2024-10-21 09:50:04
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – The Titans made a quarterback change on Sunday.
Unfortunately for the Titans, the results didn’t change.
A nice start evaporated into a poor finish, as the Titans lost 34-10 to the Buffalo Bills.
It dropped Tennessee’s record to 1-5 on the season.
“A tale of two halves,” Titans Coach Brian 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.”
After the game, there was plenty of frustration in the Titans locker room,
“Trash,” is how receiver Calvin Ridley described the day. “Not good.”
“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.”
Mason Rudolph started at quarterback for the Titans, in place of an injured Will Levis.
Levis was among the team’s inactives for the contest, after lingering issues with his right shoulder persisted during the course of a practice week, when he was limited in two of the team’s three sessions.
Rudoph finished the day 25-of-40 yards for 215 yards with a touchdown, and an interception. He also lost the ball on a mishandled snap.
Running back Tony Pollard carried the ball 16 times for 61 yards.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw for 323 yards and two touchdowns on a day when Buffalo racked up 389 yards of total offense.
Behind Rudulph, the Titans started fast, jumping ahead 10-0.
The Titans took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, as the veteran quarterback engineered a 13-play, 61-yard drive that was capped off with a 25-yard field goal by Nick Folk.
The Titans extended the lead to 10-0 early in the second quarter on a four-yard touchdown pass from Rudolph to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, which capped an eight-play, 75-yard drive.
But the Bills answered back quickly, en route to scoring 34 consecutive points.
The Titans didn’t make it much of a contest 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.”
After a 44-yard pass from Allen to Keon Colemen put the ball at the Tennessee 11-yard line, the Bills scored on an 11-yard touchdown run by James Cook to make it 10-7 with 10:04 left in the second quarter.
Tennessee’s defense, playing without cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, was solid early. After a fumbled snap by Rudolph, in fact, the defense forced its third three-and-out of the first half, which kept the Titans ahead. The Titans defense forced four three-and-outs in the first half.
Things didn’t go nearly as well after the half, and that’s an understatement.
The second half started in ominous fashion for the Titans, as Pollard was stuffed for a three-yard loss when the Titans went for it on 4th and 2 from their own 44-yard line.
Six plays later, the Bills took a 14-10 lead on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Allen to receiver Amari Cooper.
It was all downhill from there.
The Bills then extended their lead to 17-10 with 4:12 left in the third quarter on another field goal by Bass, this time from 28 yards.
As the Titans struggled offensively, the defense eventually gave way.
The Bills made it 24-10 on the first play of the fourth quarter on another Allen touchdown pass, this one a four-yard completion to running back Ty Johnson.
Another field goal by Bass made it 27-10 with 9:26 left in the game, before Bills running back Ray Davis scored on a 15-yard touchdown run to make it 34-10.
It was the exclamation point on a tough day.
“We’re human, you’re going to frustrated,” safety Quandre Diggs. “There’s nothing wrong with being frustrated. You’d be frustrated if something wasn’t going right for you. You have to go to work, and figure out what you’ve got to fix.”
The Titans return to action next Sunday against the Lions in Detroit.
