By: Jack Gold

The Tennessee Titans (1-4) head to Orchard Park, New York this week to face Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills (4-2) as significant underdogs – rightfully so. Hope is starting to run dry after an eventful offseason followed by a disappointing start, and if the Titans want to turn it around, they will need to beat all odds with wins on the road against Super Bowl contenders the next two weeks.

Last Time Out

Titans 17

Colts 20

TEN

Will Levis – 16/27, 95 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT

Tony Pollard – 17 car, 93 yds, 1 TD

Calvin Ridley – 0 rec, 0 yds, 8 tgts

IND

Joe Flacco – 22/38, 189 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT

Josh Downs – 7 rec, 66 yds, 1 TD

Bills  23

Jets  20

BUF

Josh Allen – 19/25, 215 yds, 2 TD

Ray Davis – 20 car, 97 yds, 3 rec, 55 yds

Dalton Kincaid – 6 rec, 51 yds

NYJ

Aaron Rodgers – 23/35, 294 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT

Breece Hall – 18 car, 113 yds, 5 rec, 56 yds

Allen Lazard – 6 rec, 114 yds, 1 TD

Garrett Wilson – 8 rec, 104 yds, 1 TD

The Matchup

Titans Offense vs Bills Defense

Led by Will Levis, the Titans offense has shown little to be excited about – especially through the air. Interceptions, dropped passes and three-and-outs have become commonplace for the unit in 2024, and signs of promise are few and far between. The struggles passing were highlighted again on Sunday against the Colts as Levis did not reach the century mark passing and marquee free agent Calvin Ridley had zero catches on eight targets – a disaster of a stat line.

Tony Pollard has been a bright spot this season as his explosiveness appears to be back to his pre-injury form and the run game has become the go-to option for Tennessee so far. It won them their lone win versus the Dolphins and has kept them in others, but it cannot remain their only reliable option if this team wants to turn the season around. 

The offensive line deserves credit for their play, as four of the five spots are playing at an acceptable level and the duo of JC Latham and Peter Skoronski look like the potential franchise cornerstones they were drafted to be. More optimism can be found at right tackle as Leroy Watson made his first start last week and may not have been that good, but he was better than the “wreck the entire offense” bad performances the team has had so far. 

The Bills defense is a solid-average unit with an ability to turn teams over – the Titans, or just Will Levis’, biggest flaw of the season. It may not be fun to watch, but the Tennessee offense may have to stick to their run-first game plan of the past few weeks as the Bills are a bottom-10 rush defense in the NFL and rank in the top 15 in pass defense. While not an elite pass defense by any means, they have been respectable in that area and have six forced interceptions on the year. The run defense, on the other hand, has given up a league-worst 5.3 yards per carry and will be the clear thing to exploit.

Titans Defense vs Bills Offense

Statistically the best defense in the NFL, DC Dennard Wilson and the Titans defense have been almost everything you could have hoped they’d be this offseason. They’ve made moving the ball incredibly difficult en route to being a top-10 rush defense and the best passing defense in the NFL. The main problem early in the year was forcing turnovers, and that has come along of late as well.

They will face an entirely new challenge this week with one of the most talented QBs of this generation, Josh Allen. As good as the Titans’ defensive unit has been, they have yet to face a quarterback near Allen’s caliber. So far, they’ve gone up against a rookie making his first start, a 40-year-old in his second game off a torn Achilles and three backups. Not to minimize their success, but so far it has been a crazy amount of luck on that end. Sunday will be their first real test against an elite QB.

As a team with a lack of real playmakers, Allen has made that not matter so far this season, but the front office saw the issue could bite them soon and went out and got him a true number-one WR in trading the Browns for Amari Cooper this week. Cooper, though no longer in his prime, is still an elite WR who will likely help take the Bills offense to another level. Just traded for on Tuesday, it is still in the air how much he will be able to contribute this week, but the threat of his impact looms large and the Titans will be sure to prepare for him to play a role.

While Cooper will improve their passing game, the Bills’ bread and butter has been on the ground with James Cook and as of last week, Ray Davis. A top-10 unit in both attempts and yards, that likely won’t change this week, but the impact of T’Vondre Sweat and Jeffery Simmons on the interior could force them to air it out more. If that is the case, L’Jarius Sneed will need to get back on track after a poor performance against the Colts and Jarvis Brownlee Jr. will look to continue to stack good performances.

