Bills vs. Colts Preseason: 3 Takeaways From Defensive Showing

The Buffalo Bills got their first look at the team against the Indianapolis Colts in Saturday's preseason opener.

The Buffalo Bills' bread and butter throughout their come up as a team has been their defense. Now, Sean McDermott, the team’s head coach, is the active defensive play-caller, and he got his first bit of action during the team’s 23-19 preseason-opening win on Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts at Highmark Stadium.

While Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs were sidelined for the game, the defense saw most of the starters play. It’s much easier to assess a team playing its full starters, so the defense was able to give fans a mini preview of the regular season.

Here are three takeaways from the defense’s performance in Week 1 of preseason:

Damar Hamlin returns

After slowly ramping up aggression and putting pads on in training camp, Hamlin’s debut since his health scare was starting to feel more real. He made his first appearance on special teams, but quickly made himself impactful defensively, racking up three total tackles for the team.

Pass rush sets the tone

Of course, in preseason and playing against a rookie quarterback seeing his first NFL action, the performance of a starting d-line might be skewed, but the impact was obvious early. McDermott showed aggression early and it paid off as the team earned an early interception after the pass rush forced Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson out of the pocket and into The team totaled three sacks in the game.

Position battles

Position battles are always a fun aspect of preseason. One that saw some shine today was the cornerback starting across from Tre'Davious White. Dane Jackson got the start and was impactful early, pulling down an interception from Richardson early. His stock will rise as the position battle continues. Second-year corner Kaiir Elam should use Jackson’s success as something to lean on as he makes his case for the starting spot.

The Bills will be back with more action next week, hitting the road to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday. There may be more to take away from the offensive side of the ball, but as the defensive position battles continue, there will be stories to continue following.

---

Thanks for reading our SI-powered coverage of your Buffalo Bills ... Bills Mafia!

Get your Buffalo game tickets from SI Tickets ... here!

You're a member of Bills Mafia hungry for more Buffalo coverage? Read here.