Buffalo kicks it to Tennessee
Bills show improvement on both sides of the ball to earn last-second win Buffalo Bills kicker Stephen Hauschka won the game with a field goal as time expired.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.— Safety Jordan Poyer and the Buffalo Bills couldn’t care less about style points.
After being on the losing end of some lopsided decisions, an offensively challenged, fieldgoal-dominated 13-12 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday is all that mattered.
“Two-and-three is a lot better than 1-4,” Poyer said, referring to the Bills record. “It’s never ugly when you win.”
Stephen Hauschka overcame a botched field-goal attempt in the final minutes of the first half by hitting a 46-yard attempt as time expired. Running back LeSean McCoy broke from a September slump with 85 yards rushing — matching the combined total from his first three games. And Poyer helped anchor an injury-depleted secondary on a defence that forced three turnovers, held the Titans to 221yards and limited them to scoring four field goals.
Buffalo bounced back from a 22-0 loss at Green Bay last weekend. Its defence showed improvement after surrendering 75 points over six quarters, starting with a 47-3 seasonopening loss at Baltimore, followed by the first half of a 31-20 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
“I think there was a glimpse of it,” defensive tackle Kyle Williams said in suggesting the young, patchwork Bills are finding a hint of their identity.
The Titans (3-2) took a step backward in having a threegame win streak snapped, and squandered a chance for their best start since winning their first 10 games in 2008.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota failed to show the flair he displayed last week in rallying the Titans to a 26-23 overtime win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Mariota finished 14-of-26 for 129 yards passing and an interception against Buffalo.
The Titans crossed midfield four times, with each drive ending with Ryan Succop hitting field goals.
“Not very good. Yeah, I mean we left one out there today,” Mariota said. “If you’re not ready to play, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing.”
The Titans’ best chance of finding the end zone slipped through their fingers early in the fourth quarter.
Facing third-and-4 at Buffalo’s 23, Mariota scrambled to his left, where he lobbed to receiver Nick Williams, who was wide open in the end zone. Williams had the pass drop through his hands.
Tennessee settled for Succop hitting a 39-yard field goal to cut Buffalo’s lead to 10-9.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen was hardly better. The rookie finished 10-of-19 for 82 yards and an interception, but did open the scoring on a 14-yard TD scamper. Allen’s interception nearly cost the Bills midway through the fourth. Late in finding Andre Holmes to his right, Allen’s pass was intercepted by Adoree’ Jackson at the Tennessee 46.
The Titans settled for Succop hitting a go-ahead 50-yard field goal after Mariota fumbled and was fortunate to have the ball bounce off his foot and roll out of bounds. The Bills responded with an 11-play, run-dominated drive that covered the final 4:43.