The Buffalo Bills had a couple of big plays by the first team offense but lost to the Tennessee Titans 28-17. After a sluggish start the Bills started to get going when J.P. Losman hit Peerless Price on a long pass play down the right sideline. The Bills had to settle for a field goal on that drive to pull within 7-3. Losman also hit Lee Evans on a long pass for a 64 yard touchdown to put the Bills ahead 10-7. The Bills defense allowed Vince Young to drive the Titans down the field in two minutes to put the Titans ahead 14-10 at the half.
Losman did not play all that well although he did complete the two long gainers in his one half of play. Losman still seems uncomfortable in the pocket when he is being pressured but he did have one good scramble when the pocket collapsed. Lee Evans showed why he is a pro bowl caliber wide receiver finishing the game with five catches for 100 yards. If Buffalo is going to have any success on offense Losman and Evans will have to be a big part of it.
The run game appeared to struggle once again as Marshawn Lynch had nine carries for nine yards. The offensive line appears to be out of sync and Duke Preston struggle for the second consecutive game, playing center in place of an injured Melvin Fowler. Fowler is a guy I was not sold on but I’m counting the days until his return. The offensive line is running out of time to gel as a unit with only one preseason game left on the schedule.
The defensive unit continued to struggle allowing the Titans to drive down the field on each of their first two drives. The first drive ended in a missed field goal by Rob Bironas and the second ended in a two yard touchdown run by Vince Young. Young appeared to shred the Bills defense similar to what he did in last seasons regular season game on Christmas Eve. The defensive unit did settle down and force a couple of punts but overall there needs to be a lot of improvement for the first unit.
The Buffalo Bills racked up the penalties again for the second consecutive game. The most costly penalty came on a 75 yard punt return by Roscoe Parrish that was negated by a penalty. The Bills were the best team in the league last season in penalties but racked up seven penalties for 60 yards against the Titans. The bulk of the penalties occurred while the first team was still playing proving this team has some work to do in the next two weeks.
The bottom line is that it was only a preseason game and they did have a few bright spots. This team has som ework to do before stepping on the field September 9th against the Denver Broncos. The players and coaches are well aware of that and will work diligently in practice to make sure they correct their mistakes. This is a young team and mistakes are inevitable but in just over two weeks I hope to see a different team.