Bills 34-10 Titans (Oct. 20, 2024) Game Recap

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — It didn't take long for Amari Cooper to dominate Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills' offense — even when the quarterback was switching plays at the line of scrimmage.

Five days after arriving in Buffalo following a trade with Cleveland, Cooper turned his first catch in his Bills debut into a touchdown in a 34-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

It turned out that the limited practice time was enough for the 10th-year veteran to get a handle on Buffalo's extensive playbook. Cooper said he understood his role in adjusting at the line of scrimmage, running an in-route that had Allen hitting him open up the middle for a 12-yard touchdown to Buffalo on its first possession took a 14:10 lead in the second half.

“We had built-in notification of the play based on whether we could get a certain look at it,” said Cooper, who signaled to fellow receiver Keon Coleman to acknowledge the play. “We got the look we wanted, we checked it and it worked just like it did in practice.”

Cooper finished the game with four catches for 66 yards on 18 offensive snaps. And his mere presence played a role in creating space for Buffalo's other receivers, who had previously struggled to get open.

“Every player of his caliber requires special attention. If not, we’ll probably throw him the ball,” Allen said of Cooper. “But our guys did a good job of getting open and making plays.”

Coleman was Buffalo's first receiver this season to reach 100 yards with 125 on four catches.

Allen celebrated his 100th career start with his 26th 300-yard effort, finishing 21 of 33 for 323 yards and two touchdowns. As a starter, he improved to 68-32, tied for the sixth-most wins in the first 100 starts by a quarterback with four players – Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

Allen overcame a sluggish first half in which he went 4 of 11 for 65 yards and also completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ty Johnson. James Cook and Ray Davis rounded out the loss with touchdown runs as the AFC East-leading Bills (5-2) overcame a 10-0 deficit.

The Titans continued their free fall, falling to 1-5 – their worst start to the season since opening at 1-6 in 2015. And a quarterback change didn't help an offense that was among the worst in the NFL over the weekend in numerous categories, including scoring. For the fifth time this season they failed to reach the 17-point mark.

Backup Mason Rudolph started with Will Levis, who was suffering from a right throwing shoulder injury.

When coach Brian Callahan listed Levis week-by-week, he said he made the decision to go with Rudolph after Friday's practice.

“The injury is real. He tried to fight his way through. I appreciate the toughness and willingness,” Callahan said.

As for the loss, Callahan said it reflected an offense that spent much of the season struggling to score in the second half.

“We fell behind on offense. We had penalties, we had a million problems, quarterback hits and all those things. Not good enough,” Callahan said. “We didn’t work well enough in the second half to do anything meaningful. That's annoying. I have to find an answer.”

The Titans started strong with Rudolph's 4-yard TD pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Nick Folk's 25-yard field goal giving them a 10-0 lead before being shut out on their final eight drives.

Rudolph finished 25 of 40 for 215 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a lost fumble.

Buffalo opened the game with three touchdowns and two field goals on five possessions in the second half.

The game turned in the opening moments of the second half when Buffalo's defense forced the Titans to turn the ball over on downs. On third-and-1 at Buffalo's 45, Tony Pollard took a direct snap and was stopped for a 1-yard loss trying to jump over the middle. On the next play, rookie defensive tackle DeWayne Carter and safety Taylor Rapp combined with Pollard for a 3-yard loss.

Cooper scored six games later.

Cooper's debut brought new cheers to fans in his hometown with “Cooooop!” echoed through the stadium after every catch. In fact, the only thing the 30-year-old didn't make was a drop after redirecting Allen's swinging pass down the left sideline, which appeared to bounce off his helmet and nose on third-and-1 to end Buffalo's first possession.

“It seems to be a different 'Coop' chant every time,” Cooper said of a chant that dates back to his college days at Alabama. “Just grateful, appreciative, but there was something special about today.”

injuries,

Titans: OL Jaelyn Duncan, who started in place of Leroy Watson, did not return from a hamstring injury.

Bills: WR Curtis Samuel was sidelined in the first quarter with a shoulder injury. … LB Terrel Bernard did not return after injuring his ankle in the third quarter.

Next

Titans: Play at the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Bills: Play at the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

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