5 Buffalo Bills to watch at the Indianapolis Colts

The Buffalo Bills face off against the Indianapolis Colts this weekend, and they're trying to do something that they haven't done as a franchise since the 1998 season: win a game in Indianapolis. Yes, the last time the Bills won at the Colts, they intercepted rookie Peyton Manning twice, Doug Flutie came off the bench to throw passing touchdowns to Jay Riemersma and Kevin Williams, and the Bills won 31-26.

The combatants this week won't include any of those players, and even though it feels like Colts starting quarterback Joe Flacco was around then, he was just 13 years old at that point. If the Bills want to keep Flacco from earning a win this week, they'll need some big players to step up and stay hot.

Here's a look at our five players to watch on Sunday.

WR Mack Hollins With Amari Cooper hampered by a wrist injury and Keon Coleman suffering a wrist injury of his own last week, it'll be up to some of Buffalo's auxiliary parts to play big. While Hollins hasn't been an efficient target for quarterback Josh Allen, catching just 12 of his 25 targets so far, he's been a go-to guy in the red zone.

Hollins is tied for the team lead in touchdown catches with three, and he's likely to see plenty of snaps even if Cooper can play. Last week, Hollins caught all five of his targets for 30 yards and a score. Perhaps chemistry with Allen is building and he can use that to spring into another solid day.

TE Dalton Kincaid Another player who has to step up in the passing game is Kincaid, who leads the team in targets with 54, but he has just 32 receptions for 332 yards and two scores on those targets. Not everyone can be Khalil Shakir and catch everything thrown his way, but a more efficient outing from Kincaid against the league's No. 26 passing defense would be encouraging.

Additionally, there have been a few plays lately where Buffalo has had numbers on outside runs only to have Kincaid miss his block. It would be nice to see him put together a strong, complete game.

DE A.J. Epenesa Veteran defensive end Dawuane Smoot is on Injured Reserve thanks to, what else, a wrist injury, so Epenesa will likely return to the starting lineup. He's had a good season statistically, notching 18 tackles, three tackles for loss, eight quarterback hits, and four sacks, but he's been somewhat inconsistent in that he swings wildly between playing very well and disappearing for a bit.

With Greg Rousseau terrorizing opponents this year, all Epenesa has to do is make Indianapolis pay for trying to block him one-on one.

DT DaQuan Jones The Colts have one of the NFL's best running backs in Jonathan Taylor. The Bills were gashed on the ground last week by the Miami Dolphins , and they've allowed 4.8 yards per rush this season. Jones and his counterparts up the middle have to be great this week in order to limit what the Colts do best.

If they can run it effectively, it will also allow Flacco to work off of play-action, which causes issues at the mid-level thanks to the continued absence of All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano. The Bills signed Jordan Phillips and Quintin Jefferson this week to bolster the ranks inside, but it's incumbent on Jones to eat space and keep his linebackers clean.

LB Dorian Williams Williams is a fantastic athlete, and when he plays downhill and fast, he's hard to stop. The problem is that, at this point in his career, he's susceptible to misdirection and play-action, and he can vacate his gap for just enough time to make it really hurt.

Buffalo's run defense is such that unless everyone is in the right place at the right time, they're likely to give up big yardage. That's the risk the Bills run by playing smaller, faster personnel.

If those guys don't fit their gaps perfectly, there are gaping holes out there to run through. Williams has 84 tackles this season, but I'll be looking for him to stay assignment-sound this week in both his run fits and pass coverages.