Undefeated Bills, Titans set to face off if testing allows
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The NFL’s ranks of undefeated teams should thin by one Tuesday night when the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans finally meet in a rescheduled game.
If testing and COVID-19 allows.
The Bills (4-0) have only had their schedule disrupted as they try to continue their best start in years. The Titans (3-0) have become pariahs while dealing with the NFL’s first outbreak that kept them out of their building much of the past two weeks with 24 players and personnel testing positive.
Titans safety Kevin Byard said it’s been tough watching teammates test positive and worrying about them and their families while not knowing when they would play again. The NFL first postponed, then rescheduled their Oct. 4 game with Pittsburgh to Oct. 25, and their game with the Bills pushed back two days.
“At the end of the day, we’re not going to make any excuses man,” Byard said. “We’re going to come in here and focus on what we need to focus on, and that’s winning the ballgame.”
The Bills beat the Raiders 30-23 last week. This franchise hasn’t won five straight since 2004, and another win would give Buffalo its best start since 1991 when that team went to a Super Bowl.
“As a team that’s off to a good start, we feel like we’ve got a good thing rolling here and we want to play,” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said. “That’s our mindset.”
Buffalo has won three straight in this series, including a 14-7 win in Nashville a year ago as the Titans stumbled to a 2-4 start. Buffalo coach Sean McDermott has made clear Tennessee made it to the AFC championship game in January.
These Titans also are rested with their previous game Sept. 27 in a 31-30 win in Minnesota.
The Bills will be the first team to play the Titans since the NFL closed Tennessee’s facility Sept. 29. The Vikings have not had a positive test result since playing the Titans.
“They’re aware of certainly the situation down there, but they’re also confident in the processes that are in place, both at the league level, and and what we’re doing here,” McDermott said of his Bills.
Rescheduled games
A major snowstorm that hit Buffalo in 2014 marked the previous time Buffalo had a game pushed back. So much snow fell, the Bills had to give up hosting the New York Jets on Sunday, Nov. 23, and instead play the following night at Detroit. The Doug Marrone-coached Bills beat the Rex Ryan-coached Jets 38-3.
Some six weeks later, Ryan was hired by Buffalo in replacing Marrone, who opted out of his contract.