Bills report card: Buffalo offense potent as Josh Allen, Amari Cooper put away Titans

ORCHARD PARK - Whether it had anything to do with the arrival of Amari Cooper is up for debate, but once the new wide receiver started to find his way in the Buffalo Bills offense Sunday afternoon, Josh Allen started looking like Josh Allen, and that’s a beautiful thing to behold.

Don’t get me wrong, during the first six games Allen’s play has been perfectly fine. In fact, he was named AFC offensive player of the month in September, and he still hasn’t thrown an interception in 2024.

But particularly in the losses to Baltimore and Houston , it was clear that Allen was missing a key ingredient in the passing game, the presence of a difference-making veteran on the outside, and after a sloppy first half when nothing was clicking, Allen hooked up with Cooper for a touchdown early in the third quarter and the Bills just exploded from there and blew out the Tennessee Titans 34-10 .

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“It looked pretty good,” Allen said of Cooper’s four-catch, 66-yard debut. “Huge shout out to him for putting in the extra hours of getting ready for this game. It's not easy being traded in the week and playing a game and playing real live reps where he played quite a bit. Yeah, it's huge to have him out there.”

If that’s an indication of what Cooper can do after learning just a small portion of the playbook and having only two full practices with Allen , the passing game - which entered Week 7 ranked 25th in yards per game - should be on the verge of taking a big step forward in the weeks to come.

“It was a good feeling to go out there, be able to make some plays for the team,” Cooper said. “Just trying to lock in, learn as many plays as I can, and just be a professional. That's the main thing, having that chemistry between quarterback and a receiver, like I said, just try to come in, be a professional. This isn't unchartered territory for me, I have been traded in a similar situation before, so I kind of knew what to expect.”

Here’s how I graded the Bills:

PASS OFFENSE: A

During the first half, if you had told me that I’d give Allen and the passing game an A in this game, I would have told you the New York Yankees are the best baserunning team in baseball. For you non-baseball followers, they may be going to the World Series, but as their radio play-by-play man, John Sterling, said, they run the bases like drunks.

And in the first half, the Bills’ passing game looked like it was drunk as Allen was sloppy and inefficient and completed just 4 of 11 for 65 yards, and 44 of that came on a pass to Keon Coleman where the Titans had a colossal blown coverage and he was wide open. But in the second half, Allen found Nirvana and he finished 21 of 33 for a season-high 323 yards and two TDs while a third TD to Coleman was overturned by replay because the receiver’s toe was on the line.

Obviously, Cooper was the big storyline and his debut was solid, four catches for 66 yards and a TD after he dropped his first target. His presence on the field seemed to provide some space for the others and the Bills, as they love to do, had everyone eating. Khalil Shakir, still battling his ankle injury, had seven catches for 65 yards, Coleman had four for 125 as he also reeled in a 57-yarder by taking a short hitch, breaking a tackle and sprinting down the middle of the field. Dalton Kincaid also had a nice day with two excellent downfield catches among his three total for 52 yards.

RUN OFFENSE: C

The Bills never really got anything going on the ground as James Cook made his return after missing the Jets game and managed just 32 yards on 12 carries, though one of those went for an 11-yard touchdown in the second quarter to start the Bills rally from a 10-0 deficit.

Ray Davis had just five carries as he was battling a calf injury that prevented him from building in his big 97-yard performance a week ago. But like Cook, he had a touchdown, a beautiful 16-yard carry in the fourth quarter when he showed his trademark hard-charging style as he bounced off tacklers on his way to the end zone.

Allen did not have much success as he managed a measly yard on three attempts against a big and stout Titans front line.

PASS DEFENSE: B+

Everything started slowly, and such was the case with the pass defense as Mason Rudolph nickel and dimed the Bills with short passes and he finished 18 of 23 for 155 yards in the first half, producing back-to-back scoring drives that resulted in a 10-7 lead. But the Bills started to defend the short areas more effectively, and when Rudolph needed to start throwing downfield, especially after the Titans blew their lead, he was unable to do anything.

In the second half he was just 7 of 17 for 60 yards and threw a late interception to Damar Hamlin. The Bills pass rush kicked into gear and along with three sacks, they had 11 QB hits on the backup who started in place of injured Will Levis, six of those hits credited to Greg Rousseau. The Bills held Tennessee’s two veteran WRs, Calvin Ridley and DeAndre Hopkins to a combined three catches for 31 yards.

AJ Epenesa had a chance to make a huge play in the first quarter, but he allowed a pass that was thrown right to him at the line to go through his hands. In the second quarter, he did make a huge play when he sacked Rudolph and forced a fumble, and even though the Titans recovered, they were stuck in a second-and-30.

Rousseau and Dawuane Smoot shared a sack and DaQuan Jones had a solo sack. Taron Johnson, Christian Benford and Rasul Douglas all had a pass breakup, while Johnson and Taylor Rapp led the secondary with seven tackles each.

RUN DEFENSE: B

The Titans needed Tony Pollard to be more of a difference-maker than he was. He finished with 61 yards but averaged 3.8 per carry and on what turned out to be the turning point of the game, he got blown up on a fourth-and-2 carry early in the third quarter by Bills rookie DT DeWayne Carter. That turnover on downs ignited the Bills’ comeback and they scored the only 27 points of the second half.

Carter continues to grow in the middle of the defense, even though his snap count went down a little because Ed Oliver was back after a two-game absence. Oliver had two tackles and was credited with a forced fumble when Rudolph muffed a snap and Terrel Bernard made the recovery. Dorian Williams led the Bills with 10 tackles including one for lost yardage, while Bernard, before leaving with an ankle injury , had eight tackles, two behind the line of scrimmage.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C

The spotlight was shining on Tyler Bass after the Bills signed a kicker to their practice squad to remind Bass that he needs to be better . He wasn’t tested in this game as his field goal makes were chip shots from 28 and 30 yards, and he also made all four of his extra points. In other words, he did what he was supposed to do, nothing more.

Sam Martin had a tough day dealing with a bit of wind. He punted five times and his 33.8 net average indicated his struggles. In coverage, the Titans had two punt returns for eight yards by Jha’Quan Johnson, and he also had kickoff returns of 34 and 21 yards, Baylon Spector twice getting him to the ground.

Brandon Codrington’s lone kickoff return was a 27-yarder, and he also averaged 11.2 yards on five punt returns, and there were no penalties in the kicking game.

COACHING: C+

I didn’t like that for the second time at home, the Bills came out completely flat and looked ill-prepared to play. Against Arizona in Week 1 they fell behind 17-3 before rallying, and Sunday the deficit was 10-0 before they woke up. Sean McDermott acknowledged that he has to get that figured out.

Offensively, Joe Brady could not get Allen into any sort of rhythm in the first half and the first three possessions were three-and-out and totaled 13 net yards. But in the second half, it was a thing of beauty as he got everyone involved and the Bills scored on all five of their possessions, drives that covered 41, 64, 56, 59 and 84 yards. By day’s end they had 389 yards, the most the Titans’ No. 1 defense has allowed all year.

On defense, Bobby Babich dialed up the right call on the fourth-and-2 Tennessee gamble early in the third and it turned the game around. He also made a nice adjustment after Rudolph burned the Bills early with short passes because those became non-existent in the last two quarters.

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills report card: Buffalo offense potent as Josh Allen, Amari Cooper put away Titans