Six Things That Stood Out for the Titans in Sunday’s Loss to the Buffalo Bills

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – The Titans misplaced 34-10 to the Buffalo Payments on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

This is a have a look at six issues that stood out from the competition:

Mason Rudolph began at quarterback for the Titans, rather than an injured Will Levis. Rudoph had extra success early than late. After an early landing go to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Rudolph misplaced the ball on a mishandled snap, which was recovered by the Payments. He additionally threw an interception within the second half. Rudolph completed the day 25-of-40 yards for 215 yards with the landing, interception and fumble. Rudolph solely threw for 60 yards within the second half. “We simply acquired behind the chains lots (within the second half),” Rudolph stated. “We had penalties on first and second down, unfavorable runs, I missed a few throws. Towards a great workforce at dwelling, you’ll be able to’t try this. We now have to get it cleaned up. I do not assume it is a lack of preparation, we simply should go execute. It is again to the drafting board. All you are able to do is figure.”

So, what occurred to quarterback Will Levis? Levis was among the many workforce’s inactives after enjoying final week, two weeks after initially struggling the appropriate shoulder damage in Miami. Coach Brian Callahan stated Levis started feeling soreness on the finish of the Colts sport final week, however he got here again to apply on Wednesday. He remained sore, and his mechanics in practices have been affected, “and never the place they wanted to be. His arm power felt weakened, he did not really feel nice.” After limiting Levis on Wednesday, Levis went full apply on Thursday, however he nonetheless did not really feel nice, and the choice was made for him to take a seat. “The damage is actual,” Callahan stated. “He tried to combat by means of it, and I admire the toughness and willingness.” Callahan stated he made the choice to take a seat Levis, and he’ll now be week-to-week shifting ahead.

The Titans had a brand new proper deal with on the primary snap on Sunday – Jaelyn Duncan – however he did not final lengthy. Duncan suffered a hamstring damage on the primary drive, and he didn’t return. Nicholas Petit-Frere, the starter the primary 4 video games of the season, changed Duncan in sport, and completed the competition. Final week’s starter, Leroy Watson IV, was among the many workforce’s inactives. Callahan stated the workforce is making an attempt to make the perfect of a troublesome state of affairs. “We simply have an issue at proper deal with,” Callahan stated. “We now have to seek out somebody that may step up and play for us. And, proper now, everybody’s acquired their flip and none of it has been the place we’d like it to be. We will hold rolling by means of it. There’s solely so many obtainable tackles on the market, and so many on our workforce. Simply looking for extra consistency from that spot.”

The largest turning level of the sport got here early within the second half, when operating again Tony Pollard was stuffed for a three-yard loss on a 4^th and a couple of from the Tennessee 44-yard line. The Titans have been main 10-7 on the time. It was a momentum-changer, and the Titans might by no means get it again. After the sport, Callahan was requested in regards to the choice. “We have been fairly good, third-down conversion smart in that vary – two to 5 (yards) – at that time,” Callahan stated. “We have been operating the ball properly popping out of the half so I assumed we had a great probability of having the ability to get that. However we ran two runs in a row, and did not get any yards in any respect. I assumed we had an opportunity to get the yard or two that we wanted. It was a fringe go-for-it, and felt like our conversion proportion at that time was in our favor. So, we took an aggressive strategy to try to go get it, and we did not get it.”

The Titans regarded good early, leaping out to a 10-0 lead. The Titans led 10-7 on the half, after they outgained the Payments 217 to 90 and amassed 13 first downs to a few. Defensively, the Titans pressured 4 three-and-outs within the first half. But it surely was a very totally different sport within the second half, because the Payments outscored the Titans 27-0, and outgained them 299 to 72 in whole yards whereas choosing up 15 first downs in comparison with simply 5 for Tennessee. “A story of two halves,” Callahan stated after the sport. “Looks as if the story of our season to date. Discover a solution to play very well early, and we didn’t play very well within the second half in any respect, in any part. We now have to discover a solution to get that fastened. We went backwards on offense, we had penalties. We had one million points, quarterback hits, all these issues. Not adequate. Defensively, I feel they scored on each possession within the second half.”

There wasn’t a lot constructive to write down after this one. Positive, Westbrook-Ikhine caught a landing go for the second week in a row. Pollard had some robust runs, however he was stuffed at an inopportune time. The tight ends (Chig Okonkwo, Nick Vannett and Josh Whyle) made some performs, and Arden Key had a sack of Josh Allen. However, for essentially the most half, it was a forgettable Sunday for the Titans, particularly within the second half. All around the locker room, gamers expressed frustration. “The second half was (expletive), everywhere,” defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons stated. “Nobody desires to be 1 and 5. I feel all of us really feel the identical: Sh*tty. … I feel everyone feels the identical manner, from the locker room to the followers. They’ve a proper to really feel the best way they really feel. … The second half of this sport, it was unhealthy. Dangerous soccer from the Tennessee Titans. We’re in a foul state of affairs proper now. We simply should attempt to dig ourselves out of it.”