Staff Predictions: Bills vs. Colts

Jason: 27-21, Colts– Wouldn't have thought it in July, but a win here would be Buffalo's most impressive to date this year. That said, my confidence in Chan as a play-caller has eroded enough to think the Bills won't be able to find a way this week.

Michael Necci: 29-25, Bills – I have a hard time believing that Buffalo can win an important game like this mostly because they haven't done since the 1990's. Yet, this is a game Buffalo can win. Colts are only 2-2 at home. This, believe it or not, could be a signature win for Chan, which would vault Buffalo right back into the playoff hunt at 5-6. In other news, the AFC is putrid this season. The Colts should bounce back with a strong performance here after getting embarrassed at New England. The Colts have a great matchup with Reggie Wayne being covered by Gilmore. Another matchup to watch for is TY Hilton vs Leodis McKelvin. Speed on speed. I am picking the Bills to win because tomorrow's Thanksgiving and it's my favorite holiday. Nothing would be better to end Thanksgiving week than a Buffalo win to get them back in the playoff picture. And if they are able to do it, things will be get mighty interesting in December. Buffalo will play 4 of their 5 games in December at home (including Toronto) and all of them are winnable games. The toughest test will be in Toronto vs Seattle. Heart and prediction is with Buffalo, but head says Colts. I'll listen to my heart here. Bills win. More importantly this weekend…The 11-0 Notre Dame Fighting Irish look to clinch a spot in the BCS Title game against USC. Go Bills! Go Irish! Happy Thanksgiving.

Chris: 27-19, Bills- Interesting that 90% of Bills fans were looking forward to the draft and offseason no fewer than seven days ago. Now that the Bills are lurking deep in the pack of teams vying for a playoff berth, hope has sprung forth yet again. I actually think the Colts are a decent matchup for the Bills, especially on offense. If the Bills defense is capable of playing stout against the run again, I have little doubt that this will be a game. Indy's down field passing game could cause the Bills fits, but if the pass rush continues to actually work, the Bills could be one game closer to .500 and, shockingly close to a playoff spot.

Aaron, 27-24, Bills- Yes, they played a rookie quarterback and yes, they were largely fueled by the primetime crowd on Thursday night. But the defense played great last week and are showing signs of improvement. With that said, they are still an unpredictable bunch. For the Bills to win, the defense that showed up at the Ralph last Thursday needs to be present at Lucas Oil Stadium Sunday. Much like in New England two weeks ago, the game will come down to which team makes more plays on defense, as both offenses are apt to score in bunches. Despite Chan's efforts to deter the Bills from winning, Jairus Byrd makes a play late to keep Buffalo's playoff hopes alive.

Mike Tracz: Bills 27, Colts 24 – The Bills have been infinitely more watchable and, dare I say, competitive since the blowout in San Francisco. Quietly, the Bills have also improved dramatically against the run since the bye week, even against studs like Arian Foster. How convenient, then, that the Colts' ground game couldn't scare me any less if it was the Pillsbury Doughboy and not Donald Brown/Vick Ballard leading the rushing attack. If the Bills stop Andrew Luck and pay attention to the usual keys on offense – which basically means that, for the love of God, will someone take over playcalling duties from Chan Gailey? – this becomes a very winnable game. Worth noting as well: the Colts sport the best record of any of the Bills' remaining opponents. You're probably aware of that, but I'm bringing it up because there's an awfully good chance we're talking about a 7-6 Bills team that's in the thick of the playoff race on the evening of Sunday, December 9th. Think about that for a minute – playoffs sure seemed impossible at 3-6, no? Optimism is fun!

Joe: 35-31, Bills- It is a matchup between the most overhyped squad in the preseason and the most overhyped squad in the regular season. I know, I keep preaching that we shouldn't look at other teams as being weaker than the Bills, but I think the Colts are lucky to be 6-4. I mean, this is a team that lost to Jacksonville and were crushed by New England and the Jets. Alright, so we were crushed by those teams too. Yes, they beat Green Bay, but their point differential for the season is -50. To me, there whole team is Andrew Luck and Reggie Wayne. That's it. I think where the Bills can win this game is through the offensive side of the ball because the Colts defense is weak in all phases of their game. Their secondary only has 4 interceptions on the season and their linebackers are almost as bad as ours. I think the Bills' offense has a lot of matchups they can take advantage of with their WRs and running backs coming out of the backfield. I just think the offenses will neutralize each other and I still believe the Bills' defense is better than the Colts' defense. If the Bills get crushed, then I'm done picking them to win….EVER!

Frank: Buffalo, 27-17- Buffalo is heading into this one with that little confidence booster I've been talking about for weeks. They've needed a victory, albeit over a just-as-bad club, to get them in a groove. The fact of the matter is that this Indianapolis team is nowhere near as good as folks have given them credit for. They've got a terrible special teams unit and am even worse defense. This is the Andrew Luck to Reggie Wayne show. Gilmore should get some top support for Wayne, but that opens up the speedy underneath receivers and two young tight ends. This could be a barnburner, but regardless, I see Fitzpatrick, Spiller, and Jackson taking over and looking like a real offense again.

Colts 28, Bills 24

Brandon: Colts, 28-24- The Bills' season will all but come to an end this weekend. Plain and simple, if the Bills don't win their next two games, especially this week's against Indy, their playoff hopes are dashed. My thinking is if they're going to go out, they might as well do it early enough to spare us the false hope that they might make things interesting down the stretch run. The Bills will put up a fight and you might say they'll find a way to beat a bad team like they have all season, but with Andrew Luck under center, you're making a mistake if you still consider the Colts a bad team. It'll be close, but a little bit of Luck and the home field advantage puts the Colts over the top in my mind.

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Staff Predictions: Bills vs. Colts

Alan Draper

Alan Draper

Alan Draper