Even the Las Vegas oddsmakers thought that last night’s NFL game was going to be a close contest.  They were only giving the Tennessee Titans +3 points; the Buffalo Bills were actually favored.  But, only by three points, and the Over/Under was set at 52.  The outcome threw everyone for a loop.

The Titans Fire On All Cylinders

By halftime, the game was 21-10 Titans, and the Bills were still in the game.  However, in the second half, apart from one touchdown pass to TJ Yeldon, which was followed by a muffed 2-point conversion that had to be discouraging for Buffalo, the Bills just did not show up as Tennessee went on a roll and put up 21 points to the Bills’ 6.

The game featured two of the best running backs in the league, both products of the Nick Saban program at Alabama.   While Derrick Henry seems to prefer to run over defenders, TJ Yeldon dances around defenders.  The results for the two power backs, for this game at least, are almost the same.  The Bills’ Yeldon rushed for 52 yards on 7 attempts.  It took the Titans’ Henry 19 tries to rack up 57 yards, but he rushed for two big touchdowns.

One of the highlights of the game, shown in video clips on sports shows today, was Derrick Henry using a textbook stiff arm on Josh Norman that actually lifted the defensive back off the ground.  At 6’3” and weighing in at 247 pounds, when he gets up to speed, Henry is a force to be reckoned with.

Tannehill Comes Out On Top

But of course, the star of the Titans victory was the unlikely quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, who threw for only 195 completing 21 of 28 passes.  However, Tannehill racked up three touchdowns with no picks in the process.  Impressive, to say the least.

Tannehill was about to be passed over by the NFL.  He never was much to write about while down in Miami.  Potential, sure, but, results, not so much.  In fact, the Dolphins took something like an $18 million-dollar hit just to get rid of the former first round pick.  That’s a lot of money just to say goodbye to your old quarterback.

Professional football, like all other sport, relies a lot on the personalities of the coaches and players to gel and be of one mind, and to be a team and play together.  But sometimes personalities clash, especially when large egos get involved on both sides.  Perhaps that’s what happened with Ryan Tannehill down in Miami.

Whatever it was, the now 31-year-old quarterback left it down in South Florida and reinvented himself when he joined the Titans’ football team.  Obviously, he hit it off with the coaches, who seem to be backing Tannehill 100%.  The result is an undefeated season so far after an impressive win over the previously undefeated Buffalo Bills.

It was just last season when Tannehill replaced Marcus Mariota as quarterback of the Titans.  They went 7-3 his first year while Tannehill quietly scored an outstanding 117.5, which turned out to be the fourth best single season quarterback rating in NFL history.  This past off season Ryan Tannehill was finally rewarded for his efforts with a hefty four year, $118 million contract.  Maybe that´s why he is so happy and playing so well up in Nashville with the Titans.

Tennessee ended up winning the game by the blowout final score 42 to 16, leaving no doubt which one of these two previously undefeated team is the strongest going forward.  With the NFL season altered as it is, the Titans have emerged as one of only four teams remaining undefeated going into week 6 action.  Tennessee joins the elite ranks of Green Bay, Seattle and Pittsburg as the only other undefeated teams in the league.