Top 5 storylines to follow for Bills vs. Titans | Week 7 

The Bills are back at home to take on the Titans after three straight weeks on the road. The game will be played at 1 pm on CBS.

Here are 5 things to follow this week heading into Sunday's game.

👨‍🍳1. Adding Amari Cooper into the mix

General manager Brandon Beane made a move on Tuesday that adds more fire power to Buffalo's offense in the 11 remaining regular season games. The Bills agreed to terms on a trade with the Cleveland Browns to acquire wide receiver Amari Cooper and a 2025 sixth round pick in exchange for a 2025 third round pick and a 2026 seventh round pick.

The WR is a five-time Pro Bowler and has had seven seasons with at least 1,000 receiving yards. Cooper had 1,250 receiving yards and five touchdowns for Cleveland in 2023. To start this season, the 10-year veteran has 24 catches, 250 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Offensive coordinator Joe Brady thinks Cooper is great when it comes to creating separation. Brady said he wants to blend Cooper's skillset to improve the offense as a whole.

"The things that we're looking at is, 'Hey, what is he elite at? What can he do? And how can that kind of fit into what we do?" Brady said. "…I'm excited to be able to kind of work with him and see what it can bring our offense."

Cooper has been through a midseason trade before. The Raiders traded Cooper to the Cowboys after Week 6 of the 2018 season. The WR played in nine games for Dallas that season and had 53 receptions, 725 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

Brady believes a move like this will benefit his receivers and quarterback.

"It's going to help Josh (Allen), it's going to help Khalil (Shakir), it's going to help Keon (Coleman), Mack (Hollins) and Curtis (Samuel)," Brady said. "It's another wide receiver that is out on the field that teams have to worry about…it's a talented guy that is going to help us win football games, and I think that opens up opportunities for other guys as well."

In terms of what his role might look like or what his involvement will be on Sunday, Buffalo's OC said we will have to wait and see.

"Everything's so fresh and so new, and we'll see," Brady said. "I'd like to be able to give you a better answer than that, but I really haven't even met him yet."

👍2. Josh Allen set to make his 100^th NFL start

Week 7 marks Bills quarterback Josh Allen's 100^th career start. In seven seasons, Allen has a 67-32 record and has had an incredible impact on the Buffalo Bills and Western New York. Head coach Sean McDermott says it's been a joy to watch Allen grow as a QB.

"I think back to his first start in 2018, and how far he's come over the years," McDermott said. "There's always highs and lows in everyone's career, but you learn from it. It's just been a real joy to watch him make a mark on this community, this team, this organization, and really Bills fans, NFL fans, for that matter, across the world."

Allen has led his team to four straight AFC East titles. The QB has also won five playoff games since being drafted by the Bills in 2018. Allen shines in the postseason. He has the second most total touchdowns of all quarterbacks in the last five postseasons (2019-2023) with 27. He also ranks top three during that span in rushing touchdowns (5, tied for 1^st), passing yards (2,723, 2^nd), passer rating (100, 5^th min. 5 games) and completions of at least 20 yards (34, 2^nd).

Last week, Allen passed Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (231) for most total touchdowns by a player in their first seven seasons with 234. Allen also has the most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (56) in their first seven seasons.

The Bills QB has also broken many other records and led the NFL in several categories since he was drafted by Buffalo with the seventh overall pick in 2018. Here are some of the best highlights.

• 2023: First QB in NFL history to have 40+ offensive touchdowns in four straight seasons. Also led the NFL in total touchdowns (44) and offensive yards (4,830).
• 2022: At the helm for the NFL's first 'perfect game' where the Bills scored a touchdown on every drive vs. New England in the Wild Card round. Allen became the first player in NFL history with five passing touchdowns, an 80% completion percentage and at least 50 rushing yards in a game.
• 2020: Set single season franchise records for Bills with passing touchdowns (37), total touchdowns (46), passer rating (107.2), completion percentage (69.2), passing yards (4,544), 300-yard games (8) and completions (396)

📈📉3. Tennessee – strong on defense, finding themselves on offense

The Titans are 1-4 to start the season as their offense has been struggling in the passing game. Tennessee is averaging 135 passing yards per game, which ranks second worst in the NFL.

They've also struggled to score on their drives doing it just 30.5% of the time (26^th) and are averaging only 19.2 points per game (21^st). Second-year quarterback Will Levis has thrown for just 699 passing yards (2^nd lowest), has seven interceptions (lowest) and a 70.7 passer rating (lowest). The bright spot on offense has been their run game as they're averaging 118.2 rushing yards per game (15^th).

While the Titans are working through a tough start on offense, their defense has been one of the best in the league. Tennessee has the best defense in the NFL allowing just 248.8 total yards per game (1^st) and 137 passing yards per game (1^st). They're also allowing a completion percentage of only 58.7% (3^rd), a 31.8% conversion rate on third downs (5^th) and allowing touchdowns in the red zone just 40% of the time (4^th).

It'll be the fifth straight week that Buffalo is facing a top 10 defense. The Jets were the second-best defense when the Bills faced them last week.

"We got the best defense in the NFL coming into our house, and we're on a short week," offensive coordinator Joe Brady said. "We got to be ready to go. It's not easy. But these are the weeks you just got to trust your players and just rely on not having to make it anything different than it needs to be. Trusting that whether they're the number one team or the 32nd team, we got to take care of we can control."

💪4. Getting closer to full strength

The Bills are getting closer to full strength on defense after nickel cornerback Taron Johnson and safety Taylor Rapp returned to the lineup in Week 6. Johnson had missed the last four games due to a forearm injury and Rapp missed Week 5 due to a concussion.

Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said without those two, the Bills missed some of their leadership.

"Not having those two out there definitely takes a little bite out of that leadership communication," Babich said. "Being on the same page and having them out there was great."

The two made an impact from the start showcasing why the Bills love having them in the lineup. Rapp led the way with a few important pass breakups and saved a touchdown from happening, which would have given the Jets the lead in the third quarter. Johnson had a big-time interception on 3^rd down with just minutes to go that allowed Buffalo's offense to finish out the game with the ball in their hands.

"He wants to prove to everybody that, he is the best nickel," Babich said of Johnson. "This is his perspective, that he is the best nickel on the planet Earth. He goes about his business that way…he wants to be a reason why we win."

Buffalo was without defensive tackle Ed Oliver in Week 6 due to a hamstring injury. Head coach Sean McDermott said he hopes Oliver will be ready to go for Week 7. Edge rusher Von Miller still has two games left on his suspension.

"I think every defense in the NFL wants to be in full strength," Babich said. "So, we're obviously ready for whenever they come back…they do give you a jolt."

🏠5. First home game in almost a month

Buffalo is back at home after spending nearly a month on the road. Their last game in Orchard Park was against the Jaguars on Monday, September 23. The three-game road stretch marked the first time in head coach Sean McDermott's career that the Bills had three away games in a row. Buffalo has an NFL-best record of 16-3 at home since 2022.

The Bills also haven't had a home 1:00 PM game since their home opener in Week 1. Buffalo has just back-to-back home games twice this season, one of which is separated by the bye week. Those two straight home games will come in Week 16 vs. Patriots and Week 17 vs. Jets.

It's definitely fitting that Josh Allen gets to celebrate his 100^th career start in front of his favorite fans.