October 13, 2024

Titans suffer devastating loss to Buffalo

The Tennessee Titans’ woes continued Sunday as they blew a 10-point lead for the second game in a row, falling to the Buffalo Bills, 14-13.

[title_box title=”Titans suffer devastating loss to Buffalo”]

The Tennessee Titans’ woes continued Sunday as they blew a 10-point lead for the second game in a row, falling to the Buffalo Bills, 14-13.

The first half was extremely sloppy for both teams. No points were scored until the second quarter and the Bills’ quarterback Tyrod Taylor didn’t complete a pass until a couple of minutes before halftime.

At the break, the Titans had a 3-0 lead. The stats indicated that the Titans were dominating in every category, but they were failing to capitalize on possessions and put points on the board. They were also handicapped with penalties, and had drawn seven flags in the first two quarters.

Photo by Casey Fleser
Photo by Casey Fleser

The Titans dominated the time of possession in the first half as well, and had 170 yards of total offense compared to the Bills’ 51.

In the third quarter, Tennessee gained some momentum when Jalston Fowler forced a fumble on a Denarius Moore kickoff return. The Titans recovered and Antonio Andrews was able to punch it in from a yard out to put the Titans up 10-0.

The Bills answered with their longest drive of the game and their first play in Titans’ territory all day. Taylor rushed for 48 yards, including a 22-yard score to finish off the drive and cut the deficit to three points.

On the next drive, the Titans were able to convert on another field goal to increase the lead to six, but it just wasn’t enough. Taylor engineered a long drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Chris Hogan that put Buffalo up one point.

The Titans weren’t able to move the ball on their next drive and head coach Ken Whisenhunt decided to punt the ball away with three minutes left in the game. The Titans were able stop the Bills and got the ball back with time to possibly make it into field goal range. But on the first play of the drive, Marcus Mariota was pressured and threw into triple coverage, where the ball was intercepted, ending any chance of a Titans comeback.

Mariota went 21-for-32 for 187 yards and an interception, the first game of his career where he wasn’t able to record a touchdown. Running back Antonio Andrews led the Titans in receiving yards with 45 on three receptions.

Both quarterbacks led their teams in rushing yards. Mariota had 47 yards on five carries and Taylor had 76 on eight carries and a touchdown.

Taylor also threw for 109 yards with 10 completions on 17 attempts, including a touchdown. Hogan led the Bills in receiving yards with 52 on three receptions and a touchdown.

The Titans will try to regroup and face the 1-3 Dolphins next week at 1 p.m. ET.

Edited by Cody McClure