The snow in Buffalo looked ugly. Blizzard conditions dumped about a foot of snow on New Era Field. The 3-9 Indianapolis Colts were already eliminated from the AFC playoff race. The Bills needed the win to keep their postseason hopes alive. It was a battle between running backs, as Lesean Mccoy and Frank Gore bulldozed through the white stuff. In the end, McCoy took top honors. His rushing touching in the last two minutes of overtime helped Buffalo edge past the Colts. Buffalo’s playoffs hopes are still lit, as fans will eagerly be watching the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers game tonight.

A Ravens’ loss puts the Bills one step closer to the postseason. Here is how Buffalo won their snowball fight against Indianapolis.

One man down, next man up

For Buffalo, the “one man down, next man” up mentality worked. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor injured his knee last week against the Patriots and was not healed enough to play this week. That left the door open for backup quarterback Nate Peterman to redeem himself for his first NFL start against the Los Angeles Chargers. In that game, he tossed a record five interceptions in the first half and was replaced with Taylor. Peterman held his own today. He tossed a pair of nice passes to Kelvin Benjamin, one of them resulting in a jump ball touchdown in the final minutes of the first half to give the Bills a 7-0 lead.

Peterman’s decision to dive for yardage in the third quarter led to him getting hit in the head. He left the game, which blasted the door again for the next man up. That man was third-string passe, Joe Webb. Webb, who played mostly as a wide receiver, was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings seven years ago. He played special teams for the Carolina Panthers before signing with Buffalo during the offseason.

Webb delivered a perfect throw to Deonte Thompson in overtime, who jumped to catch the 34-yard sideline pass. This put Buffalo in Colts territory. Some scrambles by Webb and great running by McCoy set up a beautiful ending to the overtime game. A handoff to McCoy resulted in a 21-yard touchdown to seal the 13-7 win in overtime.

McCoy is a snowbird in red

LeSean McCoy was the most dominant player on the field, as he rushed for 159 yards, as stated by USA Today. The Bills’ elusive running back racked up yardage all day long for Buffalo. McCoy also hit 1,000 yards for the season. McCoy celebrated his winning score by doing snow angels in the end zone.

The win was the reward for a roller coaster fourth quarter. The Colts scored a touchdown in the final two minutes of regulation. What seemed like a successful two-point conversion was nullified on an offensive pass interference call. This prompted an extra point try that sailed outside the uprights and then curved between the goal posts.

Webb and the Bills’ offense had one more chance.

Things looked promising until Webb threw an interception. This gave the Colts another shot. As Adam Vinatieri attempted a 43-yard field goal, the wind knocked it out of range. While things could have gone the other way, the snow gods were on Buffalo’s side.

Congrats, Buffalo Bills.
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