The Buffalo Bills were humiliated 42-17 in their preseason opener against the Washington Redskins. Even their defensive backfield, the strength of their team, appeared overwhelmed.
But a strong followup performance against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night has invigorated the Bills' secondary. They have some swagger heading into Saturday night's exhibition against the Cincinnati Bengals and old friend Terrell Owens.
Bills safety Donte Whitner fired off a warning tweet Sunday:
"Hey @terrellowens and @OGOchoCinco did u guys watch our Indy Film yet? Hope so, have a great day guys!"
Minus Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd, the Bills still frustrated Manning into a 66.3 passer rating. Left cornerback Terrence McGee made a diving interception and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown.
The Bills won 34-21, with their first-team offense scoring two touchdowns on the Colts' first-team defense.
Whitner was asked Sunday if the truth lies somewhere between the disparate preseason games.
"No, I think the truth lies with what you were seeing" against the Colts, he replied. "The thing about that [Washington] game is we didn't really play a lot of coverages, especially in the secondary. We have a lot of things that we have there. I think we have about 60 or 70 different things as far as blitzes or coverages or ways to take away routes that hurt us in the past, just a lot of ways to attack quarterbacks. We feel like we're going to be able to do that. We’re going to be able to affect a lot of quarterbacks."
