By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Buffalo Bills hung tough with the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at New Era Field and nearly were defeated late. However, the Bills (2-3) are back in the win column following the 13-12 win which came as time expired.
The Bills made big plays but also made crucial mistakes leading to a close contest.
With that, here are five takeaways from the Bills win over the Titans (3-2):
Tough day for Allen
The Bills took the win, but rookie quarterback Josh Allen didn’t do much with his arm. Allen was once again impressive on the ground, scampering for a 14-yard rushing touchdown early, the only touchdown the Bills had on the day. Allen had four carries for 19 yards.
Throwing the ball, Allen didn’t pass 100-yards passing and he tossed a late interception which nearly cost his team a chance to win the game. On the eventual game-winning drive, Allen completed only two passes on an 11-play drive as the running game got the job done. Overall, Allen was 10-for-10 passing with 82 yards and had a quarterback rating of 42.
Offensive line improvement
Throughout the start of the season, the Bills offensive line was a huge liability. Buffalo couldn’t decide on a starting center, going with Ryan Groy and then eventually turning things over to Russell Bodine. Coming into the game, Buffalo led the NFL with 21 sacks allowed, four more than the next closest team. Against a solid front-seven for the Titans, the Bills’ offensive line only allowed one sack on the day and helped get LeSean McCoy, going as he average 3.5 yards per carry on the day.
Shady gets involved
Throughout the first three games he played in 2018, the Bills’ star running back, McCoy, made little-to-no impact. That wasn’t the case against the Titans.
On the day, McCoy had 24 total carries, nabbing 85 yards of offense in the process. Prior to Sunday’s game, McCoy only had 21 carries on the season. Last week, he only had five in the entire game. In Buffalo’s first drive of the day, he had that same total against the Titans. With Allen not having the best day, McCoy needed to deliver for his team and he did. In the air, McCoy added another two catches on three targets for 23 yards.
Big game for defense
The Bills 2017 defense showed up to play against Tennessee. A big key for Buffalo’s defense is getting turnovers and there were three today. Matt Milano recovered a forced fumble by Tremaine Edmunds and Jordan Poyer recovered one forced by Shaq Lawson. Also: cornerback Taron Johnson had his first-career interception. Overall, Titans QB Marcus Mariota was only 14-for-26 with 129 passing yards. The Titans running backs of Dion Lewis and Derick Henry combined for 90 yards rushing. The Bills can win a lot of game with a defense effort like that.
Special teams a difference
For the good and bad side of it, special teams made an impact on Sunday’s game. The Titans had a long gainer of a punt return from Nick Williams of 38 yards, while no one really knows what happened to punter Corey Bojorquez on his botched field goal attempt. Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott called it “miscommunication” following the game and that makes sense, it looks like he thought a fake was called.
But despite those miscues, Stephen Hauschka was clutch, hitting a 46-yard game-wining kick as time expired to give Buffalo the 13-12 win.