Buffalo Bills vs. Tennessee Titans 2020: Preview, odds, predictions for Week 5 - syracuse.com

During the past 19 days the Tennessee Titans have had 24 people within their organization test positive for Covid-19, putting Tuesday’s rescheduled game against the Buffalo Bills in jeopardy for more than a week.

As the days passed following the Bills' 30-23 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, the odds seemed low that the game would be played with more positives continuing to roll in last week. But since last Friday the Titans have had three days of all negative results. A staff member returned a positive test on Sunday but the league has reportedly been monitoring that situation using contact tracer data.

As of right now, the Bills and Titans are going to play Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET.

It’s been a whirlwind week for players on both sides. For Bills players, the coaching staff installed two game plans last week - one for the Titans and one for the Kansas City Chiefs, in the case the Tennessee game was cancelled. With the Titans game back on the KC game has been moved to next Monday night at 5 p.m.

READ ABOUT HOW: Titans are being investigated for breaking Covid protocols, per reports

Bills safety Micah Hyde was asked last Thursday - the last day any Bills player or coach was available to the media - if the NFL sending the Bills down to Tennessee is fair.

“I don’t know what’s fair and what’s unfair. I know that there’s two different perspectives,” he said. "Obviously, there’s us on this end saying we have zero positive tests, and we want to play a game. There’s guys on their end that are saying also they want to play. But then there’s a few guys that say no, this is not safe. (The Titans) haven’t done anything all (last) week (as far as) physical activity.

“So I see both sides of the spectrum. I see what’s going on. All I can do is personally speak for myself and say, we’re doing everything we can do to prepare for this game. We just want to play.”

The Bills have gotten off to their first 4-0 start to a season since 2008 led by a fantastic offense churning behind the play of third-year quarterback Josh Allen. With a win on Sunday the Bills would capture their first 5-0 start since 1991.

Buffalo has played the Titans in each of the last two seasons, coming away with wins in closely-contested games. Allen has thrown for 301 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in those games. But the Allen the Titans face on Tuesday is a much different player than the one they faced last in 2019.

“The quarterback is playing at an elite level. Josh has got a huge arm, he’s athletic, he’s durable,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said last week. “They run him and he’s gaining yards when he runs. The thing that’s really stood out the most this year has been his accuracy. They’re scoring a lot of points.”

Vrabel credited Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll for the Bills' hot start. Buffalo went into Week 5 ranked fifth in the NFL in scoring (30.8 points per game) and boasted the league’s no. 2 passing offense at 316.3 yards per contest.

One of the key matchups for the Bills in the game will be Allen’s top target, receiver Stefon Diggs vs. Titans cornerback Malcolm Butler. In Week 3 against the Minnesota Vikings, Butler matched up against rookie receiver Justin Jefferson and didn’t have a very good day. The LSU standout posted a career-high 7 receptions for 175 yards and a touchdown.

Diggs has been just as good as advertised in his first four games in a Bills uniform. He led the NFL heading into Week 5 in receiving with 403 yards. Vrabel said the Bills present problems with their speed at the receiver position.

When the Titans have the ball, one of the main focuses for the Bills defense will be containing Tennessee running back Derrick Henry. Last season Buffalo held Henry to just 78 yards on 20 carries, and just 56 yards on 11 carries in 2018. It’s been an up-and-down year for Buffalo’s run defense early on but in Week 4 the Bills shut down Raiders back Josh Jacobs to the tune of 48 yards on 15 carries.

The Titans don’t commit turnovers and their defense has taken the ball away early this season. With a +5 turnover rate on the season the Bills are going to have to protect the football and make more takeaway plays on defense. Cornerback Josh Norman made a splash in his debut last week with a forced fumble that led to the game-winning score in the second half.

Tre’Davious White didn’t practice at all last week while he dealt with a back injury and if he isn’t able to play it would be a big blow for the Bills' defense. Titans receiver A.J. Brown is expected to return to the lineup after missing the last few games.

In terms of players that will miss the game the Bills won’t have star linebacker Matt Milano, who’s week-to-week with a pectoral injury. The Titans currently have seven players on the Reserve/Covid-19 list, including starters defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, receivers Corey Davis and Adam Humphries, cornerback Kristian Fulton, linebacker Kamalei Correa, tight end MyCole Pruitt, and fullback Khari Blasingame.

Bills have listed seven players as questionable for the game.

BILLS vs TITANS

Kickoff: 7 p.m. (ET) on Tuesday at Nissan Stadium

TV: CBS (Ch. 4 in Buffalo, Ch. 8 in Rochester, Ch. 5 in Syracuse)

RADIO: WGR 550 AM (Buffalo), WROC 950 AM (Rochester), 106.5 FM (Syracuse)

Line: Bills by 3.5 (Over/under at 53), per DraftKings

PREDICTIONS

Under the circumstances it’s difficult to think the Titans are going to have the manpower and the conditioning to hang with the Bills in this one. Sean McDermott has had extra time to prepare for a Titans team that’ll be missing a few of their weapons and the defense seemed to start to click against the Raiders. I expect Allen to spread the ball around once again and the Titans defense, which is allowing more than 400 yards a game, to struggle to contain the Bills offense.

Bills 31, Titans 21

The Bills and Titans have played some tight games over the past few years and it continues on Tuesday night. For Buffalo, it’s all about attacking Tennessee where they are short handed. Without Adoree Jackson and Kristian Fulton, that means attacking the team through the air. Getting the ball to Stefon Diggs and company should be priority one. Defensively, gap integrity will be huge for Buffalo facing off against Derrick Henry, one of the NFL’s best RBs. Slowing down Jonnu Smith without Matt Milano will also present some challenges. Even without some key pieces on both sides of the ball, the Titans put up a fight but Buffalo does enough to move to 5-0. - Ryan Talbot

Bills 27, Titans 24