Plays That Defined 2022: Tennessee Titans at Buffalo Bills

The 2022 season is in the books but there’s one little thing missing. Illustrations. Let’s pretend the 2022 season is an actual book, with each game a chapter. It’s up to us to find one play or “illustration” for each that best shows us the theme of that chapter. Make sense? I hope so because we’re about to take a look at some plays and vote. Let’s find an illustration for...

Chapter 2: Tennessee Titans at Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills had just demolished the defending champions. In Week 2 the Bills welcomed fans for the home opener under the lights of Monday Night Football — against the Titans who had narrowly beaten Buffalo the last time they met. It’d be hard to have a more hyped-up regular-season game. If Tennessee hadn’t made the trip the result would have been similar. It was a fun night for Bills fans. Not so much for Titans fans.

Josh Allen to Reggie Gilliam, touchdown (Q1; 9:16)

Buffalo made a statement right out of the gate with a 12-play drive taking nearly six minutes off the clock. It was capped off with this eleven-yard touchdown to Reggie Gilliam. This was Gilliam’s only touchdown of the year for those of you counting.

Tyler Bass field goal (Q2; 7:25)

The Titans responded with a touchdown of their own. It felt like it might be a long night of back-and-forth. The teams traded punts and then in the middle of the second quarter the Bills scored three with this field goal from Tyler Bass. We didn’t know it at the time, but this was technically the game winning score, underpinning the dominance of the night.

Derrick Henry tackled for a loss (Q2; 6:43)

The offense for the Titans often flows through Derrick Henry. On this night no offense was flowing, including anything from Henry. While the dynamic back had scored the earlier touchdown, the Bills held Henry under two yards per carry on 25 attempts. This four-yard loss courtesy of Von Miller is a good demonstration of how prepared Buffalo was.

Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs, touchdown (Q3; 10:26)

If you had said after this game that the Titans had never heard the name “Stefon Diggs” it would have been believable. This was the second of three touchdowns to Diggs and the longest of the trio. Diggs had 12 catches on 15 targets for 148 yards and those touchdowns.

Matt Milano’s pick-six (Q3; 3:58)

With time dwindling in the third quarter and down 34-7, Tennessee was in a world of hurt. Ryan Tannehill’s night ended on this throw. Often, visiting teams try to quiet the crowd, which this play eventually did. Rather than give the Titans an edge, the home crowd grew quieter as the game effectively ended over a quarter early. Matt Milano’s pick-six highlighted a dominant defensive effort that resulted in four turnovers and a lot of harassment.