The Buffalo Bills won the game, beating the Tennessee Titans 13-12 on a last-second field goal. So what are the takeaways from the Week 5 game, as the Bills move to 2-3? Interesting question.
Thank God the running backs were involved
It wasn’t just the last drive, where the Bills running backs accounted for 30 yards and a lot of clock. LeSean McCoy had 24 carries for 85 yards. Chris Ivory had 14 runs for 43 yards. It was clear offensive coordinator Brian Daboll wanted to get McCoy involved and it paid off. Imagine that.
Josh Allen was not good
All week, you’re going to hear a battle between “the Bills won” and “the offense stunk”. Both are true. Just 79 passing yards from Buffalo was enough to get it done. The interception wasn’t the rookie’s fault, but he threw a lot of uncatchable passes on Sunday. Andre Holmes had a pass go through his hands and get picked off, but it’s difficult to evaluate receivers when Allen is so inaccurate.
Special teams almost cost them
The Bills put the game on the foot of Stephen Hauschka at the end, but it might not have come down to that if they hadn’t been terrible on special teams. Danny Crossman’s unit allowed a long punt return to set up points for the Titans and kept points off their own scoreboard when holder Corey Bojorquez maybe thought it was a fake (?) and didn’t get it down for a field goal attempt in the first half.
Defense is legit
The 2017 defense is back! Turnovers on turnovers as the opportunistic Bills got the ball three times and forced another fumble that was batted out of bounds. Without it, Buffalo’s offense would not have been able to move the ball enough to win the game. Marcus Mariota was pressured and the Bills made some well-timed plays to get the ball. Only 129 yards passing on the day is pretty darn good.
Offensive line came to play
The offensive line stepped up in Week 5, keeping the Titans pass rush at bay and opening holes for the running game. When the yards counted at the end of the game, the offensive line was able to open the holes. Even the flags against the o-line were a little suspect.