The Indianapolis Colts defense will be facing a tough task in stopping the red-hot Buffalo Bills offense led by Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs in the wild-card matchup at Bills Stadium on Saturday.
Keeping this elite offense down won’t be easy but the Colts defense has proven to hang with some of the best offenses in the NFL throughout the season. It will need a complete game, but it is entirely possible the Colts defense can get enough stops to keep this game tight.
Here are three keys for the Colts defense in the wild-card matchup:
Play a complete game
This has been the issue for the majority of the season. The Colts defense looks incredible for one half of football only to be the complete opposite for the next 30 minutes of play. They can’t have that against the Bills, who are good enough to put a game away with just one half of football.
The Colts defense can’t get into their mode of playing from behind in the first half and making adjustments in the second half. It worked for the most part during the regular season, but the Colts rarely faced an opponent with the firepower like the Bills have.
In order to keep this game tight, the defense has to play a complete game for four quarters.
Pass rush from the edge has to show up
It is likely that DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart will have their hands full going against the stout interior in Buffalo that features Mitch Morse leading the way. They will have to get pressure from the edge, especially on the left side against Dion Dawkins, who allowed the most pressures on the Bills offensive line in 2020.
The Colts have gotten shoddy production from their edge rushers. Justin Houston was second on the team with 8.0 sacks but the unit has been inconsistent as a collective, and it can lead to the defense stalling out.
While the secondary has been good enough to bail out the pass rush at times this season, it won’t be enough against the high-powered Bills offense. Edge rushers like Houston, Kemoko Turay, Denico Autry and Tyquan Lewis have to make their presence felt constantly.
Win the turnover battle
Every week this is the goal, of course. But it matters so much more this week. Arguably the only way the Colts are going to win this game is if they can force Josh Allen to become a turnover machine. The secondary has to take advantage of their opportunities when they get them, and the pass rush has to wreak havoc in the backfield.
The Colts have been on the positive side of the turnover battle in almost every game this season. They need that to continue against the Bills seeing as the offense doesn’t really have a weakness outside of its running game.
If the Colts win the turnover battle as they have for most of the season, they should be in a position to pull off an upset.
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