ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The snow sure suits Shady.
LeSean McCoy scored on a 21-yard run with 1:33 left in overtime to secure the Buffalo Bills’ 13-7 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in a wintry, white-out setting best suited for snow shoes and sled dogs.
He finished with 156 yards rushing, a career-best in his two-plus seasons in Buffalo. And it came nearly four years to the day the former Philadelphia running back set the Eagles franchise record with 217 yards rushing, also in a snowstorm.
“Is that right?” McCoy said when reminded of his feat.
“This is probably the best snow game I have ever played in,” he said. “Now, I’m no expert at it. I just run how I feel. And that’s what I did today.”
McCoy’s touchdown led to the Bills’ sideline erupting in celebration. Some players ran on the field to make snow angels . Others playfully engaged in snowball fights.
And then there was McCoy, who was mobbed by numerous teammates in the corner of the stands, where fans tossed up handfuls of snow as if it was confetti.
McCoy’s touchdown capped Buffalo’s second possession of overtime, and after receiver Deonte Thompson reached to his right to make a 35-yard catch while being interfered with by Kenny Moore.
Three plays later, facing third-and-2, McCoy burst through the middle, made a cut to his left and ran untouched into the end zone.
“Buffalo weather, right?” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I’ve been part of some wind and some rain games. I think we had all but sun today.”
There was even a dose of “thunder snow,” a meteorological event that occasionally accompanies lake-effect enhanced snowstorm. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed early in the third quarter, but the game was not stopped.
As much as two feet of snow was in the forecast when the storm hit about 90 minutes before kickoff. Within an hour, the flakes fell so fast that fans sitting in New Era Field’s east-end stands were unable to make out the large video scoreboard directly across from them.
Punted balls stuck in the snow. Colts receiver Chester Rogers disappeared into a snowbank in the end zone after being unable to stop on a deep pass from Jacoby Brissett. Rogers made the catch, but couldn’t keep both feet inbounds.
A parade of stadium workers regularly made their way on the field with snow blowers on their backs to uncover the yard lines.
So much snow accumulated on the roof of the first-level suites that fans began building snowmen.
Mother Nature played havoc with any semblance of a game plan, leaving both teams to lean heavily on their running attacks.
McCoy upped his season total to 1,007 in reaching the 1,000-yard mark for the sixth time of his 13-year career.
The Colts were led by Frank Gore, who finished with 130 yards rushing on a career-high 36 carries.
Buffalo (7-6) stayed alive in the AFC playoff picture, while the Colts (3-10) were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.
“Tough one to say the least. I’m so disappointed and sick for these guys,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said.
After squandering double-digit leads in the second half four times already this season, the Colts found a different way to blow an outcome.
First, there was an offensive pass interference penalty against Colts receiver Kamar Aiken to negate what would’ve been a two-point conversion with 1:16 left. It happened after Brissett capped a 19-play, 77-yard march with a 3-yard touchdown to Jack Doyle.
That led to the Colts scrambling to settle for a 43-yard extra point into the wind. Indianapolis used its final timeout for players to clear a spot for Adam Vinatieri.
The NFL’s oldest player hit a 43-yard wobbler that hooked in from the right and just sneaked over the crossbar.
Vinatieri, however, missed a field-goal wide left from the exact same spot with 1 second remaining after the Colts regained possession when Matthias Farley intercepted Webb’s pass over the middle with 52 seconds left.
Pagano blamed himself for the missed field goal.
“End of the game, that’s on me. We should’ve won that thing,” Pagano said. “They deserve better.”
QUARTERBACKS
Colts: Brissett went 11 of 22 for 69 yards and had three carries for 10 yards.
Bills: Rookie Nathan Peterman went 5 of 10 for 57 yards before being sidelined by a head injury late in the third quarter. Peterman started in place of Tyrod Taylor, who was sidelined by a bruised left knee in a 23-3 loss to New England last weekend. Webb finished 2 of 6 for 35 yards and an interception.
ON THE RUN
Gore finished with a career-high 36 carries for 130 yards. It was his first 100-yard game in 15 outings, since gaining 101 yards in a 34-6 win at Miami on Dec. 12. It was also Gore’s 42nd career 100-yard game, tying him with O.J. Simpson for 16th on the NFL list.
The 97 combined rushing attempts were the most in an NFL game since the Chiefs and Bears combined for 100 attempts in Week 10 of the 1981 season.
UP NEXT
Colts: Host Denver Broncos on Thursday night.
Bills: Close out home schedule hosting Miami Dolphins on Dec. 17.
Photo credit – Jeffrey T. Barnes / Associated Press / Orchard Park, NY
