AFC Wild Card: Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans (Adelphia Coliseum), the bracket opens here. Kickoff time: 12:32pm. Winner advances to the divisional round. Loser starts the offseason early.
Wild card weekend is the most chaotic football the calendar produces. Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans at Adelphia Coliseum is the kind of game that decides whether a season was a long buildup or a quick exit. These are the games where the second-tier playoff teams have to prove they belong. Most don't. The few who do define the rest of January.
The bracket has narrowed to the teams that survived the regular season. Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans are two of them; the rest of the league is in scouting mode for the offseason. What happens in Adelphia Coliseum shifts the rest of the tree: a road favorite winning rearranges seeding expectations; a home upset shows the bracket math underweights heart.
Buffalo Bills versus Tennessee Titans in the AFC Wild Card. The teams who reach this round have already proven they survive a long schedule; the stats that matter most now are the ones that compress: scoring differential, red-zone efficiency, turnover margin. At this stage of the year, the simple math is that defenses tighten and the team that protects the ball wins more often than the team that scores the most. Whichever side of Buffalo Bills-Tennessee Titans cleans up the careless plays first usually walks out with the result. Conservative-game expectations should not surprise the reader; both staffs know exactly what worked all season and will lean hard on what travels. The early answer is the kicking game, where any swing of field position compounds.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 14-2 | -- |
| Tennessee Titans | 13-3 | -- |
| Baltimore Ravens | 8-8 | -- |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 6-10 | -- |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 4-12 | -- |
| Cleveland Browns | 2-14 | -- |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis Colts | 13-3 | -- |
| Buffalo Bills | 11-5 | -- |
| Miami Dolphins | 9-7 | -- |
| New England Patriots | 8-8 | -- |
| New York Jets | 8-8 | -- |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Chiefs | 9-7 | -- |
| Seattle Seahawks | 9-7 | -- |
| Oakland Raiders | 8-8 | -- |
| San Diego Chargers | 8-8 | -- |
| Denver Broncos | 6-10 | -- |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Rams | 13-3 | -- |
| Carolina Panthers | 8-8 | -- |
| Atlanta Falcons | 5-11 | -- |
| San Francisco 49ers | 4-12 | -- |
| New Orleans Saints | 3-13 | -- |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 11-5 | -- |
| Minnesota Vikings | 10-6 | -- |
| Detroit Lions | 8-8 | -- |
| Green Bay Packers | 8-8 | -- |
| Chicago Bears | 6-10 | -- |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Redskins | 10-6 | -- |
| Dallas Cowboys | 8-8 | -- |
| New York Giants | 7-9 | -- |
| Arizona Cardinals | 6-10 | -- |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 5-11 | -- |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 0071616 |
| Tennessee Titans | 0 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 012122222 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| No scoring this quarter. | ||
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Titans | Safety, Kearse sacked Johnson in end zone | 0-2 |
| Titans | Steve McNair 1 yard rush ( Al Del Greco kick) | 0-9 |
| Titans | Al Del Greco 40 yard field goal | 0-12 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Bills | Antowain Smith 4 yard rush ( Steve Christie kick) | 7-12 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Bills | Antowain Smith 1 yard rush (pass failed) | 13-12 |
| Titans | Al Del Greco 36 yard field goal | 13-15 |
| Bills | Steve Christie 41 yard field goal | 16-15 |
| Titans | Kevin Dyson 75 yard kickoff return ( Al Del Greco kick) | 16-22 |
| Bills | Titans | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 13 | 16 |
| Total Yards | 219 | 194 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 2 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 10/22 | 13/24 |
| Pass yards | 131 | 76 |
| Pass TD | 0 | 0 |
| Interceptions | 0 | 1 |
| Sacks taken | 6 | 3 |
| Sack yards lost | 35 | 21 |
| Net pass yards | 96 | 55 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 27 | 39 |
| Rush yards | 123 | 139 |
| Rush TD | 2 | 1 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 2 | 2 |
| Fumbles lost | 2 | 1 |
| Penalties | 10 | 2 |
| Penalty yards | 59 | 12 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUF | |||||
| Rob Johnson | 10/22 | 131 | 0 | 0 | |
| TEN | |||||
| Steve McNair | 13/24 | 76 | 0 | 1 | |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUF | ||||
| Antowain Smith | 14 | 79 | 2 | 44 |
| Jonathan Linton | 5 | 25 | 0 | 12 |
| Thurman Thomas | 5 | 10 | 0 | 9 |
| Rob Johnson | 3 | 9 | 0 | 4 |
| TEN | ||||
| Eddie George | 29 | 106 | 0 | 9 |
| Steve McNair | 6 | 19 | 1 | 10 |
| Rodney Thomas | 4 | 14 | 0 | 13 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUF | ||||
| Eric Moulds | 3 | 62 | 0 | 37 |
| Peerless Price | 5 | 62 | 0 | 15 |
| Sam Gash | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Bobby Collins | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| TEN | ||||
| Frank Wycheck | 4 | 29 | 0 | 14 |
| Jackie Harris | 4 | 20 | 0 | 10 |
| Chris Sanders | 1 | 11 | 0 | 11 |
| Yancey Thigpen | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Eddie George | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Kevin Dyson | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
Tennessee Titans defeated Buffalo Bills 22-16 at Adelphia Coliseum in the AFC Wild Card. The final scoring play was Titans: Kevin Dyson 75 yard kickoff return ( Al Del Greco kick). Top line of the day: Rob Johnson: 131 pass yards on 10-of-22, 0 TD, 0 INT. Tennessee Titans advance to the divisional round.
Tennessee Titans walked out of Adelphia Coliseum as the team that survived an AFC Wild Card Buffalo Bills will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 22-16. A one-score game throughout. The decisive points came on the fewest possible margin, which is how these matchups usually resolve. The final scoring play came from Titans: Kevin Dyson 75 yard kickoff return ( Al Del Greco kick). Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. Tennessee Titans advance to the divisional round.
Tennessee Titans 22, Buffalo Bills 16. Round: AFC Wild Card. Attendance: 66782. Q2: 3 scoring plays. Q3: 1 scoring play. Q4: 4 scoring plays. Top performers: - Rob Johnson: 131 pass yards on 10-of-22, 0 TD, 0 INT - Eddie George: 106 rush yards on 29 carries - Eric Moulds: 3 catches for 62 yards
AFC Wild Card, played at Adelphia Coliseum. Final: Buffalo Bills 16, Tennessee Titans 22, with Tennessee Titans taking the result by 6. **Second quarter**
- Titans: Safety, Kearse sacked Johnson in end zone - Titans: Steve McNair 1 yard rush ( Al Del Greco kick) - Titans: Al Del Greco 40 yard field goal
**Third quarter**
- Bills: Antowain Smith 4 yard rush ( Steve Christie kick)
**Fourth quarter**
- Bills: Antowain Smith 1 yard rush (pass failed) - Titans: Al Del Greco 36 yard field goal - Bills: Steve Christie 41 yard field goal - Titans: Kevin Dyson 75 yard kickoff return ( Al Del Greco kick)
**Top performers**
- Rob Johnson: 131 pass yards on 10-of-22, 0 TD, 0 INT - Eddie George: 106 rush yards on 29 carries - Eric Moulds: 3 catches for 62 yards