Chris @2ITB_Buffalo: The Rex Ryan era has been chugging along for some time now. Jumping out of planes, eating dog biscuits, normal stuff for the most part. But the fun really starts on Sunday when Ryan will coach his first actual game for the Bills with Tyrod Taylor as his starting quarterback. Buffalo’s schedule to start the season isn’t exactly friendly as they’ll be visited by both AFC finalists and their franchise QBs in successive weeks. It’s easy to look at the Colts and chalk up a loss given that Andrew Luck is a sublime passer of the football and his arsenal of weapons was upgraded during the offseason with a pair of aging, but effective veterans in Frank Gore and Andre Johnson.
I feel #optimistic about Buffalo’s chances this weekend not because of their vaunted defense but because of Greg Roman’s offense. The Colts defense isn’t exactly stout against the run – ranking in the bottom third of the league last season – while their pass defense could be disruptive thanks, in part, to pass rushers Trent Cole and Robert Mathis. However, the interior defensive line leaves something to be desired and I expect Roman to use a heavy dose of Shady McCoy, Karlos Williams and Bryce Brown on Sunday.
All that being said I think I’m going to take the Colts in this one. While Buffalo may have the ability to control the ground game on offense – and probably on defense too – I’m quizzical to see if Buffalo’s secondary can stand up with TY Hilton, Andre Johnson and company. I’ll take the Colts, 24-20.
Scott Michalak (@ScottyMCSS)- I’ve pegged the Bills to hit the 12 win mark this season. That’s pretty ambitious for any team, but a hot start would help to make that happen. I’m sure Rex and his roster of bullies feel the same way, and the defense can lead the stampede to a W. Most will give the Colts the edge due to Andrew Luck, but that Buffalo D will level that playing field. Also of note, this game is on my birthday, and as I’ve discovered in the past, a Bills loss on my birthday turns all the football fans at my party into a bunch of giant sourpusses. I don’t deserve a day of misery. Don’t screw this up for me, Bills. Close game, but the Bills D and their offensive depth get the job done. Dan Carpenter makes all of his extra point attempts, and hell, let’s give him a couple field goals. Bills 27, Colts 24.
Michael Necci @manecci — I stated in the season predictions piece that the Bills need to start winning games in their conference and division in order for me to believe. Well, it starts this week and this month with three BIG AFC games. If the Bills can start the season 2-1 or how about 3-0? I think good things are coming. I say the Bills win 24-20 . Here are some must watch College Games on Saturday to whet your appetite: Oklahoma travels to Tennessee, Oregon at Michigan State, LSU at Mississippi State, and for you late night rollers watch Freshman QB Josh Rosen and his UCLA Bruins at UNLV. Remember the name: Josh Rosen.
Sean – @SeanCorleone- We are just a few days away from real football guys, and my excitement is that of a 8 year old boy waiting for Christmas morning to arrive. This Sunday, plenty of new toys will be on display for Rex Ryan’s Buffalo Bills, and I can’t wait to see how they look once they are unboxed. These first couple of games are critical for the Bills, and in no way can they afford to start the season with an 0-2 record. Not this year. Not with this team and all the excitement that surrounds them. It’s the first game, yes, but in my opinion, its a game the Bills have to win. I say that because a win on opening day with this new staff, against a playoff team who has one of the best quarterbacks in the game, will do wonders for everyone at One Bills Drive. In order for the Bills to come out of week 1 victorious, the defense is going to need to shut down Andrew Luck and the powerful passing attack that he leads. With so many questions surrounding the secondary, this game will provide us with a good indication as to what we should expect this season from the pass defense.
