Six Things That Stood Out for the Titans in Sunday’s Loss to the Buffalo Bills

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – The Titans lost 34-10 to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

Here’s a look at six things that stood out from the contest:

Mason Rudolph started at quarterback for the Titans, in place of an injured Will Levis. Rudoph had more success early than late. After an early touchdown pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Rudolph lost the ball on a mishandled snap, which was recovered by the Bills. He also threw an interception in the second half. Rudolph finished the day 25-of-40 yards for 215 yards with the touchdown, interception and fumble. Rudolph only threw for 60 yards in the second half. “We just got behind the chains a lot (in the second half),” Rudolph said. “We had penalties on first and second down, negative runs, I missed a couple of throws. Against a good team at home, you can’t do that. We have to get it cleaned up. I don’t think it’s a lack of preparation, we just have to go execute. It’s back to the drawing board. All you can do is work.”

So, what happened to quarterback Will Levis? Levis was among the team’s inactives after playing last week, two weeks after initially suffering the right shoulder injury in Miami. Coach Brian Callahan said Levis began feeling soreness at the end of the Colts game last week, but he came back to practice on Wednesday. He remained sore, and his mechanics in practices were affected, “and not where they needed to be. His arm strength felt weakened, he didn’t feel great.” After limiting Levis on Wednesday, Levis went full practice on Thursday, but he still didn’t feel great, and the decision was made for him to sit. “The injury is real,” Callahan said. “He tried to fight through it, and I appreciate the toughness and willingness.” Callahan said he made the decision to sit Levis, and he’ll now be week-to-week moving forward.

The Titans had a new right tackle on the first snap on Sunday – Jaelyn Duncan – but he didn’t last long. Duncan suffered a hamstring injury on the first drive, and he did not return. Nicholas Petit-Frere, the starter the first four games of the season, replaced Duncan in game, and finished the contest. Last week’s starter, Leroy Watson IV, was among the team’s inactives. Callahan said the team is trying to make the best of a tough situation. “We just have a problem at right tackle,” Callahan said. “We have to find someone that can step up and play for us. And, right now, everyone’s got their turn and none of it has been where we need it to be. We’re going to keep rolling through it. There’s only so many available tackles out there, and so many on our team. Just trying to find more consistency from that spot.”

The biggest turning point of the game came early in the second half, when running back Tony Pollard was stuffed for a three-yard loss on a 4^th and 2 from the Tennessee 44-yard line. The Titans were leading 10-7 at the time. It was a momentum-changer, and the Titans could never get it back. After the game, Callahan was asked about the decision. “We were pretty good, third-down conversion wise in that range – two to five (yards) – at that point,” Callahan said. “We were running the ball well coming out of the half so I thought we had a good chance of being able to get that. But we ran two runs in a row, and didn’t get any yards at all. I thought we had a chance to get the yard or two that we needed. It was a fringe go-for-it, and felt like our conversion percentage at that point was in our favor. So, we took an aggressive approach to try and go get it, and we didn’t get it.”

The Titans looked good early, jumping out to a 10-0 lead. The Titans led 10-7 at the half, when they outgained the Bills 217 to 90 and amassed 13 first downs to three. Defensively, the Titans forced four three-and-outs in the first half. But it was a totally different game in the second half, as the Bills outscored the Titans 27-0, and outgained them 299 to 72 in total yards while picking up 15 first downs compared to just five for Tennessee. “A tale of two halves,” Callahan said after the game. “Seems like the tale of our season so far. Find a way to play really well early, and we did not play really well in the second half at all, in any phase. We have to find a way to get that fixed. We went backwards on offense, we had penalties. We had a million issues, quarterback hits, all those things. Not good enough. Defensively, I think they scored on every possession in the second half.”

There wasn’t much positive to write after this one. Sure, Westbrook-Ikhine caught a touchdown pass for the second week in a row. Pollard had some tough runs, but he was stuffed at an inopportune time. The tight ends (Chig Okonkwo, Nick Vannett and Josh Whyle) made some plays, and Arden Key had a sack of Josh Allen. But, for the most part, it was a forgettable Sunday for the Titans, especially in the second half. All over the locker room, players expressed frustration. “The second half was (expletive), all over the place,” defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons said. “No one wants to be 1 and 5. I think we all feel the same: Sh*tty. … I think everybody feels the same way, from the locker room to the fans. They have a right to feel the way they feel. … The second half of this game, it was bad. Bad football from the Tennessee Titans. We are in a bad situation right now. We just have to try to dig ourselves out of it.”