The Buffalo Bills got a look at what life is like without Josh Allen on Saturday.
Predictably, it wasn’t pretty.
Late in the second quarter, Elam collided with 6-foot-5 Indianapolis Colts tight end Alec Ogletree and Bills teammate Christian Benford on a play that turned into a Colts touchdown.
Backup quarterback Case Keenum accounted for three of the offense’s four first-half turnovers during a 27-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts at Highmark Stadium.
Keenum, who was acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Browns this offseason, is expected to take over as the team’s No. 2 quarterback, a role filled last season by Mitchell Trubisky. While his grasp of that job likely isn’t in jeopardy after a particularly ugly half of preseason football, there wasn’t much to build on against the Colts.
“That’s the No. 1 job as a quarterback, and I take pride in being very stingy with the ball and going out and doing that, that was uncharacteristic of me. I take full responsibility for everybody,” Keenum said.
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Keenum played the entire first half, going 11-for-18 for 86 yards and two interceptions, with a 33.3 quarterback rating. He also rushed once for 3 yards. The Bills first drive was actually one of the best as the team drove 75 yards on 10 plays. On fourth-and-four from the Colts’ 5-yard line, Keenum threw an incomplete pass intended for tight end OJ Howard.
“I’m with 10 guys who are ready, who have practiced a lot, who have had a great game plan, and I thought that when the first ball came out we moved the ball well, we thought we made the ball well. I thought the offensive line played pretty well,” Keenum said. “It’s preseason, so you have to take it with a grain of salt knowing that it’s not the projected game on a call sheet that we normally have. I think that we did some good things and that there are also a lot of things to work on and improve.”
Things went downhill fast after the first trip.
Keenum was intercepted on the first play of Buffalo’s second possession. His throw was intended because Jamison Crowder was slightly tall, and the ball bounced off the receiver’s hands into the waiting arms of Colts safety Rodney McLeod.
After a three-and-out on the third possession, the Bills turned the ball over again late in the first quarter. Keenum connected with wide receiver Jake Kumerow for a 20-yard gain, but the receiver fumbled at the end of the play and the ball was recovered by Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers. The turnover problems continued on the Bills’ next possession, when Keenum was sacked by Colts defensive end Kameron Cline, leading to a fumble that was recovered by defensive tackle Curtis Brooks.
After Bills safety Jaquan Johnson gave his team great field position following an interception by Colts quarterback Nick Foles, Keenum made his worst throw of the night. On first-and-10 from the Colts’ 15-yard line, he was intercepted on a throw intended for wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins down the left sideline.
“I was completely at fault,” Keenum said. “A weird look, the release he got. I thought the corner did a great job playing it. I don’t need to throw that ball, though. Especially after we get a turnover, we have points. We’re trying to make a shot . I have to be smarter than that.”
To be fair, Keenum was playing with backups across the board. The Bills opted not to start nearly all of their projected opening day starters, so the first-team offense against the Colts looked like this: Keenum, Howard, Kumerow, Crowder, receiver Khalil Shakir, running back Zack Moss and an offense. line, left to right, of Tommy Doyle, Bobby Hart, Greg Van Roten, Cody Ford and Luke Tenuta.
Keenum was replaced by Matt Barkley to start the third quarter.
“Case is a good football player. I’ll start there,” head coach Sean McDermott said. “I know he wants to get some plays back. Me too. There are things I could have done better. I think that’s true for our entire football team, right? This is a game, and it’s a preseason game. There is a lot to learn from this. I know the result was the result and we won. That’s great, but the things we can learn from this game, Case included, myself included, will benefit us as we go forward.”
2. Boogie Basham makes a big play. The Bills have challenged their young defensive backs – Greg Rousseau, AJ Epenesa and Basham – to make more plays this season. Basham did just that against the Colts in the second quarter, sacking Foles and forcing a fumble that was picked up by rookie linebacker Terrel Bernard and returned 69 yards for a touchdown.
“I would say before the play started, I held the guys up like, ‘We need a big play right here.’ So, you know, I lined up, the tackle gave me what I wanted,” Basham said. “I took advantage of it. Watching the quarterback was catch the ball, the same drill we work on every day, get the ball out. He gets the ball, I look up, I see ‘TB’ got the ball, running down the sideline, scoring. There’s nothing better than that.”
Basham, who has switched to No. 55 this season, previously worn by veteran Jerry Hughes, struggled to get on the field as a rookie, playing in just eight games in the regular season. The Bills will want that number to increase, and plays like the one he made Saturday will help build his case for more playing time.
“I would definitely say for me, it’s just a momentum generator,” Basham said.
Rousseau sat out, along with the rest of the Bills’ projected defensive starters. The starting lineup against the Colts looked like this: Basham, Epenesa, defensive tackles Tim Settle and Brandin Bryant, linebackers Andre Smith and Bernard, corners Kaiir Elam, Christian Benford and Cam Lewis and relievers Damar Hamlin and Johnson .
“It’s good to see the young man come out and make the most of the opportunity,” coach Sean McDermott said, then smiled during a halftime interview.
3. Point God goes boom. Rookie Matt Araiza, surprisingly, is one of the players that fans and the media have followed closely over the summer. Araiza showed why against the Colts in the second quarter, unleashing an 82-yard punt. Sure, it went into the end zone, but still… 82 yards!
“He got everybody excited, including us on the bench,” Keenum said of Araiza’s punt.
Also of note: Araiza held Tyler Bass to an extra point in the first half and a pair of field goals in the second half, including the game-winner. All shots were clean, including a low click on the extra point. Starting punter Matt Haack punted once and did a nice job from the 50-yard line, inducing a fair sack at the Indianapolis 12-yard line.
“That’s a great experience for Matt there, and then to be able to get around the field like that was huge,” McDermott said of Araiza, first talking about the work he did. “I thought he was pretty consistent all night in what we did. I thought Matt Haack had a good point early on with the dog situation.”
4. Shakir had a busy night. The Bills rookie wide receiver, who impressed during training camp at the University of St. John Fisher, led the team with five catches for 92 yards. Shakir lined up primarily as an outside catcher. He was also the leading punt returner, though he didn’t have much success in that regard. Both of Shakir’s punt returns were just five yards.
“He seems to have a good talent and…