If the pass rush can’t get home, it could be a long day for those guys back there, especially given how badly Andrew Luck can hurt you if he has the time to do so. If the front 7 for the Bills can make things difficult for Luck, prospects of a win look good for us. As an offense, the Bills matchup favorably against this Colts defense, especially after Indy lost Arthur Jones for the season. Now that we know Shady is good to go, I expect the ground game to be strong, and success on the ground could make things much easier for Tyrod Taylor in his debut. With all things considered, I expect this game to be a close one, and the team that has the better day through the air should be the one who comes out on top. With Rex’s scheme and the weapons on the offensive side of the ball at Tyrod’s disposal, I expect the Bills to start the 2015 season at 1-0. Prediction: Bills 21 – Colts 17
Brett Ludwiczak, @BLeez17: At least if the Bills are going to get the teams that played in the AFC Championship game in the first two weeks of the season, both those games are at home. I think the Bills come out of those games with a split. This is the one I think the Bills lose. While it’s really tough for me to go against the Bills for the home opener, I think they fall just short, especially with Marcell Dareus serving his one game suspension. This will just have the Bills even more amped up next week to take down New England. Indianapolis 24 Buffalo 20
Luke Wachob @lukewachob – The season kicks off with a good ol’ fashioned toss-up. The Bills’ elite defense will get an early test from one of the league’s best QBs, Andrew Luck. Without Dareus and McKelvin in the lineup, it’ll be crucial for the Williams brothers and Jerry Hughes to consistently pressure Luck. Otherwise, TY Hilton and former Houston Texan Andre Johnson could have huge days. On the other side of the ball, the Bills have the element of surprise on their side. The league hasn’t seen much of Tyrod Taylor, and Greg Roman called a vanilla offense in the preseason, forcing Indy to guess blindly at what the Bills’ offense might look like. If the Bills can keep the Colts guessing throughout the game, they have a great chance to start the year 1-0. Bills 23-20
Joe@Buffalowins: The Dareus loss is huge. We saw what happened last year when #99 went down against Oakland and how the defense couldn’t stop the offense. It feels like the Colts are a one man team with Andrew Luck. Aside from a few of their skill guys, I can’t really name too many other Colts. Luck is one of the best QBs in the game and he’s gets a boatload of yards. Last year, PFF had Luck have a QB rating of 110 when teams blitzed him. If you want to feel a little better, Rex Ryan faced him during Luck’s dynamite rookie year and the Colts scored just 9 points while Luck had 4 turnovers. The Colts had 6 games last year where the scored 30+ points, but they also had five games where they gave up 30+. The Colts are kind of average on defense as they gave up the 12th fewest yards passing in the NFL last year, but gave up 4.3 yards per carry which ranked 22nd. As I wrote, the Dareus loss is huge and if he were playing, I think I’d go Bills here. However, Luck is the man and I think he’s going to torch the Bills CBs. Colts 27 Bills 17
Mike Migliore @mmigliore- This is the most important game of the first half of the season for the Bills. I know, I know, it’s Week 1, but man, if the Bills don’t win this, they are staring at an 0-3 start in the face with New England coming in and a trip to Miami to follow. Of course, the Bills could easily win their next six games after that, but getting off to a 1-0 start is imperative if this team wants to make the playoffs. The Ralph is going to be jumping as pretty much everyone I know (except myself) will be there on Sunday. Expect an incredibly raucous crowd, the kind Rex Ryan asked for on Wednesday. It’s needed as the Colts come in as one of the AFC’s favorites for the Super Bowl. I watched NFL Network’s Gameday crew make their Super Bowl picks on Tuesday and every single one of them picked the Colts to win the Super Bowl. It would be nice to give them a nice big shitburger to eat on Opening Day. I think the Bills match up well with the Colts as Indy struggles to stop the run. Expect Greg Roman to use heavy formations with an extra o-lineman at times. New England did this to great success against the Colts last season. Andrew Luck will have opportunities to throw on (Ronald Darby) our secondary, but he really struggled against Rex’s defense in a 2012 game and I could see a similar result happening again. Rex has a 5-1 record in home openers and I don’t see him letting this one get away. The Bills need it. Prediction: Bills 26, Colts 20
Rich (@RDotDeuce) – It’s funny to me that Tyrod Taylor has the offensive coordinator that Andrew Luck had when they last played (Va Tech vs Stanford 5 years ago). But that was then and this is now. Looking at Luck and the Colts you have what you had for many years under Peyton Manning – a potential juggernaut on offense, with a defense that has been questionable at times at best. A lot is on the table for the Colts, with the pressure on their head coach to produce results or perhaps hit the bricks…and they’re coming to the Ralph. I think Rex’s first game is going to be a rowdy one. The only concern I have is Darby at corner, because if they get behind him a few times this game might get over quick. As it stands, I’m calling it Bills 27-Colts 17. Let’s gooooo!
Brad Gelber (@BradleyGelber) – The Bills early stretch is tough. Luck & Brady is no easy task no matter how dominate your defense is. I want the Bills to win and get off on the right foot, but I think the Colts will be too much, especially without Dareus. Even despite a possible 0-2 start, I still think the Bills are a Wild Card contender. I hope I’m wrong and they light it up Sunday. #RockTheRalph 17-13 Colts
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