This time around, Buffalo is -3.5 and will likely see a lot of Painter again in what he hopes will be a rebound performance from the preseason opener. Painter was absolutely brutal in a 37-17 home loss to the San Francisco 49ers last week, completing 9-of-19 passes for 64 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. He was also terrible against the Bills last year, connecting on only 4-of-17 passes with no touchdowns and one interception.
That performance followed the team’s controversial first loss of the season 29-15 to the New York Jets in which Painter was booed by Indianapolis fans after Manning had put the Colts into position to win before exiting. The good news for Painter is that he will at least be playing outside the country in Toronto and could not play much worse than he did against the 49ers. Second-year QB Tom Brandstater will follow Painter and Manning in the rotation.
Indy played without six starters against San Francisco, including Pro Bowlers Dallas Clark (leg), Bob Sanders (biceps), Dwight Freeney (ankle) and Jeff Saturday (knee). The other starters remained in the game for just two series before Colts head coach Jim Caldwell removed them.
Meanwhile, the Bills are coming off a 42-17 loss to the Washington Redskins in their preseason opener and did not take many positives – if any – away from that experience. In fact, the worst news is that Buffalo lost running backs Fred Jackson (hand) and Marshawn Lynch (ankle) in the first half and will probably be without them until at least the regular-season opener.
That means rookie C.J. Spiller will see extended time for Buffalo and likely start the rest of the team’s preseason games. Look for fellow rookie Joique Bell and former Colt Chad Simpson to get into the game for the Bills in relief of Spiller after the duo combined for 119 yards on nine carries against the Redskins.
Buffalo quarterbacks did not perform well vs. Washington and will be hard-pressed to turn that around against the Colts without Jackson and Lynch. Starting QB Trent Edwards completed 6-of-12 passes for 58 yards with an interception while reserve Ryan Fitzpatrick was 9-of-14 for 61 yards with a third-quarter touchdown pass to rookie WR David Nelson, who suffered a leg injury in practice on Tuesday and will not play this week.
Fitzpatrick will not play against Indy in order to give third-string QB Brian Brohm his first playing experience of the preseason following Edwards. The Bills will also be without starting safety Jairus Byrd, who is out indefinitely and could miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his groin for the third time in 13 months.
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