The Bills beat the Colts 30-20 on Sunday, thanks in part to an early defensive takeaway by nickel Taron Johnson.
Buffalo had a strong day on defense, and the effort was highlighted by an early pick-six by the corner.
Johnson helped to set the tone for the game on the defensive side of the ball with the big play, but also in his overall performance.
He had three tackles, a sack, one tackle for loss, and two pass deflections as well.
“I’m not sure what he was seeing,” Johnson said of opposing QB Joe Flacco’s read on the pick. “But I’ve seen that play before . . . against a different team, and I played it differently. I mean, we [were] in a different call too. In the game I’ve seen it, I played it differently, and I feel like they were expecting me to play it a different way. And, I took the ball. After that, I scanned the field and took it to the house.
I’ve seen that play before… I feel like they were expecting me to play it a different way and took the ball.”
They were also without receivers Keon Coleman and Amari Cooper on offense, so the defense stepped up.
“I know we’re banged up on offense, but the defense came out, and especially in that second half, made a lot of plays, and I feel like that helped us win,” Johnson added.
On the day, the Bills offense had three interceptions total, along with four sacks and two forced fumbles.
Much to the approval of head coach Sean McDermott.
“I thought that the defense and the takeaways was a big time difference in the game, and then also getting momentum back after our turnovers with some key stops and fourth down stops”, McDermott said. “We were able to make them (Colts) one-dimensional, which was important for us. It was a resilient win overall. Very resilient win.”
With Tyler Bass going a perfect six for six, special teams and defense held up their end.
“I think they’re just a very competitive group,” McDermott added. “They take a lot of pride in not letting each other down.”