By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun and Olean Star Senior Sports Columnist
For 18 years, the Bills had a divisional relationship with the Colts in Indianapolis.
It started in 1984, the year they moved from Baltimore but remained in the 5-team AFC East with the Jets, Patriots, Dolphins and Buffalo, home-and-home every season.
But, in 2002, the NFL expanded and opted for eight 4-team divisions and the Colts left the East and joined the new AFC South with Houston, Jacksonville and Tennessee.
Those annual visits to Indy for Buffalo were gone. Since the division switch, the Bills have made only three trips to the RCA Dome, now Lucas Oil Stadium, in 22 years. The fourth comes Sunday afternoon when Buffalo (7-2) meets the 4-5 Colts (1 o’clock, CBS-TV, Bills Radio Network).
For the record, the Bills lost the first three recent visits: 17-16 in 2006, 20-13 in 2012 and 37-5 in 2018, QB Josh Allen’s rookie season. Indy won 11 of those 18 division games on its home field.
And the Colts’ record this season is deceptive.
All nine Indianapolis games have been decided by a one-possession result. The Colts lost both to Houston by two and three points, Jacksonville by a field goal, Green Bay by six and Minnesota by eight.
Small wonder, though the game might seem a superficial mismatch, the Bills are favored by only four.
SECOND-YEAR boss Shane Steichen should be in line for Coach of the Year for keeping Indianapolis in every game with the issues he’s endured at quarterback.
The problem was supposed to be solved last year when the Colts drafted Florida’s Anthony Richardson No. 4 overall. But he struggled a season ago and it continued this year with him completing less than half his passes with four touchdowns, seven interceptions and nine fumbles in six starts.
Thus Steichen made the gutsy decision to bench the supposed “franchise QB” and put the offense in the hands of 39-year-old Joe Flacco who won Super Bowl XLVII for Baltimore back in 2012.
Flacco is 1-2 in three starts — losses to theTexans and Vikings — but has thrown seven touchdown passes with two picks and a solid 94.5 passer rating.
The coach’s reasoning was simple: “We’ll get to the future when we have to get to the future. We’re trying to make the playoffs. We’re trying to make a push right now going into November and December and feel that Joe gives us the best chance to do that.”
Steichen virtually ceded the job to Flacco, at least for now.
To be sure, the Colts’ QB, 11 years Allen’s senior, has impressed his counterpart.
“He’s an absolute baller,” the Bills’ quarterback said. “He throws one of the prettiest balls you’ll ever see. I got the chance to spend a little bit of time with him in Tahoe at the (American Century) golf tournament this last year, and he’s an awesome guy. He’s won a Super Bowl and is a fantastic player but an even better person.”
Buffalo coach Sean McDermott added of Flacco, 3-1 versus Buffalo in his career, “One of the best to play the position. He’s been playing it for quite some time and there’s not a defense he hasn’t seen already from a disguise standpoint, so he’s on top of his game and we have respect for his game.”
BUT IT’S not just at quarterback that worries Buffalo’s defensive coaching staff.
The Bills rank in the middle of the pack in rushing ‘D’ (123 yards per game) but Indy has one of the league’s elite backs in Jonathan Taylor who has returned from injury to average nearly five yards per carry and scored five touchdowns.
If you think that Buffalo’s hierarchy wasn’t concerned, it brought back two defensive tackles, Jordan Phillips (third time) and Quinton Jefferson (second), two players with run-stopping ability.
Current starters Ed Oliver (seven tackles, no sacks in three games) and DaQuan Jones (three tackles, no sacks in the last four), have all but disappeared. McDermott might feel the arrival of Phillips and Jefferson will give them a nudge.
Buffalo’s other issue is at wide receiver where three of the five on the active roster are nursing various injuries, though there are also three wideouts on the practice squad just in case.
In the final injury report before Sunday’s game, rookie Keon Coleman is out with a wrist injury and trade acquisition Amari Cooper is questionable with the same issue. Mack Hollins is fine with a shoulder injury while Khalil Shakir and Curtis Samuel are fully healthy.
Two other Bills are questionable, linebacker Baylon Spector (calf) and fullback/special teamer Reggie Gilliam (hip).
POLLOCK’S PICK: Bills 20, Colts 17
