Revisiting five Tennessee Titans to watch against the Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills beat the Tennessee Titans 14-7 on Sunday, the third consecutive victory for the Bills over the Titans in their head-to-head history. Buffalo won with timely offense and a stifling defense—something that fans are becoming accustomed to this year.

How did the Bills do against Tennessee’s players to watch? Pretty, pretty, pretty good.

QB Marcus Mariota

Tennessee’s signal caller still hasn’t turned the ball over this season, but he still has yet to break 200-yards passing in a game against Buffalo, as well. Mariota was harassed all day, as he took five sacks and completed 13-of-22 passes on a rough afternoon. He compiled 183 passing yards and did not account for a touchdown, though he did have two wiped off the board via instant reply. (He was ruled down at the one-yard line on a scramble for what had initially been ruled a touchdown, and he also threw a touchdown pass after crossing the line of scrimmage, so the officials called an illegal forward pass, albeit 19 years too late.) Mariota made some good throws, but he was erratic at times, and the majority of his production came on a busted-coverage screen pass to tight end Jonnu Smith. Aside from that 57-yard gain, Mariota completed 12 passes for 126 yards on 21 attempts. Yikes.

RB Derrick Henry

The bruising runner had a solid day, carrying the ball 20 times for 78 yards and a touchdown, but Buffalo did not allow him to take the game over at any point. There were plenty of great stops throughout the afternoon, as the team’s front-seven really manhandled Tennessee’s offensive line. Henry is a non-factor in the passing game, so all they had to do was key on him rushing the ball and swarm the ball carrier. They did that essentially all day, keeping Henry contained throughout the afternoon. Similar to Mariota, most of his production came on one big run—a 24-yard jaunt—so Buffalo held him to 19 carries and 54 yards on the rest of his touches.

WR Corey Davis

The Bills allowed the big-bodied wideout to catch two passes for 28 yards on the day, 23 of which came on one pass. Buffalo used a combination of man and zone coverages to stifle Tennessee’s passing game, confusing Mariota with pre-snap looks and haranguing the receivers by swarming the ball. The defense was disciplined all afternoon, resulting in another superior effort.

TE Delanie Walker

Walker had a reception nullified on the first play of the game when left tackle Taylor Lewan committed an idiotic holding penalty that had zero impact on the play. Walker then caught a ten-yard pass on third and long, but he came up just short. After that drive, Walker was only targeted once more, and he played on only 27 of Tennessee’s 62 total offensive snaps. The Bills did a great job taking Mariota’s favorite target out of the game, and Tennessee’s coaching staff helped by literally taking him out of the game, as well.

LB Harold Landry

The speedy edge rusher had a strong day, blowing by rookie tackle Cody Ford for a sack of Josh Allen to go with seven tackles—two of which went for a loss. Landry was third on the team in tackles, and he made his presence known early and often. Without fellow edge rusher Cameron Wake, Buffalo was able to slide its protections over more frequently to combat Landry, making it more impressive that he was able to impact the game as much as he did. It was a good day in what has been a very good season for the second-year man.