By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Bills enter the bye week at 4-1 overall after a close 14-7 win over the Titans.
A win is a win, but like in typical 2019 Bills’ fashion, it was an up-and-down affair which certainly had an impact on the team’s shock chart.
With that, here is Bills Wire’s stock report following the Bills’ Week 5 win over the Titans:
Stock up
WR Duke Williams
Playing around 50 snaps in your NFL debut? Not a bad way to start a career, Duke Williams. Each year there seems to be at least one player on Buffalo’s practice squad that becomes the “darling” of the fan base. Undoubtedly it was Williams this year, who was the team’s lone big body wideout during training camp.
The Bills successfully stuck him on the practice squad, called him up, and clearly, he played a lot against the Titans. Not only that, he had four catches for 29 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Williams was once a highly-touted prospect turned NFL castoff to CFL All-Star and now he’s finally getting his chance. Let’s see what the future has in store for him.
DL Jordan Phillips
The Bills have a new sack leader following this one, and it’s Jordan Phillips with four. After a slow start to the year, Phillips has really come on as of late. Harrison Phillips was ahead of him in the pecking order and was having a good year, too. But his season came to an end after an ACL injury.
Against the Titans, Phillips made headline with his three sacks in the game. Then he made headlines by going after Titans offensive lineman Taylor Lewan with teammate Shaq Lawson as well via social media which will only increase his stock amongst Bills Mafia, too.
QB Josh Allen
Josh Allen didn’t really have a great game, more so a better one.
His final stat line read 23-for-32 passing for 219 yards (146 in first half) with two touchdowns, an interception and four sacks. He also had 10 rushes for 27 yards. A pretty moderate stat chart.
Where Allen put his stock upward was getting rid of some messy plays. He had an interception and perhaps he was slightly trying to fit a ball in a bad spot. But it wasn’t that bad of a spot… or at least not a throw off his back foot kind of play. On another day, that could’ve been a completion. But Allen also did a great job of being safer with the ball. He threw it away at times and took sacks. Really it was the first time he looked like an NFL vet in that regard.
LB Lorenzo Alexander
The Bills got what they needed from Lorenzo Alexander. Matt Milano went down with a hamstring injury and it was Alexander, the team’s No. 3 linebacker in their two linebacker nickel defense, that saw the most uptick in playing time. With that extra time on the field, he had a team-high six tackles, a team-high five solo tackles, a sack and tackle for loss.
Alexander naturally didn’t give up any snaps on special teams, either. He continued to show why he was a great investment to keep around for the Bills.
WR John Brown
Once again below the surface, but John Brown is one of the top receivers in the NFL still. Brown’s 390 yards this season is 12th most in the NFL in that category. He’s averaging 78 yards per game and is on pace for 1,248 yards this season, a lot more production than most thought Buffalo would get out of him when he joined the Bills via free agency.
Against the Titans, Brown had 75 yards on five catches and give targets. All of that came in the second half as Buffalo moved things over to the running game, or tried to. The Bills only attempted 11 second-half passes after tossing 21 in the first 30 minutes.
Starting CBs
Almost business as usual here via cornerbacks Levi Wallace and Tre’Davious White. Those two completely shutdown Titans wideouts Corey Davis and AJ Brown. Davis had two catches for 28 yards on four targets while Brown had two for 27 on two targets. Brown was coming into the game off of a two-touchdown outing.
Slot receiver Adam Humpries was the Titans’ most productive wideout, as he had four catches but only a mere 30 yards on six targets. Tennessee’s leading receiver was tight end Jonnu Smith, who had a 57-yard reception on perhaps Buffalo’s lone gaff on defense. Quarterback Marcus Mariota was held to a mere 13-for-22 pass for 183 yards.
Stock down
Offensive line
A string of injuries didn’t help, but another strong front-seven in the Titans defense made the Bills’ offensive line look lackluster. Heading into the bye week, center Mitch Morse has an ankle injury while Cody Ford is in the concussion protocol. Ryan Bates and Spencer Long filled in admirably, but for most of the game, the Bills didn’t get much going on the ground and Josh Allen was hit plenty. The Titans had four sacks and five total QB hits. Allen was flushed out of the pocket when he tossed his interception, too.
RB Frank Gore
A week after surpassing 15,000 rushing yards, Frank Gore laid a bit of a stinker for the Bills. Gore finished the game strong, and kept with it. That became a key down the stretch as he had two late rushes for 11 yards and 19 yards. But prior to that, Buffalo’s running game was non-existent.
Gore finished the game with 14 carries, 60 yards and a 4.3 yards per carry average. If you subtract those two, Gore had 30 yards and a 2.5 yards per carry average. Allen looked better on the day, but Buffalo’s passing offense, and any passing offense, always benefits from a better rushing attack to complement it. There’s no reason to think the Bills and Gore won’t improve here, though. Plus rookie Devin Singletary in trending towards returning after the bye, too.
WR Zay Jones
Stock can’t get much lower than non-existent. The emergence of Duke Williams caused the disappearance of wide receiver Zay Jones. He played in one total snap, which was a fourth-down QB sneak.
As you’re reading this, we don’t need to go into much detail. The former second-round pick of the Bills is now actually on the Raiders now, which you probably know.
TE Dawson Knox
Aside from Lee Smith and his touchdown catch, none of Buffalo’s tight ends played particularly well against the Titans with their hands. Dawson Knox had two catches for 15 yards on five targets with some drops. Those drops also transferred over to Tommy Sweeney at times as well, as he had also had a tough day with the hands. On the positive, neither was really blown up in any blocking scenarios, but things didn’t look good at all as receivers, which is what the Bills offense has craved for years. Like Gore, there’s reason to believe Knox can bounce back.