Plays that defined 2019: Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans, Week 5

The 2019 season is behind us, but the stories live on. Every week brought a different narrative and we look back on the season to tell those stories through the plays that defined the game. Sit back and get ready for the tale of Week 5:

Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans

The Buffalo Bills had just suffered their first defeat of the season and looked to get things back on track in Nashville as they took on the Tennessee Titans. Both teams struggled to find the end zone in another defensive slugfest. Buffalo got on the board first as time was winding down in the first half. Tennessee struck back with a touchdown of their own in the middle of the third to tie the game at seven. The Titans looked to be coming alive. Bridging the third and fourth quarters with a promising drive, the Titans were threatening to score a second time.

And then they ****ed up. Bad. Three times. Coming away with nothing, the momentum swung viciously in Buffalo’s favor. Buffalo added another seven points and locked the game up with a smothering defense. It wasn’t pretty, but it was victory.

Josh Allen sacked (Q1, 10:12)

The Buffalo Bills struggled to get anything going, in no small part thanks to an effective Titans’ defense. The first of four sacks is shown here, though this isn’t precisely a bone-jarring hit. Tennessee added four hits and five tackles for a loss. A good number of drives ended similarly to this one.

Jordan Phillips sack (Q2, 6:03)

Jordan Phillips hit home here in one of Buffalo’s five sacks. The Bills added EIGHT quarterback hits and the same number of tackles for a loss. The majority of the game was a defensive stalemate that was bound to hinge on one or two critical plays.

Illegal forward pass in 4th quarter (Q4, 12:34)

After finally getting on the board to tie the game in the third quarter, the Titans got the ball back and were threatening to score on back-to-back drives. Derrick Henry ran it in from the eight for the go-ahead score. Except it was called back due to an offensive holding penalty. Two plays later Taylor Lewan was flagged for a false start. And then this happened. Their second touchdown on this drive was called back thanks to the most poetic illegal forward pass call I’ve ever seen.

Easily within field goal range though, the Titans were still about to pull ahead of...oh, it was blocked.

Duke Williams TD (Q4, 9:49)

The Buffalo Bills got the ball back and drove it right down the field for the final points of the game. Josh Allen found Duke Williams for an easy touchdown. The two teams traded punts until there was just over four minutes left. Buffalo got the ball and...

Josh Allen five-yard run (Q4, 1:50)

They burned the entire remaining time on the clock. This was the fourth first down of the drive. Buffalo had removed nearly a third of the quarter despite the Titans having two timeouts to their name when the drive began. Through sheer force of will, Buffalo had returned to their winning ways.