As expected, it wasn’t pretty.
Late in the second quarter, Elam collided with Alec Ogletree and Bills teammate Christian Benford on a play that became 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, acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Browns this offseason, is expected to take over as the team’s No. 2 quarterback — a role occupied last season by Mitchell Trubisky. While his knowledge of the job probably isn’t a risk after a particularly bad half of preseason football, there wasn’t much for the Colts to build on. “That’s the No. 1 job as a quarterback, and I pride myself on being very stingy with the ball and to go out there and do that, that was uncharacteristic of me. I take full responsibility for all of that,” Keenum said.
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According to holy tradition, the Buffalo Bills rookies had to perform various songs,… Keenum played the entire first half, going 11 of 18 for 86 yards and two interceptions, with a 33.3 quarterback rating. He also ran once for 3 yards. The Bills’ first drive of the game was actually one of their best, as the team went 75 yards on 10 plays. On fourth-and-4 from the Colts’ 5-yard line, Keenum threw an incomplete pass intended for tight end OJ Howard. “I’m out there with 10 guys that are prepared, they practiced a lot, they had a great game and I thought coming off the first drive we moved the ball well, we thought we ran 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 exactly the one-call-sheet game that we usually have planned. I thought we did some good things and there’s a lot of things to work on and get better at as well.” Things went downhill fast after the first drive. Keenum was intercepted on the first play of Buffalo’s second possession. His throw intended for Jamison Crowder was slightly high and the ball bounced off the receiver’s hands and into the hands of Colts safety Rodney McLender. After a three-and-out on the third possession, the Bills turned the ball over again at the end of the first quarter. Keenum connected with wide receiver Jake Kumerow on 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 problem continued on the Bills’ next possession when Keenum was sacked by Colts defensive end Kameron Cline, leading to a fumble recovered by defensive tackle Curtis Brooks. After Bills safety Jaquan Johnson gave his team great field position after 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 receiver Isaiah Hodgins down the left sideline. “It was all my fault,” Keenum said. “A strange appearance, the release he got. I thought the angle did a great job playing it. I don’t have to throw that ball, though. Especially since we have a turnover, we have points. We’re trying to get a shot. I have to be smarter than that.” To be fair, Keenum was playing backups across the board. The Bills opted not to start almost all of their projected opening day starters, so the first-team offense against the Colts looked like this: Keenum, Howard, Kumerow, Crowder, wide receiver Khalil Shakir, running back Zack Moss and an offensive line. from left to right, 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,” coach Sean McDermott said. “I know he wants a few games back. Me too. There are some things I could have done better. I think that goes for our entire football team, right? This is one game and it’s a preseason game. We have a lot to learn from this. I know the result was the result and we are winning. That’s great, but the things we can learn from this game, including Case, including myself, will benefit us going forward.” 2. Boogie Basham makes a big play. The Bills challenged their young defensive ends – Greg Russo, AJ Epenesa and Bassam – 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 Terrell Bernard and returned 69 yards for a touchdown. “I would say before the play even started, I was keeping guys like, ‘We need a big game here.’ So, you know, I lined up, the tackle gave me what I wanted,” Bassam said. “I took advantage of it. Seeing the quarterback was holding the ball, the same drill we work every day, getting the ball out. The ball is out, I look up, I see ‘TB’ picking up the ball, running down the touchline, scoring. It doesn’t get any better than that.” Bassam, who 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 regular season games. The Bills will want that number to increase, and plays like the one he had Saturday will help build his case for more playing time. “I would definitely say for me, it’s just a momentum builder,” Basham said. Rousseau sat out, along with the rest of the Bills’ defensive tackles. The starting lineup against the Colts looked like this: Basham, Epenesa, defensive tackles Tim Settle and Brandin Bryant, linebackers Andre Smith and Bernard, cornerbacks Kaiir Elam, Christian Benford and Cam Lewis and safeties Damar Hamlin and Johnson.
“I’m glad to see the young man go out there and make the most of the opportunity,” coach Sean McDermott said, then smiled during a halftime interview. 3. Punt God goes boom. Rookie shortstop Matt Araiza, surprisingly, is one of the players that fans and the media have been watching closely all 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 made everybody laugh, including us on the bench,” Keenum said of Araiza’s mark. Also of note: Araiza held Tyler Bass for a first-half extra point and a pair of second-half field goals, including the game-winner. All holds were clean, including a low latch on the extra point. Incumbent Matt Haack punted once and did a nice job from the 50-yard line, causing a fair catch at the Indianapolis 12-yard line. “That’s great experience for Matt there, and then to be able to turn the field around like that was huge,” McDermott said of Araiza, first talking about the work she did. “I thought he was pretty consistent all night in what we did. I thought Matt Haack had a good point early there with the pooch situation.” 4. Shakir had a busy night. The Bills rookie wide receiver, who impressed during camp at the University of St. John Fisher, led the team with five catches for 92 yards. Shakir lined up primarily as an outside receiver. He also served as a primary punt returner, although he did not have much success in that regard. Shakir’s two punt returns were just five yards. “He just seems to have good ability and feel for the position,” McDermott said. “I know that’s what (general manager) Brandon (Bean) thought and …
