Taylor. If that happens, the defense can expose Flacco by forcing him into mistakes. An easy way to set Flacco up for errors is to jump out to a big lead by exploiting one of the NFL’s worst defenses.

Main Image: Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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