Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - Another week, another dominant performance from the deepest team in football.
The Buffalo Bills needed to fight through it at first, but then roughed up the Tennessee Titans, 41-7, in a beatdown long overdue to Tennessee.
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As we did a week ago, we’ll go through each basic category and grade the Bills correspondingly. Plenty of positives once again, of course, but there is one that the Bills are trying to hide from their parents (we’ve all done that).
Passing offense
Gabriel Davis was out with an ankle injury, Dawson Knox has been relatively quiet through two games, the Titans have a solid pass rush.
It didn't matter.
Stefon Diggs is embarrassing his peers, both physically and emotionally, and no one can stop it. It doesn't help that teams are allowing Diggs single coverage and leaving him alone at the line of scrimmage.
Josh Allen was on point under center once more, especially once the Bills decided that the run game was for squares. The batted passes were a slight downer to block the perfection of the coveted A+ grade.
GRADE: A
Rushing offense
Woof.
Outside of garbage time, the Bills' running game was dreadful. Part of that was the Titans deciding to key on it with aggressive blitzing... for some reason.
The continued insistence on a committee is baffling when Devin Singletary looks the best of the trio, easily. That said, all three Bills running backs were "meh", at best, in this one until James Cook put up a splash play in garbage time.
Buffalo was smart to realize it was not working, but the run game outside of Allen will be an issue all year once again.
GRADE: D+
Special teams
Bills fans got to learn that punter Sam Martin's jersey number is No. 8!
Martin punted three times in this one, yet the Titans muffed two of those punts. Buffalo managed to recover one of those fumbles on Martin's first punt with the Bills, and Martin had a solid average of 48.3 yards per-punt.
Tyler Bass was perfect once again, and kick coverage was solid too with plenty of reps.
GRADE: A+
Passing defense
After a rough start that allowed Ryan Tannehill to move the chains to help tie the game at 7-7, the Bills pass defense put the clamps down.
Matt Milano took an interception to the house, while Jordan Poyer made a great play on a double ricochet.
Injuries to Dane Jackson and Micah Hyde will be worth monitoring, however. That said, Buffalo's rookie cornerbacks Kaiir Elam and Christian Benford continue to be ready for the challenges ahead of them.
They'll be up against a tough matchup in Miami Dolphins receivers next week in South Florida.
GRADE: A
Rushing defense
The Titans got nothing going from their bread-and-butter.
Derrick Henry had a WOOF worthy 25 yards on 13 carries, probably costing a lot of fantasy football teams a win.
Jordan Phillips, Von Miller, Greg Rousseau, Matt Milano, and Tremaine Edmunds lived in the Tennessee backfield all evening, and then the Titans had to abandon the run once Buffalo blew the game open.
GRADE: A+
Coaching
Depth was tested, third downs were a bit of a struggle, the run game was non-existent. Didn't matter, Bills by a billion.
Tip of the cap to Ken Dorsey for realizing that running was for teams like the Titans. Once they abandoned the run, Buffalo blew up the scoreboard and helped force Tennessee into a game they are not capable of playing.
The offense did have some issues with third down, however, so Dorsey will have some work to do after a 9-of-10 day on third downs last week.
Buffalo's defense sold out to stop Henry and the run game, which helped make the Titans play in a style they aren't capable of.
Meanwhile, McDermott had to ensure the team could keep focus after the scary injury to Dane Jackson.
GRADE: A
What's next:
A battle for first place in the AFC East, but not the usual suspects. Buffalo will be trying to stymie the 2-0 Dolphins, fresh off a stunning comeback win over the Baltimore Ravens (Buffalo's Week 4 opponent).
