Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - It was a tale of two halves for the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on Sunday.
The Bills were playing their first home game in four weeks, so "Bills Mafia" was fired up and ready to go. There was a little extra buzz, because Amari Cooper was making Bills debut.
Then the home team came out and laid an egg in the first half.
The offense was absolutely anemic. There wasn't much of a passing game to speak of, and the running game couldn't bail the offense out. Josh Allen was an unsightly 4-of-11 for just 65 yards.
Once again, Bills wide receivers were doing next to nothing. On his very first target with the Bills, Cooper dropped, what would have been, a third down conversion on the opening drive. The Bills had to punt shortly after.
It was an omen of things to come for the first 30 minutes of game time for the Bills.
Bills receivers were targeted six times in the first half, and managed just two catches. Thankfully, one of those two receptions went for 44 yards to rookie Keon Coleman. It would lead to a James Cook touchdown run one play later.
Those were the only points from the offense which coughed and wheezed its way to a grand total of 90 net yards on six first half possessions. They were 0-for-5 on third down as well.
In the meantime, the defense made a bad Titans offense look good.
Mason Rudolph got the start for an injured Will Levis, and he completed 18-of-23 passes in that first half for 156 yards and a touchdown. The Titans totaled 218 total yards, went 5-of-8 on third down, but the "bend, but don't break" Bills defense did only give up 10 points.
In hindsight, the Titans should have asked the NFL if the game could be over at that point, and they would be able to fly back to Nashville with a three-point victory.
The Bills dominated the visitors from the AFC South in the second half.
Things started to change on the very first drive of the third quarter when the Bills defense came up with a big stand.
Terrel Bernard and Dorian Williams combined for a stop of running back Tony Pollard on 3rd-and-1 from the Titans' 45-yard line. Tennessee opted to go for it on fourth down, and rookie DeWayne Carter stuffed Pollard on another run, giving the ball over to the Bills offense.
After barely showing signs of life in that first half, Allen and company would score on each of their next five drives.
Cooper more than redeemed himself for that first quarter drop. He recorded his first touchdown catch with the Bills on a drive that was kept alive by a 17-yard reception from tight end Dalton Kincaid on a 3rd-and-12.
The Bills had their first lead of the day at 14-10, and it was a lead they would not relinquish.
After a Tyler Bass field goal that extended the Bills' lead to seven points, it was time for Kincaid to come through in the clutch again. His 25-yard catch on a 3rd-and-8 gave the Bills a 1st-and-goal at the Titans' two-yard line. It led to a Ty Johnson receiving touchdown.
Cooper had a 27-yard catch on the very first play of that drive.
Another Bass field goal (he connected on a pair of short field goals and was 4-for-4 on extra points) made it 27-10. That was the Khalil Shakir drive, as he caught all five of his targets for 50 yards and a pair of first downs.
Following Damar Hamlin's second interception of the season, the Bills struck quickly.
Coleman turned a quick slant into a 57-yard gain. Then Ray Davis would have a spinning, breaking tackles, 16-yard touchdown run to put the Bills up 34-10.
That was all she wrote.
Related
Allen was terrific in that second half, completing 17-of-22 passes for 258 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He made some beautiful back-shoulder throws, and extended his personal best streak of consecutive games without an interception to seven.
He ended up with a season-high 323 yards in, what was, his 100th regular season start.
A Bills offense that produced just 90 yards and seven points in the first half exploded for 299 yards and 27 points in that game-changing second half.
Cooper, Shakir and Coleman caught 13 of their 15 second half targets for 206 yards and a touchdown.
As for the Bills' defense, Tennessee had six possessions in the second half and totaled just 65 yards. They went 1-for-8 on third down and were shut out.
Bills coaches must be making some terrific adjustments at halftime this season. The defense had given up 95 points in the first half, and just 41 in the second half.
In the last three games, Bills opponents have scored only nine points in the second half.
The Bills are now 5-2 on the season, which marks the fifth time in the last six years they were 5-2 or better after the first seven games of the season.
Hopefully that second half, where the Bills' passing game looked like one of the best in the NFL again, serves as a turning point for that part of the Bills' game.