Things to Watch

Will Levis (again)

I know… it’s getting old, but the theme of this year’s Titans season is finding out if Will Levis is the guy. So far, the answer is a resounding no, but the door is not closed yet – though it is barely cracked open. The potential and flashes we saw last season have seemed to disappear this year. Dumb turnovers and poor throws have highlighted the second-year QB’s season, and if the season ended today, the Titans would be in the quarterback market in the coming offseason.

The positive – the Titans still play in 12 more games, and the coaching staff seems to know Mason Rudolph is not the answer and is a better fit as a backup. Health-abiding, we are getting 12 more prove-it games of Will Levis, and somewhere deep inside him is unteachable talent. He will just have to learn to get out of his own way for that talent to become a reality.

Calvin Ridley

When the Titans signed Calvin Ridley to a four-year, $92 million contract this offseason, some criticized it as an overpay. Given the need for outside playmakers, it was well worth it, and after an offseason of WRs getting paid, the contract now seems like a bargain – if he can hold up his end at least. 

Ridley has been severely underwhelming this season. Though Will Levis and Brian Callahan should be held accountable for part of Ridley’s lack of productivity, he’s not free of blame. He’s gotten open and made plays, but he’s also dropped catchable targets and looked uninterested at times – something you can’t have for a $92 million player. This week, he and Levis have to get on the same page and make plays.

Can the Titans’ O-line Continue to Build Upon Last Week?

The Titans offensive line gave up zero sacks against the Colts on Sunday – the first time the franchise has done that since October 18th, 2021 *33-game streak*.

Though they struggled badly early in the year, the unit has consistently improved and Bill Callahan seems to be living up to his “O-line Jesus” tabbing.

JC Latham and Peter Skoronski are reasons to be excited about the future and have made running left a true weapon. Lloyd Cushenberry is beginning to live up to his contract and Dillon Radunz has impressed after being thrown into the starting role at right guard in the preseason. Most importantly for their recent success, Leroy Watson was not awful in his first start and allowed the offense to at least be able to function. 

The Bills’ pass rush poses a bigger threat than the Colts did and it will be interesting to see if the group can continue to play better versus a respectable group.

T-Pain and Big Jeff vs the Bills Run Game

Jeffery Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat have lived up to their preseason hype so far and look like one of the best interior duos in the NFL. On the Bills’ end, their rushing attack has allowed them to control the time of possession and win games in dominant fashion.

Something has to give on Sunday, but it could just come down to whether the Titans’ offense can sustain possessions and keep the defense fresh. If not, the Titans front could wear down quickly versus Ray Davis, James Cook and the Bills offensive line.

Can L’Jarius Sneed Bounce Back?

L’Jarius Sneed was rightfully rewarded with a four-year, $76 million contract this offseason after making a name for himself as one of the best lockdown corners in the league. So far this season, he has not been bad, he’s been fine, but he has not looked like the top-five guy he was paid to be. The struggles peaked last week as he gave up a touchdown and got beat at least two other times where a bad throw was the only reason the Colts didn’t score. 

He deserves the benefit of the doubt for now, and Sunday will be a chance for him to re-establish himself as a true number one vs Amari Cooper or whoever he lines up against.

Amari Cooper’s Status

The Bills filled a much-needed void on Tuesday when they traded for Amari Cooper. Even in the decline of his career, he is still a true alpha WR who can create explosive plays and take over games. That being said, he just arrived in Buffalo, and his status for Sunday is up in the air still. With his first practice with the team on Thursday, we should know more about whether or not he will play vs the Titans soon, but even if he does play, his involvement and role will be a question mark as well. It’s unlikely that he has a game-changing, takeover game on such short notice, but his involvement is still something the Titans’ staff will be worried about.

Game Information

Tennessee Titans vs Buffalo Bills

Time: October 20, 2024 @ noon CDT

Location: Highmark Stadium (Orchard Park, N.Y.)

TV Broadcast: CBS

TV Broadcast Crew: Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber, Jason McCourty, AJ Ross

Radio: Titans Radio (104-5 The Zone)

Radio Crew: Mike Keith, Dave McGinnis, Ramon Foster, Rhett Bryan, Amie Wells

Referee: John Hussey

Line: Bills -9

Over/Under: 40.5