Snow turns Bills vs Colts into a blizzare game

Heavy snow in Buffalo has produced one of the most delightfully ugly NFL games ever | PICTURES, VIDEO

Deonte Thompson #10 of the Buffalo Bills catches the ball as Kenny Moore #42 of the Indianapolis Colts attempts to defend him at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. Picture: Getty Images

The Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts, two titans of NFL mediocrity playing backup quarterbacks, were never expected to produce much aesthetically pleasing football yesterday. Then it snowed so hard in Buffalo that it produced one of the most delightfully ugly football games ever.

The Bills won 13-7 in overtime, but the final score was only memorable because of how they arrived there. What will be remembered are the completely nutty conditions and the bizarre brand of football it produced.

At times, the field was barely visible. The snow was piled so high that running didn’t exist. There was only painstakingly slow trudging. Passing was so difficult it was barely even attempted. And kicking the ball was even more harrowing — which is why the Colts went for two points and the win with 1:16 left in regulation.

Blizzare NFL game in snow

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This is how backward things were in the whiteout: The Colts didn’t attempt their first pass until there was 6:13 remaining in the second quarter. The last time a team even got close to waiting that long to throw its first pass was in 2010, and in that game the Titans threw their first pass with 10:38 left in the second quarter.

Indianapolis began the game with 17 straight runs — the most since the Raiders’ 21 consecutive rushes to start a game against the Jets in 2003, according to Stats LLC. At first, it looked like the strategy might work: On their first drive, the Colts marched it down to the Bills’ 15-yard-line. Then Adam Vinatieri, one of the best kickers in NFL history and one who is famous for hitting a long field goal in the snow, missed badly on a 33-yard kick.

Walk.
Off.
Win.#GoBills pic.twitter.com/9VUp4sF11e

— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) December 10, 2017

So whenever it made the slightest bit of sense, both teams tried to avoid passing the ball and kicking the ball. The Bills turned it over on downs on their first drive when they went for it on a 4th and 3 instead of trying a long field goal or punting. They did the same thing on their third drive. In the second half, the Colts passed up a field-goal attempt and also turned it over on downs.

Then, with the game on the line, Indianapolis went for the win. Trailing 7-6, the Colts went for — and converted a 2-point conversion, for what would have been an 8-7 lead with barely any time left. But a penalty took the score off the board, leaving Vinatieri a 43-yard extra point attempt to just tie it. And the great snow kicker redeemed himself, hitting the kick after an odd scene where a host of Indianapolis players furiously kicked at the snow so he actually had a spot to kick from.

But Vinatieri wasn’t a perfect hero: With six seconds left, he missed a 43-yard field goal that would have won it in regulation.

In overtime, Bills running back LeSean McCoy scored on a 21-yard run to end the game. McCoy rushed for 156 yards on 32 carries.

For most of the game, the play was about as ugly as the final passing stats: The Colts’ Jacoby Brissett finished 11-for-22 with 69 yards. The Bills, who used Nathan Peterman and Joe Webb with Tyrod Taylor out injured and Peterman leaving after a hit to the head, finished 7-for-16 for 92 yards.

It was the fewest combined passing yards in a game since 2010, according to Stats LLC.

The Wall Street Journal

Ryan Davis' snowball fight sack celebration >>>>>#INDvsBUF #GoBills pic.twitter.com/y0E7O1A9SA

— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) December 10, 2017