The Buffalo Bills are coming off of their biggest win this season in Kansas City against the high-powered Chiefs. Buffalo knocked off KC by a score of 38-20 on a rainy night at Arrowhead. And truthfully, it should have been a bigger win than that as the penalties kept the Chiefs in the game longer than they should have been. After halftime and the Bills 3 and out on their first possession, I, like many Bills fans, started to get a bad feeling that the Chiefs were getting ready to claw themselves back into the game. Micah Hyde put a quick end to that feeling as he swiped a Tyreek Hill deflected pass and brought it to the house for his first career pick-six.
Buffalo will head down to Music City for a Monday Night Football showdown for another revenge game against the Tennessee Titans. I think the Bills will consider this game just another business trip on their revenge tour after the Titans torched the Bills last season 42-16. If you recall, last year’s game in Nashville was supposed to be played on Sunday October 11th, but a COVID outbreak forced the game to be played on a Tuesday night.
This year the Titans come in 3-2, first in the AFC South and coming off a road win over AFC South rival the Jacksonville Jaguars 37-19. The Bills will face a former AFC East rival in former Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The Bills’ defense will have their hands full with Titans running back Derrick Henry, who played the most significant part in their massacre over the Bills last season. Nothing bigger than his posterizing of Bills’ cornerback Josh Norman.
Josh Allen and the Bills once again have unfinished business going into Monday Night’s game. I’m not saying that the Titans won’t be ready – I think they will, but in the end this is Buffalo’s game. I expect head coach Sean McDermott to have a defensive game plan similar to the one that shut down the Chiefs offense on Sunday night. Monday Night’s game will be another huge test for the secondary coming off of a two interception game against the Chiefs.
If the Bills are to win, they will have to win the same way they beat the Chiefs. Josh Allen will have to continue to connect with his receivers on the highlight reel plays, and continue to use his legs when things break down. Defensively the Bills have the skilled players on the defensive line in Ed Oliver and Jerry Hughes to get pressure on Ryan Tannehill. Stopping the run and Derrick Henry will be on Tremaine Edmunds and others – will Matt Milano be back for Monday Night? Let’s hope he is. I am not concerned for the secondary if they can play like they did against Kansas City. If they do, they shouldn’t have trouble with Julio Jones and the other Titan receivers.
My bold prediction is that if the Bills can come out and hold Derrick Henry to under 100 yards rushing, they will win this game. In one of their losses this season, Derrick Henry was held to 58 yards rushing, and in their other loss to the Jets, he rushed for 157 yards. In order to beat the Titans, you don’t have to hold Henry to under 100 yards, but the Bills are outstanding against the run and I suspect they will. Unless the Bills have a bad night on defense they will win this game. They had a bad night last year in Nashville, but it won’t happen two years in a row.
Prediction: Bills 35 Titans 24
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