Buffalo Bills drop preseason opener to Indianapolis Colts
Opening their 2016 campaign, the Buffalo Bills dropped their opening preseason game to the visiting Indianapolis Colts by a score of 19-18. Despite the scoreline, the Bills did hold a 9-0 lead after the first quarter with most of the second-string players taking over by the team’s second possession of the game.
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Though most of the Colts starters did not play in the game, the Bills do have some building blocks to now work on for the rest of the preseason. The highlight of the game for the Bills came early in the first quarter when the punt team was able to block a Colts punt out of bounds to force a safety.
On the offensive side of the ball, their was a few pleasant surprises for fans to enjoy including the performance of rookie running back Jonathan Williams. Arrested during the offseason for a DWI and expected to be suspended at some point by the league, Williams was solid during his time on the field rushing for 44-yards on eight carries.
Also impressing on offense was rookie quarterback Cardale Jones. Playing from the second possesion of the second half onwards, Jones put in a pretty good performance throwing for 162-yards and a touchdown. Jones was also involved in the Bills rushing attack adding 34-yards on the ground to his totals.
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As far as positional battles go, Jones may come out of this game as the team’s biggest winner. While EJ Manuel did have a solid night throwing the football he has already proven that he’s not NFL starter quality. With Jones proving that he may not be as raw as many believe him to be, the former Ohio State Buckeye could fight his way to the backup job within the next couple of games.
Looking at the battle for the third wide receiver position, Walter Powell likely did the most to advance his cause during the game. Catching the ball on all four of his targets, Powell had a 40-yard reception during the game while recording another 44-yards across his other three quarters.
On the defensive side of the ball Brandon Spikes impressed during his first game back with the Buffalo Bills recording three tackles on the night. Preston Brown also played well recording four tackles from his linebacker position.
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