ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Bills defense knew Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was going to be a handful. What they didn't know was how dominant he would be against a Bills run defense that's been pretty solid all season.
"We can't go out like that," safety Micah Hyde said. Everything starts with stopping the run, effecting he QB, and taking the ball away. We did nothing today, not one thing."
Taylor finished the day with 32 carries for 185 yards and four touchdowns as the Colts dominated the Bills 41-15. The Colts offense runs through Taylor for a reason, and the Bills had no answer for the league's leading rusher.
With his success on the ground Taylor also made a difference in the pass game, finishing with three catches for 19 yards and another score. It was his 6th 100+ yard game this season, and all of those games have resulted in wins for the Colts.
"We've gotta get that fixed. There's a formula to win and there's a formula on the other end of it too," head coach Sean McDermott said. "When we're getting beat up at the point of attack, I obviously have to do a better job there."
The Bills defense entered Sunday's game ranked 3rd in the league in run defense and aside from their week 6 game against Tennessee's Derrick Henry, held their own against opposing runners. Before Sunday's game, the Bills defense had only allowed eight rushing touchdowns through the first 11 weeks of the season [only five of them to running backs].
"We feel like we had been doing really well stopping the run all season," Hyde said. "Obviously going against a guy like Derrick Henry and Jonathan Taylor, they're two very good backs. We gotta find a way to limit that."
While the failure to stop Taylor was a big issue for the Bills defense, the failure to force turnovers was another big factor. The Bills entered Sunday's game leading the league in turnovers and turnover differential, but for the first time since the team's season opener against Pittsburgh, they didn't have one turnover all game.
"Whenever you give up points in the red zone, don't take the ball away, don't turn the ball over, don't get off the field on 3rd down, penalties, that's what's gonna happen," Hyde said. "Unfortunately no one really played well today. It wasn't just that position. No one played to their capability."
The team will turn the page pretty quickly as they play New Orleans on Thanksgiving night.
