TITANS STOP ALLEN ON 4TH DOWN, WIN
Titans 34, Bills 31
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
Derrick Henry scored his third touchdown with 3:05 left, and the Tennessee Titans stopped Josh Allen on a fourth-down quarterback sneak in the final seconds to beat Buffalo 34-31 on Monday night, snapping the Bills’ fourgame winning streak.
The AFC East-leading Bills drove to the Titans 3 on their final possession and could have sent the game to overtime with a field goal, but instead went for the win — and didn’t execute.
First, Allen was marked just shy of the first-down marker on a scramble. On fourth down, the rugged quarterback moved from the shotgun to take the snap from under center. Tennessee’s defensive line surged forward to meet Allen, whose legs went out from under him.
The Titans (4-2) took over with 12 seconds left to start a much-needed celebration for the battered defending AFC South champs.
“We got some dogs over there,” Henry said of Tennessee’s defense. “They fight to the end. They showed it right there.”
Henry came in as the NFL’s rushing leader even with most teams in the league having played six games, and he finished with 143 yards, topping 100 for the fifth consecutive game. It’s the longest streak in the NFL since DeMarco Murray had eight straight in 2014 for Dallas.
The 2020 AP Offensive Player of the Year also had a 76-yard TD run and a 3-yarder. Quarterback
Ryan Tannehill added another TD run against a Buffalo defense that came in third against the run.
Harold Landry had two of the Titans’ three sacks, and Kevin Byard intercepted a pass.
The Bills (4-2) extended their NFL record of leading at halftime to 15 straight games. But their defense, which came in allowing a league-best 12.8 points a game, gave up a season high in points.
Allen finished with 353 yards and three TDs. His third was a 1yarder to Tommy Sweeney in the final minute of the third quarter, and Allen caught a pass from tight end Dawson Knox for the 2point conversion and a 31-24 lead.
With his 29-yard TD pass to a wide-open Cole Beasley just before halftime, Allen passed Aaron Rogers with 108 combined TDs in his 49th start. Rogers had 107 TDs for what had been the most by a quarterback in his first 50 starts since the NFL merger.
Henry now has 11 TDs of 50 yards or longer, tying former Titans running back Chris Johnson for fourth most in NFL history.
This was a costly game for Tennessee. Three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan was carted from the field and evaluated for a concussion late in the second quarter. Rookie cornerback Caleb Farley, the Titans’ top draft pick, had to be helped off the field with an injured left knee he couldn’t put weight on.