What a trouncing that game ended up being. The Buffalo Bills utterly destroyed the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football, thrashing them 41-7 in the biggest humiliation of the season to date.
There can’t be any doubt now about Buffalo after this game and the hammering the Bills laid on the defending Super Bowl Champions a week ago. The Buffalo Bills are one of the best teams in the NFL and are a true contender for the Super Bowl.
There just simply isn’t a weakness on this Bills team. Every position has dominating, aggressive, and skilled players that can change the trajectory and momentum of the game at any moment.
And last night proved it as the Buffalo Bills did the unthinkable only a few seasons ago…they stopped Derrick Henry.
The former 2,000-yard single season rusher was held to a measly 25 yards on 13 carries. That’s just 1.9 yards/carry!
Sure, he did score the Titans only touchdown of the game with his 3-yard TD run on 4th and 1 early on in the 1st quarter, but that was the only productive thing Henry did all game long. He was constantly getting blown up behind the line of scrimmage by S Jordan Pryor, S Micah Hyde, and the rest of the Bills defensive front core.
It really was impressive to see how effective the Bills front seven (along with Pryor and Hyde) was at stopping Derrick Henry from breaking out of the tackle boxes and reaching the second and third levels of their defense.
By the end of the game, the Bills were able to stop the Titans behind the line of scrimmage 8 TIMES!
Have we just witnessed the first proven method on stopping Henry? Maybe.
Regardless, that Bills defense took down Ryan Tannehill just as efficiently as they did with Henry. Well, probably even more so.
Tannehill finished the game with just 11/20 (55%) passes completed, 117 yards, 0 TD, and 2 INTs, with one of them being returned for a Pick 6 to ice the game at 41-7. However, what I found more impressive was just how ruthless the Bills defense was at breaking up pass completions.
Lead by Jordan Pryor and LB Matt Milano (as each had 2 passes defended (PD)), the Bills had a whopping 8 PDs, 3 QB hits, and another 2 sacks in the utter rout that ended up getting Tannehill benched for rookie QB Malik Willis.
I know that Tennessee’s offense was hurting last night as they lost star WR A.J. Brown in the offseason and star OL Taylor Lewan went down with an injury, but they were utterly destroyed by the Bills defense.
Unfortunately, the Titans misery was magnified by 10 on defense as Josh Allen ripped them apart and then some.
Allen went 26/38 (68%) for 317 yards, 4 TD, and 0 INTs, with his #1 target Steffon Diggs catching 12 of his passes for 148 yards and 3 TDs. I think the throw of the night that signified how easy the Bills won this game was Allen’s effortless 50-yard TD bomb to Steffon Diggs.
With Diggs breaking his defensive coverage and running into the endzone undefended, Allen just flicked his wrist, despite the pressure mounting around him, and landed the ball perfectly in Diggs’ hands. There’s not a QB in the league today who can throw a 50-yard pass without a huge windup, let alone not even doing any windup at all.
Allen is special and is the easy frontrunner for the MVP this season.
This victory looked like a scrimmage game the teams have with one another during the preseason for Buffalo. They are easily going to go 14-3 or 15-2 this season and win the AFC East for a third year running if they keep playing this dominant and avoid major injuries.
Speaking of injuries, I’m glad Dane Jackson is okay after that scary collision with his teammate. Freak neck injuries are just horrible, especially when it’s accidentally caused by a teammate.
Thank goodness he’s okay.
As for the Titans, their 0-2 start is beginning to look concerning. Derrick Henry has been out of sync since his return from injury, and the offense looks dreadful without A.J. Brown drawing some attention away from the run game.
I don’t know how they can fix it without a star wide out like Brown waiting in the wings, but I’m sure HC Mike Vrabel will figure something out.
Good thing the AFC South has a collective total of just 1 win (with the Jaguars, of all teams, having it), or else they’d be in serious trouble of falling behind in the playoff race.
Even with their struggles, they sure still finish 1st in this division, right?
