Mistakes and misses pile up for Tennessee
NASHVILLE — Josh Allen is starting to prove he understands just how crucial taking care of the ball is in the NFL, especially with how well the Buffalo Bills’ defense is playing right now.
Allen passed for 219 yards and two touchdowns with only one interception as the Bills beat the Tennessee Titans 14-7 Sunday in a defensive showdown for their third straight win in this series.
“I know there’s a stat as a quarterback I’m 8-1 with one or less turnovers,” said Allen, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2018 draft. “So understanding that, playing complementary football is what we need to do and continue to improve on that.”
The Bills (4-1) have won three consecutive road games for the first time since 2004, though so many Buffalo fans were at Nissan Stadium on Sunday that it felt much more like a home game for them. It’s also the first time
they’ve started a season perfect through three road games since 1993.
The Bills outgained the Titans 313-252 in total yards despite 11 penalties for 78 yards.
This game featured two of the NFL’s stingiest defenses, with the Titans ranking fourth by giving up an average of 15.5 points per game and the Bills fifth at 15.8. Jordan Phillips had a career-high three sacks — by halftime — as Buffalo sacked Marcus Mariota five times even with three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan back
from his four-game suspension due to testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.
The Titans (2-3) sacked Allen four times only to lose for the third time in four games on a day their replacement kicker missed three field goals and had a fourth blocked.
“One of my great mentors, the late, great Jim Johnson, always said you need some luck,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said, “and he’s right.”
Darryl Johnson blocked Cairo Santos’ 33-yard field-goal attempt at the 12:27 mark of the fourth quarter, a kick that could have given the Titans a 10-7 lead. Signed to fill in while Ryan Succop recovers from injury, the native of Sao Paolo, Brazil, also pulled a 50-yard attempt wide left to start the second quarter, was wide right on a 36-yarder inside the final minute of the first half and went wide left again from 53 yards with less than seven minutes in the game.
“Never had a day like this,” said the 27-yearold Santos, who played at Tulane before being signed as an undrafted free agent by Kansas City in 2014 and spending four seasons with the Chiefs.
“Have been bouncing around with teams for a couple of years and just haven’t had a performance like this. In practice and workouts and in training camps, I haven’t missed a kick under 40 yards in probably two years or something … That is something that hasn’t showed up till today.”
Fans weren’t happy Titans coach Mike Vrabel sent Santos out for the final attempt after the day he’d already had. Santos, who spent last season with the Los Angeles Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, came into Sunday 4-for-5 on field-goal attempts for Tennessee, and he had made 83.1% for his career.
Succop is three weeks from being eligible to return from injured reserve to the roster.
“We like to think that if you make mistakes we can get them fixed and corrected, whether that’s on the field, whether that’s coaching,” Vrabel said. “… This is our kicker. This is a guy who’s made some kicks for us. We’ll have to do a better job making them and coaching him and executing them.”
Johnson’s block came after Tennessee thought it had scored the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter when Mariota threw a pass to A.J. Brown. However, officials ruled Mariota was over the line of scrimmage when he released the pass, costing the Titans the touchdown and a down — and then three points when the field-goal attempt was blocked.
Allen responded with Buffalo’s best drive, helped by a short pass that Isaiah McKenzie took 46 yards. Allen found Duke Williams for a 7-yard touchdown pass three plays later, and the Bills were up 14-7 with 9:46 left.
Allen looked sharp and was on target early after being cleared only Saturday from the concussion protocol, having taken a helmet-to-helmet hit against the New England Patriots the Sunday before. Allen said he felt confident as he left the field from that loss that he would be able to play at Tennessee.
He completed all five passes for 58 yards on the Bills’ lone scoring drive of the first half. He capped the 60-yard drive with an 8-yard pass to a wide-open Lee Smith. Allen finished the game 23-of-32 passing and also ran 10 times for 27 yards.
Kevin Byard picked off Allen’s pass under pressure early in the third quarter, the seventh interception Allen has thrown this season. Derrick Henry scored on a 1-yard dive to help turn the takeaway into a tie score.
After the game, the Titans pointed fingers at their own missed opportunities and mistakes, not at Santos.
“Those kicks were tough,” Mariota said. “At the same time, it shouldn’t have come down to that. For us as an offense, we need to pride ourselves on going into the end zone and scoring touchdowns and not leaving points off the board.”
Said defensive tackle Jurrell Casey: “Just too many mistakes in that fourth quarter.”
Tennessee started the game with a holding penalty on Lewan, and that wiped out a 26-yard pass to Delanie Walker. In all, the Titans were flagged eight times for 60 yards.
Walker said he felt bad for Santos: “It’s tough, but I think they pay him a lot of money to make them kicks.”
“Those kicks were tough. At the same time, it shouldn’t have come down to that. For us as an offense, we need to pride ourselves on going into the end zone and scoring touchdowns and not leaving points off the board.”
—MARCUS MARIOTA