Stock up, stock down following the Bills’ loss to the Titans
Our latest Buffalo Bills stock report is going to be a change of pace, but not one that is in any way surprising.
The Bills were nothing short of smacked by the Tennessee Titans, 42-16, on Tuesday. Buffalo’s offense showed a blip or two of life, while the defensive woes hit a fever pitch.
With that, here’s Bills Wire’s latest stock report following the Bills’ loss to the Titans:
Stock up
Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs. (AP Photo/Brett Carlsen)
WR Stefon Diggs
Seeing as the way things turned out, maybe Buffalo shouldn’t bank on this, but Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs certainly showed he can carry the load. Diggs had a game-high 16 total targets which turned into 10 catches for 106 yards. A good personal game, but again, not the best for the offense overall.
WR John Brown
John Brown had zero targets, catches, yards, routes run, and snaps played against the Titans. That’s because he missed the game due to a calf injury. Forcing the ball to Diggs helped his personal stats, but Buffalo lost and the offense was not as dynamic as it was with Brown in the lineup the first few games.
RB TJ Yeldon
In a surprise, TJ Yeldon finished the game as Buffalo’s leading rusher with 52 yards, which included a 34-yard scamper. Yeldon also had a 22-yard touchdown catch. And we can’t forgot, he did win Bills Wire’s Player of the Game. Good day at the office for a guy who is typically inactive on game day.
DT Harrison Phillips/ DT Vernon Butler
These guys won’t show up much in the box score, but the Bills held Titans running back Derrick Henry to 3.0 yards per carry because of some good plays by these guys. A big part of the time when Henry gained anything over three yards, he was bouncing runs to the outside because either Harrison Phillips or Vernon Butler were right in his face. Problem is, these two also didn’t get much help after they did their jobs.
WR Cole Beasley
Cole Beasley had six catches for 53 yards. A solid stat line for him… and it’s an even better one considering that was his work from just one half of the game. Beasley had zero targets in the first half. Why wasn’t he involved earlier?
Bills cornerback Josh Norman. (AP Photo/Brett Carlsen)
QB Josh Allen
We’ve come to expect a lot from Josh Allen, and when it’s not there from the quarterback, even he can have some critics. Allen did not have the worst game of his career, but it was the worst of his season. Allen took another long loss on a sack, turned the ball over twice, and forced the ball a little more than we were used to seeing in the first quarter of the season. Time to see if he can revert back to good Allen now.
HC Sean McDermott
That game just looked… different. The Bills did not appear ready to play at any point and that falls on the coaching staff and their boss, Sean McDermott. Buffalo had plenty of mental errors from drops and penalties (10 in total). Then when the Bills got punched in the face, there was little response, especially defensively. No reason to think the troops can’t be rallied, though.
CB Josh Norman
We got to see why Josh Norman was heavily criticized during his time in Washington. Not good the entire game, aside from a solo tackle on Henry, who also sent him into another dimension with a stiff arm. In coverage, Norman was probably worse… AJ Brown carved him up. Plus, two defensive pass interference calls against him, helping extend Tennessee drives.
CB Taron Johnson
Game after game, Taron Johnson is being picked on. It doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better, either. The Bills might be missing a random guy because of this… EJ Gaines. He opted out at the start of the year and he would’ve probably replaced Johnson by now in the slot.
WR Andre Roberts
Two turnovers were partly to blame on Andre Roberts. On Allen’s first interception, he tipped the ball up and Malcolm Butler snatched it. Late in the game, he fumbled on a kick return. He also, overall, wasn’t good returning anything, even losing a yard on a punt. Roberts should bounce back.
RB Devin Singletary
Yeldon in the good and Devin Singletary in the bad? Who would’ve thought? Singletary was pretty productive when given opportunities this season, but he wasn’t against the Titans. Singletary had an ugly 2.3 yards per carry. Better days ahead should be expected.
LB Tremaine Edmunds
While hopeful for another step forward in 2020… that hasn’t happened for Tremaine Edmunds. Against the run, he’s often late to make a decision, like on Henry’s one-yard touchdown run. Edmunds was right there but didn’t realize where the ball-carrier was. In pass coverage, Edmunds hasn’t ever really been great either and in zone… he find himself giving up areas over the middle.
DE Mario Addison/ DE Jerry Hughes
In our stock up, we mentioned the middle of the defensive line as good, but the whole group looked bad because of the outside rushers. There was no edge set all throughout the game. And not to mention: Ryan Tannehill was not sacked once.
