“I’ll take Josh Allen 10 times out of 10.”
Those were the words Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott used following their 34-31 loss to the Tennessee Titans. After marching 79 yards downfield, Allen and the Bills needed one yard to set up a 1st and goal and three yards to score a touchdown. On 4th and 1, everyone knew what was coming with the game on the line. A Josh Allen QB sneak. It’s a play that has worked with great success. Unfortunately for Buffalo, Tennessee was up to the task.
The offensive line lost at the point of attack, Allen lost his footing and the Bills lost the game.
Buffalo fell to 4-2 following the heartbreaker in Tennessee and now enters their bye week. The loss will certainly give Buffalo plenty to think about for the next two weeks. When the team returns, Buffalo will see the likes of the Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets. All three are favorable matchups where the Bills will be heavy favorites.
Before looking ahead, here is how the Bills graded out on Monday Night Football.
QUARTERBACK: A
Josh Allen accounted for over 350 total yards and three scores on Monday Night Football while completing 35-of-47 passes. It was a performance that was certainly good enough to win, but he still made a few costly mistakes in the win.
Late in the game with the Bills up 4, Allen had a chance to put the game away against a banged up Titans defense. He was able to pick up an initial first down, but then the drive sputtered. Allen held the ball far too long on the following first down play looking to stretch the field and ended up taking a sack for loss of seven yards. Replays showed Tommy Sweeney who appeared open on the play for a decent gain. On 3rd and 17, Allen also missed Emmanuel Sanders who appeared open far enough downfield to move the chains and instead threw a pass to Jake Kumerow which led him out of bounds. Instead of putting the game away, the Bills gave the Titans the opportunity to win and they made the most of said opportunity driving for the go-ahead score.
That said, Allen was far from the Bills’ biggest problem. He was excellent and did his job on Monday night.
RUNNING BACK: B-
Devin Singletary averaged 5.2 yards per carry (5-27) while Zack Moss was limited to just three yards per attempt (8-24) in the loss. The duo also combined to haul in seven passes for 31 yards in the loss.
It was not a memorable night for either back, minus an early Singletary run in which he broke multiple tackles, but the team’s game plan was clearly to attack a banged up Titans secondary through the air.
WIDE RECEIVER/TIGHT END: A+
Cole Beasley, Stefon Diggs and Emmanuel Sanders all had big games for Buffalo.
Beasley, one week after hardly seeing the field, hauled in seven of nine targets for 88 yards and one score. The Titans’ woes against the slot continued on Monday night.
Buffalo’s outside receivers, Diggs and Sanders, also had no problem getting open against Tennessee. Stefon Diggs finished with a 9-89-1 stat line and drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone in the loss while Sanders led the team in receiving (91) on five receptions.
Sanders’ stat line could have been even better had Allen seen him open in the end zone earlier in the game, but it’s not always easy for a QB to see a player breaking open when they have pressure barreling down on them.
Gabriel Davis has been quiet this season but he even had a 20 yard reception in the loss.
At tight end, Tommy Sweeney added his first career score while Knox converted a two-point conversion tossing a ball to Josh Allen. The play was even more impressive when you consider that Knox made the play with a broken bone in his hand. Knox also had a touchdown of his own wiped off the board on an Emmanuel Sanders hold.
The tight ends and receivers did their job picking apart the Titans’ secondary.
OFFENSIVE LINE: D
Spencer Brown had the worst outing of his young career against the Titans. Games like this are to expected as rookies go through their ups-and-downs. Brown wasn’t the only player who had his struggles against the Titans.
Mitch Morse missed Harold Landry on a play that resulted in a sack and Dion Dawkins, on the biggest play of the game, was absolutely blown up by Jeffery Simmons when the Bills needed to get a yard. Jon Feliciano also had his fair share of struggles throughout the evening.
Morse acknowledged that it would be tough watching the film on the game and it’s hard to disagree.
Allen was sacked three times, hit eight times and pressured early and often in the close loss. Some of those hits and sacks were Allen’s own doing by holding the ball too long, but others came on plays where the Bills were beaten at the line.
DEFENSIVE LINE: F
Buffalo’s defensive line was the worst unit of the night.
No quarterback entered Week 6 sacked more than Ryan Tannehill yet the Bills’ front four couldn’t get home once in the game. Jerry Hughes was able to beat his man a few times and Harrison Phillips had one instance where he almost took the QB down up the middle, but Tannehill got the ball away time and time again. At the end of the night, Tannehill was not sacked at all and was only hit two times. Making A.J. Epenesa inactive for the matchup was a questionable decision at best when looking at the results of the unit’s play.
Buffalo’s front seven also struggled to contain Derrick Henry. Henry is one of the best, if not the best, back in the game so some big plays were to big expected but Henry absolutely went off against the Bills with a 20-143-3 stat line. Henry is good at wearing down a defense and he only seemed to get better as the night wore on.
Justin Zimmer and Star Lotulelei were the only defensive linemen to have a tackle for loss in the game.
Whether it’s another pass-rusher or offensive linemen, Brandon Beane should see who is available as the trade deadline approaches. Some help in the trenches could go a long way in helping the Bills make a deep run in the playoffs.
LINEBACKER: C
Tremaine Edmunds was one of the only bright spots in the front seven on Monday night. He finished with 10 total tackles (1 TFL) and showed the physicality needed to take on Derrick Henry. Edmunds’ play continues to improve as the season wears on.
Matt Milano returned from a hamstring injury in the loss, but was a non-factor in the game despite playing 53 snaps.
SECONDARY: C-
Jordan Poyer’s interception in the loss was one of the only standout plays for the unit on Monday Night Football.
In the second half, Buffalo’s secondary gave up too many plays to A.J. Brown. When all was said and done, the Titans’ No. 1 receiver finished with a 7-91 stat line.
Ryan Tannehill’s final passing stat line was modest (18-of-29, 216 yards), but he was excellent when he needed to be. Tannehill was a perfect 9-of-9 in the fourth quarter where he threw for over 100 yards to the likes of Brown, Henry, Julio Jones and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.
SPECIAL TEAMS: C-
Oh what could have been.
Isaiah McKenzie had a 101-yard kick return touchdown following the Titans’ go-ahead score in the fourth quarter brought back on a holding penalty by Andre Smith. He also had a solid punt return called back on a hold earlier in the game by Tyrel Dodson. Two big returns, one of which could have won the game, were negated by bad mistakes by the return unit.
Tyler Bass was a bright spot going 3-of-3 on field goals with a long of 52-yards and 2-of-2 on extra points. With so many teams struggling to find consistency at the position, the Bills have found a great player. He also left kicks short intentionally all night with the Bills generally doing a good job of making plays down the field.
Punter Matt Haack averaged 46.5 yards per punt but seemed to have another close call in terms of one punt almost getting blocked.
READ MORE
Bills’ Dawson Knox broke bone in his hand in loss to Titans (report)
Bills OL struggles, DL disappoints against Titans (4 reasons to be encouraged, 7 reasons to worry)
Bills lose slugfest vs. Titans (7 observations)
Talk about the Bills
Be sure to check out and subscribe to “Shout! The Buffalo Football Podcast” with beat writers Matt Parrino and Ryan Talbot.
Facebook | Twitter | APPLE | SPOTIFY | GOOGLE | YOUTUBE
Upgrade your NFL stuff
Sideline gear | Gameday masks | Livestream schedule | Bills gear