Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Bills improved to 5-2 on the 2024 season with a 34-10 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at Highmark Stadium.
Here are my Arrows Up and Down from the contest:
ARROW UP:
The second half
After playing a pretty awful first half, the Bills turned it around in a resounding way in the second half.
At halftime, the Titans outgained the Bills, 219-90, in total yards of offense, and led 10-7.
After that, the Bills outgained Tennessee, 299-72, and outscored them 27-0 over the final 30 minutes.
34 unanswered points
The Titans led 10-0 in the second quarter, and the Bills then scored 34-straight points to close things out.
LB - Terrel Bernard
Bernard made his presence fault throughout the game, collecting a total of eight tackles, with two of those for loss, including an absolutely terrific stop on third down early in the second half, which led to a fourth down the Bills also stopped on the very next play.
Bernard also came up with a big fumble recovery in the first half.
Third and fourth down stops
That stop on third down by Bernard came on the very first series of the third quarter. A 3rd-and-1 turned into a 4th-and-2, and the Titans went for it. But DeWayne Carter and Taylor Rapp blew up the play, and the defense made a huge stop that completely swung the game.
The Bills scored a touchdown just six plays later.
QB - Josh Allen
After a really tough start, Allen finished with solid numbers, completing 21-of-33 passes (63.6%) for 323 yards and a pair of touchdown tosses.
Allen also finished another game without throwing an interception.
WR - Keon Coleman
Coleman had the first 100-yard receiving game of his career, finishing with four grabs for 125 yards, which is 31.3 yards per-catch. A lot of that was run after catch yards, where he did a great job after making the grab.
WR - Amari Cooper (after the drop)
On the first drive of the game, Cooper dropped a pass right in his hands, but offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Allen continued to have faith in him.
Cooper finished his first game with the Bills with four catches for 66 yards and his first touchdown on his first reception of the game.
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WR - Khalil Shakir
Seven targets, seven catches.
Once again, Shakir was incredibly reliable when called upon, and the Bills called upon him a whole bunch late in the game, including five catches over a span of six plays that went for 50 yards, setting up a field goal with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Dalton Kincaid’s two terrific catches
Kincaid caught three balls for 52 yards, but one was an absolutely spectacular grab along the sidelines for 17 yards on a 3rd-and-12 in the third quarter. Another grab came later that quarter for 25 yards on a 3rd-and-8 that set the Bills up for an eventual touchdown.
Pass protection
For the most part, Allen was kept clean and had time in the pocket. He was sacked just once, and the Titans were credited with just four quarterback hurries.
Closing it out
Once the Bills took control of the game, they never let the Titans back in it. Even with a three-score lead, they kept their foot on the gas and continued to play their game and go to what was working, as Allen continued to throw and complete passes up 27-10 with less than five minutes to play, setting up their final touchdown.
Defensive line
The Titans obviously came into the game with a ton of respect for the Bills' defensive line, choosing to go almost exclusively with a quick passing game and check downs.
After they started getting down, they had to drop back a little bit more, and the Bills' front did a tremendous job to impact quarterback Mason Rudolph.
On the day, Bills defensive linemen had three sacks and were credited with 11 quarterback hurries!
Run defense
The Titans ran 24 times for just 89 yards, which is just 3.7 yards per-carry.
DE - Gregory Rousseau
Rousseau had a pretty incredible six(!) quarterback hurries by himself. He also was credited with half of a sack to go along with five tackles, including 1.5 for loss.
RB - Ray Davis
Davis had just five carries, but those went for a total of 41 yards, averaging 8.2 yards per-carry, including a touchdown.
K - Tyler Bass
After a tough week, seeing the team sign another kicker and an inconsistent season up to this point, Bass connected on all four extra point attempts and both field goal tries.
PR - Brandon Codrington
Codrington did a really nice job on a fairly windy day to not only catch punts, but get the most out of a couple of them, as well as a kick return. He averaged 11.2 yards a punt return, and brought a kickoff back to the 39-yard line.
Third down defense
Tennessee converted just 6-of-16 third downs (37.5%).
Red zone offense and defense
The Bills were 4-for-6 (67%) scoring touchdowns on trips inside the Titans' 20-yard line. They held the Titans to just 1-for-3 (33%) on their red zone trips, including a big stop on the second series of the game.
ARROW DOWN:
The first half
As great as the second half was, it was needed, because the first half was a struggle all around.
The Bills started the game with three-straight three-and-out drives on offense. Buffalo scored only seven points, and totaled just 90 yards through the first 30 minutes.
Joe Brady’s gameplan
The offensive game plan Brady put together just didn’t make sense. Too many run plays out of shotgun that took too long to develop, too many down-the-field passing routes that also took too long.
Simpler, short passes along with a physical, downhill running game could have really helped move the sticks early-on.
Nickeled and dimed down the field
The Titans had a terrific offensive gameplan against the Bills defense to start the game, using the quick-passing game, shot throws, screen and rollout passes. That allowed them to gain 217 yards of offense and control the ball for nearly 20 of the 30 minutes in the first half.
RB - James Cook
Cook couldn’t get going all day, running 12 times for just 32 yards, averaging just 2.7 yards per-carry.
Wide receiver separation (mainly early)
Once again, wide receivers separating was an issue, especially early in the game. It wasn’t until Allen hit Cooper for a couple plays that it started to open things up for others to find room.
WR - Mack Hollins
With Curtis Samuel getting injured very early and Cooper playing his first game in a Bills uniform on just five days notice, Hollins should have been able to step up and into a bigger role. That never happened, though, as he was targeted just once and did not have a catch.
Punt blocked
With just 54 seconds remaining in the first half, the Bills lined up to punt. As Sam Martin was booting it, a Titans rusher got through and partially blocked it, causing the ball to travel just 27 yards and a Titans drive to start at their own 40-yard line.
Third down offense
The Bills continued to struggle on third down, converting just 3-of-10 chances (30%).
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