Titans vs Bills: Live Recap, Updates, Open Thread

In a battle of AFC undefeateds, the 3-0 Tennessee Titans host the 4-0 Buffalo Bills in the first Tuesday Night Football game in 10 years.

After a wild couple of COVID-impacted weeks, the Titans finally get to play football again. They face a redhot foe with an MVP candidate at QB in Josh Allen as both teams look to avoid their first loss of the year.

Throughout the season, you can count on us to have threads like this one, which will be updated frequently during each and every game.

Follow along with us here if you’re unable to watch the contest, and use the comments below to discuss the action with the Broadway Community.

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Let’s get ready for some football!

Live Updates

The Titans are on the field warming up now.

Kickoff —

The Titans won the toss and elected to defer. Devin Singletary would start the game off with back to back short runs up the middle. On the following third down, Josh Allen is intercepted off the hands of Andre Roberts to Malcolm Butler.

With good field position, Ryan Tannehill drops a dime to A.J. Brown in the back corner of the endzone to give the Titans an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Allen would come right back and hit Stefon Diggs for a 19-yard gain off of play-action. Despite the Titans bringing pressure, Allen continues his hot start to the season, as he converts on three different third and long situations both through the air and on the ground. Allen caps off the drive with a shovel pass touchdown to Isaiah McKenzie.

After a 13-yard return by Kalif Raymond, Tannehill once again finds A.J. Brown for a first down. However, after back-to-back short runs, the Titans are stopped on the next third down. The Titans punt the ball to the Bills’ 9 yard line.

A false start from Gabriel Davis leads to another third down for the Bills. Pressure to the left side leads to nearly another interception by Allen. Titans force the three and out. Bills punt to Raymond, who returns it for 40 yards all the way to the Buffalo 30 yard line.

On the ensuing Titans drive, Tannehill hits Raymond up the seam for 20 yards to get into the redzone. With two starting receivers out, Raymond has already made a huge impact. A short Derrick Henry run would end the first quarter.

End 1Q — Titans 7, Bills 7

To start the second quarter, Tannehill finds Brown for a 16 yard gain, leading to a Henry touchdown run up the middle at the goal line. Titans lead 14-7.

Nashville local Dawson Knox finally gets involved in the passing game as he gets a vicious stiff arm on Rashaan Evans for a 14 yard gain. After another long gain to Diggs, Harold Landry gets his first sack of the season with a nicely timed inside move. The Titans continue to struggle to stop the Bills on third down, as Allen finds Diggs on the opposite side of the field. However on the following third down, Diggs would drop the ball on a simple out route, leading to a 43 yard Bills field goal. This cuts the Titans lead to 14-10.

The Titans get Jonnu Smith involved with a 14 yard and 6 yard pass both off of play action. Next, Darrynton Evans shows off his speed as he turns the corner for 9 yards. Henry then literally tosses Josh Norman with a violent stiff arm, but would not count due to off-setting penalties. After a couple of lack-luster players, a miscommunication between Tannehill and Brown on third down would lead to a Titans punt.

Pinned inside the 10-yard line, the Titans force another three and out after a drop from Diggs and a near interception from Allen on third down. Bills flip the field with a booming punt back into the Titans’ territory.

After a nice Henry run to start the drive, Tannehill starts to deal the ball with two minutes left in the half. Tannehill finds Smith for 9 yards, Brown for 12 yards, and Raymond for 6 yards; methodically working his way down the field. Tannehill then walks into the endzone with his signature touchdown celebration after evading some interior pressure. He was feeling it on that drive. Allen takes a knee to end the half. Titans up 21-10.

End 1st Half — Titans 21, Bills 10

Starting the second half, Tannehill gets the ball to an open Brown up the middle for 15 yard gain. Titans have found a lot of success in the intermediate, middle part of the field so far. Brown continues to bully Norman with two additional catches to move the chains. After driving into Bills’ territory, the drive fizzles out as Tremaine Edmunds deflects a pass to Anthony Firkser. Titans punt and down it at the Buffalo 3 yard line.

On the next Bills’ drive, Allen attacks the Titans’ zone coverage with Cole Beasely finding the soft spots for a couple short gain. On 3rd & 10 at mid field, Allen steps up into a clean pocket and hits Diggs coming back towards the ball. On the very next throw, Allen throws a back-breaking interception to Butler, who was lurking in coverage underneath. Butler weaved through traffic to return his second interception for 68 yards to the Buffalo 12.

Starting from within the redzone, the Bills nearly force a three and out, but make get a “roughing the passer” penalty on third down, extending the drive. With this extra opportunity, Tannehill throws a laser to Smith running a slant underneath for a touchdown. Titans extend the lead 28-10 with 1:49 left in the 3rd quarter.

End 3Q — Titans 28, Bills 10

Down by 18, Bills desperately need points on this drive. They dink and dunk their way down the field, but burn almost 7 minutes off the clock. At the Titans’ 22 yard line, the Titans only send 3 players to rush the passer, dropping 8 out into coverage. This gives Allen all day to find T.J. Yeldon in the endzone for a touchdown. The Bills go for 2 following the touchdown, but Allen’s pass goes incomplete, intended for Beasley. As a result, the Titans would still be up 28-16 with 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter.

On 3rd & 4, the Bills send a blitz, but Tannehill extends the play by drifting outside the pocket and finds Hollister down the field for the first down. After Henry run, Tannehill sneaks out of the pocket for a 23 yard scramble (longest run that the Bills have allowed all year), as the Bills lose contain of the edge. Although Henry has struggled to get going for most of the game, he bounces it to the outside for 9 yard touchdown to extend the lead to 19.

Things continue to bounce the Titans’ way — something the team hasn’t been able to say for the past two weeks — as Andre Roberts fumbles the ball on the following kick return. The Titans attempt to run the clock with multiple runs for Jeremy McNichols. At the 7 yard line, Tannehill finds a Smith for his 2nd receiving touchdown of the night and extends the lead 42-16.

Matt Barkley strolls out for the last drive and nearly throws a pick right to Jadeveon Clowney. Yeldon breaks a huge run for 34 yard gain, but the drive ultimately results in zero points as time expires. Titans win.

Final: Titans 42, Bills 16

Author: Joshua HongJosh is a first-generation Titans fan, growing up in a household that did not watch football. However, he quickly became obsessed with the team while watching Chris Johnson and then Marcus Mariota. He especially enjoys learning about quarterback and wide receiver play. Josh is a former writer for Music City Miracles and makes Titans-related video threads on Twitter. He contributes to Broadway Sports as a writer and video content creator.

Comments

  1. 1st couple of drives will be very telling. Hope we see a steady dose of Henry on the first drive just get the bodies banging around and shake off the rust.

  2. Yaay I get to watch a game while I’m not working or asleep. I hope we are able to catch them sleeping, because I bet the Bills think we are undermanned and outmatched.

      1. Everyone other than us expect Tannehill to “adjust back to the mean” and their biggest argument is that Tannehill hasn’t thrown enough to show he’s really as good as his stats say he is.

      2. That’s the narrative of the RT haters. He doesn’t throw for enough yards. What they don’t account for is how effective he is in the red zone and in short yardage situations.

  3. we bench joseph and we finally stop them on 3rd down. I dont think ive seen a worse corner than Joseph. he is awful. idc if we use a DL at CB. he shouldnt be playing.

  4. Until Adoree comes back at full strength, we just have to use what we got. I just hope Butler doesn’t’ the get in trouble. He’s been in the face of people tonight.

  5. Key stat: after only 4 games, the Titans lead the league in turnover differential. This is the primary stat for determining if a team will make it into the playoffs.

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