Losman leads a sharp Bills offense
Injury to tackle Walker not considered serious
INDIANAPOLIS — J. P. Losman gave the Buffalo Bills more reason to feel secure about the quarterback position Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts.
Losman directed two time-consuming drives to stake the Bills to a 10-0 lead. Then Terrence McGee returned a fumble 68 yards for a touchdown with 1:43 left in the second quarter. The Bills took a 17-0 lead into intermission and went on to a 20-7 victory.
The Bills got a big scare in the second quarter when left tackle Langston Walker injured his left forearm. However, Bills coach Dick Jauron indicated after the game the injury was not too serious.
“Langston had what I guess we’ll call a bad bruise,” Jauron said. “He came in for X-rays, and the X-rays were negative. So we’re optimistic there.”
The Bills can ill-afford a significant injury to Walker, who is filling in for holdout Jason Peters.
The Bills have had no recent contact with Peters’ representatives, and the team remains firm in its stance that Peters will not get a new deal this season.
Losman, meanwhile, ran the Bills’ offense efficiently in place of starter Trent Edwards, who sat out with a sore thigh.
Losman played the entire first half, completing 13 of 19 passes for 108 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
“We weren’t perfect on every play but we were able to bounce back,” Losman said. “The line did a very good job of protecting all during the first half. They had their hands full
with the Colts’ defensive line, because they had their star back in Dwight Freeney.”
On their second possession, the Bills held the ball for 7:24 on a march that netted a 36-yard field goal by Rian Lindell.
On their third possession, the Bills marched 93 yards in 18 plays over 10 minutes. It was capped by a 1-yard leap over the goal line by rookie running back Xavier Omon.
Both teams were missing key players. Besides Edwards, the Bills were without receivers James Hardy and Roscoe Parrish.
The Colts’ inaugural game in $720 million Lucas Oil Stadium was not a memorable one for the home fans. The Bills intercepted four passes in addition to the turnover on the fumble.
Not only were the Colts without star quarterback Peyton Manning, but second-stringer Jim Sorgi also sat out the game in a surprise. Manning has yet to practice this summer due to knee surgery. Sorgi developed a sore knee in pregame warm-ups and was held out.
So the Colts opened the game with Jared Lorenzen, who is battling Quinn Gray to be their third-string quarterback.
Lorenzen, a 285-pounder known as “the Round Mound of Touchdown” during his college career at Kentucky, was sacked for a 9-yard loss on his first play when Bills defensive end Chris Kelsay knifed through the Colts’ line.
The Colts managed one first down on their second possession, and that was it for the Bills’ full starting defense. The Bills’ backup defensive line, backed by the starting secondary, played on the Colts’ third series.
The Colts drove to the Bills’ 32, but Lorenzen stumbled pulling away from center, and running back Joseph Addai never got a good grip on the handoff. The ball took a big bounce off right tackle into the arms of McGee, who ran down the right sideline for a score.
The Bills’ first scoring drive covered 38 yards in 13 plays. It started with a holding penalty on Josh Reed that wiped out a 13-yard run by Marshawn Lynch. But Losman hit Reed for a 15-yard gain for a first down. Completions to Lee Evans produced two more first downs. The drive stalled at the Colts’ 18, and Lindell kicked a field goal with 2:31 left in the quarter.
“We had the penalty but we were able to pick up the first down after the holding call,” Losman said. “The team showed signs of success even when things weren’t perfect.”
The Bills’ second scoring drive started at their own 7. Losman scrambled for 10 yards on a third-and-7 play from the 10 to keep the march alive. Other key gains on the march were a 15-yard run by Fred Jackson, a 12-yard pass to Evans and a 9-yard completion to Justin Jenkins that took the Bills to the Colts’ 9. Omon rushed 8 yards up the middle before leaping over for the touchdown.
Lynch played just a series and a half for the Bills. The Bills starters did not return for the second half. Gibran Hamdan took over for Losman to start the third quarter.
