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Bills Rally For 14-13 Win In Tennessee
Offense awakens in second half to pull out the win.
by Steve Saslow
The Skinny:
Tyrod Taylor ran for a score and threw the winning touchdown pass to Chris Hogan from 2 yards out with 5:25 to play to complete the rally that gave the Bills a 14-13 win over the Titans. The old penalty bugaboo hit again on the opening kickoff as an offsides penalty on Marcus Easley negated a fumble recovery at the Titans 2. It seemed to put the Bills in a funk that last into the third quarter as the Bills managed just 51 total yards in the first half as they were thoroughly dominated in the opening 30 minutes but trailed only 3-0 at halftime as the defense kept them in the game. Denarius Moore fumbled a punt return that Antonio Andrews turned into a one yard touchdown run to give the Titans a 10-0 lead that looked bigger than that because of how the offense was playing. The Bills then turned Taylor lose who had a 26 yard run followed by his 22 yard touchdown run to get the Bills within 3. In the fourth quarter with the Bills trailing 13-7, Taylor hit a bomb to Hogan, caught a pass from Hogan (yes you read that right), before hitting him in the end zone for the winning score. Stephon Gilmore clinched it with an interception of Marcus Mariota when he rushed a deep throw while Marcell Dareus was bearing down on him.
The Turning Point:
Taylor's 1st Long Run: The Bills were doing nothing offensively when they decided to turn Taylor lose. A play after a fortunate bounce allowed Eric Wood to recover a Boom Herron fumble, Taylor rumbled for 26 yards on a 3rd and 4 draw play. That gave the offense life and Roman an idea. Since nothing else was working let Taylor use his legs. Two plays later he was in the end zone with those legs.
The Big Drive:
The Game Winning TD: On the Bills next series, after their first score was followed by a Titans field goal, the Bills went 80 yards in 8 plays to what proved to be the winning score. The big play was a 3rd and 23 from the Bills 7 when Taylor used those legs again and scrambled for 24 yards and got 15 more on the horse collar tackle that had him leave the game for a play. He came right back in the game and hit Hogan on a 46 yard bomb to the Titans 7. The Bills used trickery from there as Hogan took the double reverse and threw it to Taylor who made a nice catch to the 3 yard line. Then on 3rd and goal Hogan made a nice catch on a low pass from Taylor for the score.
Stat I Did Like:
Taylor's Rushing: He broke a club record for most rushing yards by a Bills QB in a game with 76 yards on 8 carries.
Stat I Didn't Like:
First Quarter Stats: Titans 115 yards to Bills 7. Titans 7 first downs to the Bills 0.
Scene Setters:
- Marquise Goodwin made his 2015 debut after missing four games with broken ribs. He had the first catch of the game for the Bills. A 15 yarder midway through the second quarter.
- Sammy Watkins warmed up before the game but was inactive. Adam Schefter reported early in the morning he wouldn't play.
- IK Enemkpali traveled with the team to Tennessee and was on the field for pre game warmups but he has yet to be activated by the team off the suspension list.
- The Bills won the toss and elected to defer which put their healthier defense on the field first. The Titans moved down the field but were eventually forced to punt.
- Rex Ryan gave the players bracelets with words "Yes Sir" written on them to remind them what to say to officials when called for a penalty.
Key Matchup Results:
The winners of the battles highlighted in our preview article:
Bills DL vs. QB Marcus Mariota: Winner: Bills DL. As the game progressed they got more pressure from the men up front and they got two sacks, one each from each Williams.
RB Boobie Dixon vs. ILB Zach Brown: Winner: Brown. The Bills running backs just never got going.
LT Cordy Glenn vs. OLB Derrick Morgan: Winner: Morgan. He had 1½ sacks.
CB Stephon Gilmore vs. WR Kendall Wright: Winner: Gilmore. He had a great game right down to the interception that wrapped up the game.
Keys To The Game Results:
How the keys highlighted in our preview article turned out:
1. Play Disciplined Football: Failure! They did get the penalty numbers down a bit but the one that started the game put them in a huge funk and others happened at the worst possible times.
2. Rattle The Rookie: Success! Mariota was very composed early and had time to throw more often than not. He made some plays early but seemed to get rattled a bit late.
3. Get Taylor In Space: Success! It took a while but they finally got him using his feet. He had two long runs on the Bills third quarter touchdown drive and another long run on the winning scoring drive.
My Take:
This one was ugly but there was a lot to learn about this team from it. Taylor was having his worst game of the year but showed toughness and gutted it out. He then made plays down the stretch when he had to for his first comeback win of his career. Let's hope he has many more in him. If the Bills are going to be a playoff team they have to win games even when they struggle against inferior opponents. There is a lot not to like in this game but the W is what is most important and they showed some moxy in getting it.
What's Ahead:
The Bills head back to the Ralph to take on the high flying Cincinnati Bengals who remain undefeated at 5-0.
Gameballs
Stephon Gilmore - Had a couple of big passes defensed and the big interception to get the win.
Colton Schmidt - Had the second longest punt of his career and really was the best offensive weapon most of the game.
Tyrod Taylor - He may have struggled mightily most of the way but used his skill and feet to lead them to a win when they probably shouldn't have won.
Chris Hogan - Had two huge catches and even completed a pass.
Goats
Doug Whaley - His moves this week to bring in Herron, Moore, and Cundiff failed miserably. Moore lost a fumble. Cundiff was slow on a kickoff and they were offsides. Herron didn't do much at all.
Marcus Easley - Went offsides on the opening kickoff and missed a tackle. Not what you would expect from your special teams ace.
Denarius Moore - Fumbled his first punt return.
Player Of The Week
Stephon Gilmore - Having the best season of his career so far.
 Positional Breakdown and Grades
NFL.com Gamebook
Titans Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
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