Tennessee 41, Buffalo 17
Johnson express steamrolls over Bills
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee running back Chris Johnson had the spoils of victory proudly draped around his neck outside the Titans' locker room after Sunday's game.
It was a Terrell Owens throwback jersey, which the Buffalo Bills receiver agreed Saturday to give Johnson if the Titans beat the Bills.
"I actually didn't see him after the game, but he sent it over here, so a shout-out to T.O.," Johnson said after the Titans' 41-17 victory over the Bills. "Thanks for that."
Apparently it was great motivation, because Johnson was even more spectacular than usual in spelling the Bills' doom.
The second-year speedster rushed for 132 yards, caught 100 yards in passes and scored two touchdowns. He became the first player from the Titans organization to gain 100 yards both rushing and receiving in 49 years.
"He's a great all-around talent," Bills safety George Wilson said. "There's a reason why he's the No. 1 back in the league, and he showed it again today."
The Bills had no weapon close to matching the Titans' back, who leads the NFL with 1,091 rushing yards in just nine games.
The Bills hung with the Titans for three quarters but were outscored, 24-0, in the fourth. Two of the Titans' touchdowns came on interception returns in the final three minutes.
The loss dropped the Bills to 3-6 in a season that seems headed toward a miserable end.
Bills quarterback Trent Edwards played a good first half, but the offense sputtered as the game wore on. Edwards was yanked in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick after throwing a pick-six to Titans safety Vincent Fuller with 2:54 left. That made the score 34-17.
Bills coach Dick Jauron would not commit to keeping Edwards at QB quarterback next week.
Asked to assess Edwards' play, Jauron said:
"There was some good, obviously, but some things we missed. That's why in the last series or the last few minutes we decided to get Ryan out there."
Edwards, returning after a two-game concussion-induced break, was 18 of 28 for 185 yards. He directed three scoring drives.
The Bills' offense gained 296 yards, a total surpassed this season only by its Week Two output in a win over Tampa Bay.
However, it was still the seventh straight game of fewer than 300 yards of offense, the first time that has happened in one season to the Bills since 1968, when they were 1-13. The Bills have gone 14 straight games without passing for more than 225 yards.
On Edwards' last series, he misfired too high and too inside on consecutive throws for Terrell Owens before throwing into double coverage on Fuller's pickoff.
"I missed a couple throws there, and that's the situation we were in," Edwards said. "[Jauron] wanted to make a change. That's up to him, that's his decision."
Whether the head coach can hang onto his job till the end of the season also remains uncertain. He is 5-14 in his last 19 games. The Bills continued a disturbing trend of caving late in the game. They have been outscored, 101-40, in the fourth quarter this year.
"We played hard again, not smart all the time, and made a few too many errors," Jauron said.
Audio slide show: Mark Gaughan's postgame analysis
Jauron second-guessed himself for one fourth-quarter decision — declining a 10-yard holding penalty that would have given the Titans a third-and-16 situation from the Buffalo 39. The score was 24-17 with 3:23 left. The Bills instead let the Titans try a 51-yard field goal, which Rob Bironas nailed to make it a 10-point margin.
"It was right at the edge of his range, and I wanted the ball back," Jauron said. "We hadn't been real successful [defending] in long-yardage situations. I thought they had a good chance of getting 10 [yards] anyway on a [third] down play. But it turns out I should have taken that penalty."
The way Johnson was playing, however, one could understand Jauron's reluctance to give him another crack at a big gainer.
Johnson's 4.24-second speed in the 40-yard dash makes him the fastest back in the NFL. He flashed it all over the field. Three plays before Jauron's decision to decline, the Titans threw an innocent flare pass to Johnson on a third-and-14 at the Buffalo 48. Johnson was 12 yards from the first-down marker when he made the catch but he beat four defenders on the way to a 15-yard gain.
"That was just a great effort," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said.
"Your pursuit has to be huge because the first guy can miss the tackle," Bills linebacker Bryan Scott said. "You're busting your tail to get over there, and the next thing you know he's cutting it back."
Titans quarterback Vince Young gave the Bills fits, too. He scrambled five times for 29 yards. He hit 17 of 25 passes for 210 yards with one TD and one interception.
Young won his third straight start and improved his career record to 21-11.
"The defense has got to choose," Johnson said. "Do they want to stop [No.] 10 or do they want to stop [No.] 28? That is what me and Vince say every day. Whichever one you choose to stop, the other one is going to have a good day."
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