Buffalo Bills: 5 reasons why the Bills took down the Titans
The Buffalo Bills conquered the Tennessee Titans Sunday afternoon, defeating their AFC South opponents by the final score of 13-12.
The Buffalo Bills came into Sunday’s game following a loss to the Green Bay Packers where they were shutout, while their opponent in the Tennessee Titans came off a win over the defending Super Bowl champions.
The Bills were not expected to take it to a Titans team that scored 26 points last week when Marcus Mariota threw the ball 43 times for 344 yards, Corey Davis caught nine passes for 161 yards and two other players had at least seven receptions.
However, the Bills were up to the task and took down the 3-1 Titans. It wasn’t a pretty win, but there was growth across the team that led to the win. Here are five reasons why Buffalo was able to capture their second win of the season.
5. Josh Allen
Allen by no means had a great game – or even a good game for that matter. His command of the offense still isn’t great, he bailed out of the pocket early at times and he had accuracy issues still. However, Allen looked much more poised than he did against Green Bay the week prior.
The rookie signal caller threw for 82 yards on 10 of 19 passing, threw an interception and had a rushing touchdown. His interception was not his fault as the ball hit Andre Holmes right in the hands and he did a few nice things in throwing short passes and taking what was in front of him.
When the team needed him though, he stepped up. Down by two late in the fourth quarter, Allen worked the team down the field and put them in a position to kick the game-winning field goal with no time remaining to secure their second win of the season.
4. Run game
It took until Week 5 of this season to show that the team still has a running game. LeSean McCoy had his best game of the year with 24 carries and 85 rushing yards, including several big runs that helped the team pick up first downs.
Chris Ivory was a fantastic complement to McCoy’s shiftiness by just powering over people, carrying numerous defenders for first downs. Not to mention Allen scored yet another rushing touchdown as he shook a Titan defender for an early 7-0 lead.
Buffalo didn’t get great yards/carry on the ground with McCoy averaging 3.5 and Ivory going for 3.1, but the two combined for 38 carries and they controlled the clock throughout the game. When they needed big runs, the two were there to give the Bills key first downs and keep the offense on the field.