Buffalo's preseason debut put the team's no huddle approach on full display as the offense made heavy use of the hurry up pace that has dominated training camp practices. Though the Bills wound up on the short end of the scoreboard Sunday night losing 21-18, head coach Dick Jauron and his offensive staff made it obvious that they want to see what kind of potential the no huddle attack really has.
"The no huddle looked good at times and looked poor at times," said Jauron. "We'll certainly get better at it too. We would like to keep moving, but for the first night I was pleased. I don't recall that we had an illegal procedure or a delay of game."
"(The rhythm) is just what we are trying to find right now in the preseason," said Edwards. "We have five preseason games to find that rhythm so Week 1 we'll be ready to go."
Starters
On the first offensive series the Bills huddled on the first play and went no huddle after that. Trent Edwards moved the team effectively out of the no huddle look. He also got Terrell Owens involved early as the veteran receiver had a pair of receptions, both of which went for first down yardage (16, 11 yards).
"I felt good," said Owens. "We've been practicing hard, so with our no huddle offense I feel like I'm in shape as well as a lot of the other guys. We were just trying to get some things accomplished on the offensive side of the ball."
Edwards kept the drive going when he scrambled from the pocket to convert a 3rd-and-3 at the Titans 36 gaining eight yards.
However, after Fred Jackson picked up a yard to set up 2nd-and-9, Edwards threw a pass intended for Lee Evans at the Titans seven, but with pressure coming up the middle, the pass appeared a bit high and was intercepted by safety Michael Griffin ending the drive.
"We had it going on that first drive," said Edwards. "We were throwing the ball around a little bit. We just can't turn the ball over and that's the bottom line."
The offensive line played a second series with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback, Fred Jackson at running back and Terrell Owens and Lee Evans on the bench, but that possession went three-and-out.
The Bills number one defensive unit fared well on their first series getting a stop on the seventh play of the drive thanks to a quarterback pressure by Kyle Williams which led to an incompletion.
Paul Posluszny had a strong first series with a tackle for loss on Chris Johnson and a pass breakup, which he almost intercepted.
The defense's second series proved a bit more difficult with Tennessee driving 73 yards on 11 plays and Lendale White pounding out the final yards with a three-yard touchdown run.
Leodis McKelvin however, made a few plays on the drive including a couple of good tackles when he came up to support the run. His sharp play spilled over into the next series when a quarterback pressure by Ryan Denney led to a pop fly pass by Tennessee's Vince Young. McKelvin ran under it for the interception.
"It was the play that needed to be made for the defense for us to try to get some excitement on the sideline," said McKelvin.
Notable playOther noteworthy plays turned in on the defensive side of the ball on the night were a quarterback pressure by Marcus Stroud and a tackle for loss by Bryan Scott on back-to-back plays.
Ashlee Palmer pressured Vince Young when he tried to roll out forcing an incompletion, and also had a nice tackle in kick coverage on the returner Jason McCourty.
Chris Ellis had a touchdown saving tackle on Titans running back Chris Henry, and led the team with six total tackles.
Linebacker Nic Harris made a couple of nice plays and looked smooth in his pass drops.
Alvin Bowen made a tackle for loss on a pass from Patrick Ramsey to Javon Ringer.
Reggie Corner made a big play in the fourth quarter with a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown to pull Buffalo to within five (21-16) with just over nine and a half minutes remaining.
For the second-year cornerback it was a special play having done it in the stadium where he used to play high school games.
"It feels really good to get the opportunity to come back here, not just
to play in the stadium, but just to run around and play against some different people," said Corner. "This whole camp me and Leodis we've been doing things like that. We definitely worked together as one and you definitely saw the chemistry come together. We took a loss, but we definitely played pretty good in the secondary I feel."
Defensive tackle Derrick Jones, who was just signed on Thursday had a sack and force fumble on Patrick Ramsey to get the ball back for Buffalo with just over five minutes remaining.
Running back Xavier Omon had a strong night as he carried most of the load on Buffalo's third possession in the game.
He was instrumental in getting the ball down to the Tennessee five-yard line as the Bills faced a 3rd-and-2, but he was stopped for no gain on third down. And when Buffalo went for it on fourth-and-goal Ryan Fitzpatrick's pass fell incomplete.
He finished with 11 carries for 36 yards and also had three receptions.
First-round pick Eric Wood looked good strength-wise as he held his ground inside. Demetrius Bell got a ton of work as he manned the right tackle position into the second half.
Felton Huggins was busy with five catches on the night.
Gibran Hamdan had a high completion percentage going 11-13 for 89 yards in the game.
Tight end Jonathan Stupar made a contribution with four catches for 35 yards.
Rian Lindell looked to be in midseason form. He had a pair of first half field goals with his long coming from 47 yards at the close of the second quarter and then he booted a 52-yarder in the third quarter.
WatchingAmong the players that did not appear in the game were Steve Johnson, Dominic Rhodes and Ashton Youboty.
Rhodes has a sore knee that flared up prior to the game.
"We thought he would play," said Jauron. "He was going to play on offense and he was scheduled to return our kicks and our punts early in the game. We ran him on the field early in the game and it just didn't make sense to put him out there. He didn't feel comfortable with it and if he didn't feel comfortable we didn't.
Injured in the game was Demetrius Bell who had what Jauron called a tweaked shoulder. Linebacker Ashlee Palmer also left the game with an undisclosed injury.
The Bills have Monday off before resuming training camp practice on Tuesday night.
