Tyrod Taylor was able to beat out both E.J. Manuel and Matt Cassel to be the Buffalo Bills’ Week 1 starting quarterback and is set to start tomorrow afternoon against the Indianapolis Colts. It is a very difficult first game as a starter for the Bills and he will be going head-to-head with superstar quarterback Andrew Luck.
What should the Bills and their fan base be expecting from Taylor in Week 1 against the Colts?
First of all, the news that star running back LeSean McCoy will be good to go for Week 1 is huge news for both the Bills and Taylor. He will need all the help he can get against a much improved Colts’ defensive unit. McCoy will force the Colts to pay a lot of attention to the rushing attack rather than forcing Taylor to beat them by himself.
Indianapolis has an improved defense as mentioned above, but they still aren’t going to be amazing. They have some holes that they were unable to fill this past offseason. There are just enough holes that Taylor’s skill-set can take advantage of them to have a big game.
Rex Ryan isn’t going to ask Taylor to throw the football 40 times this week, but he is going to ask for a very efficient 25 passes.
At 26 years old, Taylor has gained quite a bit of experience playing behind Joe Flacco with the Baltimore Ravens. That experience was incredibly valuable looking back and will help him understand the speed of the game and how to read the Colts’ defense heading into his first start with Buffalo. Ryan also knows how to use his players to their full potential and is going to put Taylor in a good position to succeed.
It isn’t going to be easy for Taylor to “dominate” the game even against a Colts’ defense that has some work left to do. He is going to have a solid game, but no one should expect to see him take over the game by any stretch of the imagination.
Buffalo simply needs their new starting quarterback to be a game manager and take care of the football. There will be plenty of big plays throughout the course of the game, but he needs to pick and choose his carefully. Taylor is going to have a solid first start tomorrow afternoon and will help the Bills’ compete with the Colts to start the season 1-0.
Tyrod Taylor Week 1 Prediction: 225 Passing Yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 45 Rushing Yards
