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Week 5: Bills vs. Titans
 at 
Sunday, Oct. 11th
1:00pm ET
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The Bills look to get back on track as their roller coaster season continues down in Music City. Nashville hasn't been too kind to the Bills over the years and the Bills have struggled in general with Tennessee losing five games in a row to the Titans. The Bills need a win to get back to being above .500 as they look to ramp up their pass rush against a rookie quarterback.
FACTS AND FIGURES
| Matchup: |
Buffalo (2-2) vs. Tennessee (1-2) |
| Place: |
Nissan Stadium |
| TV/Radio: |
Network: CBS; DirecTV: 712; Sirius: 133 |
| Announcers: |
Andrew Catalon, Steve Tasker, & Steve Beuerlein |
| Spread: |
Bills by 3 |
| Series: |
Titans lead 28-16 (Bills 2-1 in Playoffs) |
| Streak: |
Titans Won 5 |
| Last Meeting: |
Titans 35-34 in Buffalo (2012) |
| Titans Offense: |
Rush (10th); Pass (14th); overall (9th) |
| Titans Defense: |
Rush (20th); Pass (6th); overall (6th) |
| Bills Offense: |
Rush (6th); Pass (22nd); overall (13th) |
| Bills Defense: |
Rush (3rd); Pass (29th); overall (22nd) |
INJURY UPDATE
The Bills will likely be without LeSean McCoy again with a hamstring injury and may be without his backup Karlos Williams in the league's concussion protocol. Sammy Watkins may miss another week with his calf injury but will likely be a gametime decision. The team will get Aaron Williams back which is good with his backup Bacarri Rambo now sidelined with a quad injury. John Miller is getting closer to return from his groin injury. Marquise Goodwin hopes to make his season debut this week. He has been out with broken ribs.
The Titans are pretty healthy coming off their bye week. No players are missing practice time this week because of injury. DT Sammie Hill and G Chance Warmack have been limited some with knee injuries.
Check out our  Bills Daily Injury Page throughout the week for the latest updates on the injured players.
KEY MATCHUPS
Bills DL vs. QB Marcus Mariota:
The Bills highly paid defensive linemen are not getting to the quarterback mostly because the big time QBs they have faced are getting the ball out very quickly. This week they may be able to wreak havoc as the rookie Mariota may hold on to the ball longer than the veterans the Bills have faced at that position so far this year.
RB Boobie Dixon vs. ILB Zach Brown:
For the first time in his NFL career it looks like Dixon will carry the load at running back. He will have to be on the lookout for the Titans leading tackler in Brown.
LT Cordy Glenn vs. OLB Derrick Morgan:
Morgan leads the Titans 3-4 defense in sacks with three. Glenn will have to account for him on each and every pass play to keep him off of Tyrod Taylor.
CB Stephon Gilmore vs. WR Kendall Wright:
Gilmore has been solid all year and will likely lineup against the Titans leading receiver in Wright a good majority of the time.
KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Play Disciplined Football: Everyone will be watching to see how many yellow flags are flying around this weekend. The Bills are putting extra emphasis on stopping the penalties this week including instituting a push up punishment for penalties committed. The Bills can't shoot themselves in the foot and beat an upstart Titans team.
2. Rattle The Rookie: Mariota has had a solid start to his NFL career winning the Offensive Rookie of the Month award for September. He does however hold on to the ball taking 12 sacks in three games. The Bills need to get pressure on him and knock him around a bit. This should force him into typical rookie mistakes.
3. Get Taylor In Space: It's time to stop trying to make Taylor a pure pocket passer. They need to roll him out and allow him to make plays on the run like they did against Miami. If they do that they will have more success on offense.
BILLS DAILY PREDICTION
The Bills have won every odd week and lost every even week so far this season. I look for the trend to continue and the Bills will find a way to win what should be a tough matchup at a place that they don't normally perform well:
Bills 23, Titans 13
Season Prediction Record: (1-3)
Season Record Against The Spread: (2-2)
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