Bills avoid trap game, overcome Titans in 34-10 win

The Buffalo Bills got off to a rocky start in their Week 7 clash with the Tennessee Titans but ultimately battled back to win.

David Faux | Oct 20, 2024

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The Buffalo Bills overcame a slow start to defeat the Tennessee Titans 34-10 in their Week 7 clash. An early 10-0 deficit made it seem like the sloppy play the Bills brought from last Monday night was going to continue in this game, and while that wasn’t entirely untrue, Buffalo was also able to bring itself together, take care of business, and ultimately deliver a blowout win against the inferior Titans.

Below we’ll explore the players who gave the most inspiring performances, the player who still has some questions surrounding them after a solid game, a part of the offense that requires a better performance, and the most irksome part of the game.

Inspire - Amari Cooper and Keon Coleman:

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A rough drop on his first target didn’t stop Amari Cooper in his Buffalo debut. He wasn't deployed often, but he came up big when needed, catching the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter and making a big play on a deep ball later in the game. It was a very impressive showing for a receiver who has been with the organization for less than a week, and it’s clear why the Bills were willing to pull the trigger on him before the trade deadline. After the Bills' offense stalled out for most of the first half, the involvement of Cooper in the second half was a big spark and ultimately was enough to push them past a stingy Titans team. In the coming weeks as Cooper gets more comfortable with the offense, one would imagine the targets and involvement will increase.

On top of that, rookie Keon Coleman had a phenomenal game. While a slight bobble of the ball and a toe-tapping slightly out of bounds robbed him of a great touchdown catch, Coleman had his best game as a receiver, breaking free on a busted coverage early in the first quarter when the Bills were lifeless on offense and giving them the spark they needed to get their first score. Coleman finished the day with 125 receiving yards coming on four catches with seven targets. The rookie is steadily looking more and more comfortable, and the more the Bills get him involved, the more he will take advantage of the opportunities.

Inquire - Tyler Bass:

After a rough game against the New York Jets on Monday Night Football, Tyler Bass came back and made all of his kicks in this game, and very easily, too. It wasn’t much, but it was all they needed from Bass; just do your 1/11th and make your kicks. The question is whether or not the Bills still feel comfortable with him as their kicker moving forward. With Lucas Havrisik being added to the practice squad during the week, it was clear the Bills weren’t totally confident in Bass after his outing on Monday night, but they chose to give him another chance this week and it worked out. But what is his leash moving forward? Will there actually be a point where he’s cut and they move on? Would it be during the 2024 season? It’s a good showing this week, but Bass remains a question mark for this team moving forward until he consistently proves otherwise.

Require - Run Game:

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A bad early passing attack from the Bills overshadowed a pretty lackluster general run game. After missing last week with an injury, James Cook didn’t account for much outside of the Bills’ first touchdown of the game. Ray Davis ripped off a big 22-yard gain later in the game, but the Bills largely stayed away from the run game throughout the day. Whether that was by choice or simply Buffalo wanting to work on a struggling passing game, the run game was simply absent. While not a major concern, as the Bills’ run game has been very good this year, it’s something to monitor in the coming weeks as the schedule remains relatively weak.

Irk - Third down defense & Pass Rush:

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It’s been a bit of a meme that the Bills’ defense has struggled on third-and-long in recent years. At this point, it’s become more than a meme, and it’s more than just third-and-long. In the first half, the Titans converted five of eight third-down opportunities, while the Bills converted zero of five. It was clearly a wait-and-see approach for the defense early on, sending four linemen to rush the passer and try to play good coverage behind it. But the pass rush was largely inconsistent, and it led to some conversions that kept the Titans in this game. The Bills’ defense adjusted very well after the half, however, shutting out the Titans completely and smothering both their run game and their passing attack (the Titans only had one third down conversion on eight more attempts).

An AJ Epenesa strip sack stopped a promising Titans drive in the first half, and Greg Rousseau finished the day with six quarterback hits; both of these are encouraging, but the desire to finish those pressures and hits with sacks is also very present. While starting slow has been a fairly consistent constant for the Bills’ defense this year, at some point, a better team will take advantage of it and create a bigger deficit that will be harder to climb out of than 10-0. Both Bobby Babich and Sean McDermott need to figure out what needs to change to put themselves in a better position to start games.

What’s next for the Bills?

The Bills will travel to Seattle to play the Seahawks at 4:25 PM next week. A West Coast road game against a team that got off the schneid by beating the Atlanta Falcons Sunday, the Seahawks present their own challenges, not the least of which is the phenomenal play of quarterback Geno Smith. With the Bills coming out of this game largely unscathed (sans Curtis Samuel and Terrel Bernard), it’ll be a good matchup for the Bills to show very clearly that they are a team in the upper echelon of the NFL in 2024.

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