Derrick Henry scored three touchdowns and defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons stuffed Josh Allen for no gain on a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak with 12 seconds left Monday night as the Tennessee Titans held off the Buffalo Bills 34-31 in Nashville, Tenn.
Henry’s 13-yard scoring run with 3:05 left marked the game’s seventh lead change. An eighth lead change almost happened on Isaiah McKenzie’s 101-yard kickoff return after Henry’s score, but the apparent touchdown was erased by a holding penalty.
Buffalo (4-2) drove to the 3-yard line and turned down an almost cinch field goal that might have forced overtime. Allen tried to sneak off left guard, but Simmons sliced between two linemen and stopped the play.
Allen finished 35 of 47 for 353 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Henry rushed 20 times for 143 yards in his fifth straight 100-yard performance.
Ryan Tannehill completed 18 of 29 passes for 216 yards with an interception for Tennessee (4-2), which won for the fourth time in five games.
Buffalo initiated the scoring with a pair of Tyler Bass field goals. He hit from 24 and 28 yards for a 6-0 lead at the 11:36 mark of the second quarter, capping lengthy drives that saw the Bills fail to convert red zone penetration into touchdowns.
Tennessee effected a lead change on the first play after Bass’ second field goal. Henry ripped off a 76-yard touchdown run to kick off the game’s remainder that featured the teams swapping the lead at a dizzying clip.
Before the quarter ended, Allen found Stefon Diggs and Cole Beasley for touchdown strikes of 14 and 29 yards, while the Titans got a 43-yard field goal from Randy Bullock and a 4-yard scoring run by Tannehill.
Leading 20-17 as the third quarter started, Buffalo got a 52-yard field goal from Bass at the 10:49 mark, but Henry powered in from the 3 with 4:23 remaining in the period.
The Bills grabbed a 31-24 advantage when Allen found Tommy Sweeney for a 1-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left in the quarter.
–Field Level Media