Adding Cooper among reasons Allen looks forward to 100th start, as Bills set to host Titans

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen had many reasons to wear a beaming grin in opening his weekly news conference in advance of the Bills quarterback's 100th start.

Buffalo (4-2) is coming off a win over the New York Jets to snap a two-game skid and expand its AFC East lead. After three straight weeks on the road, the Bills are finally back home to host the Tennessee Titans (1-4) on Sunday.

And Allen’s offense just got a boost with receiver Amari Cooper acquired in a trade with Cleveland on Tuesday.

“It’s been a pretty good couple of days,” said Allen, who has a record of 67-32.

“We all know about the story about where I came from, junior college and no offers and this and that,” Allen said, referring to his modest beginnings at California’s Reedley Community College before landing a scholarship at Wyoming.

“It’s gone by really fast. And it still feels like I’m that same kid that dreamt of playing in the NFL,” he added. “And I get to live out my dream. It’s something I’ll never take for granted.”

Though Buffalo ended a 17-year playoff drought in 2017 in coach Sean McDermott’s first season, Allen’s arrival in 2018 marked a turning point in the Bills' trajectory. They went from mere afterthought to annual contender with five straight playoff appearances and four straight AFC East titles.

Long forgotten are the dark days of the drought, which went back to the “Music City Miracle,” a 22-16 wild-card playoff loss to Tennessee on Jan. 1, 2000. The Titans won on a kickoff return in the final seconds, when Frank Wycheck lateralled to Kevin Dyson, who ran it in from 75 yards.

Though the Titans have made four playoff appearances spanning 2017-2021, the tables have turned with Tennessee experiencing the challenges of transitioning under a new coach, Brian Callahan, and second-year quarterback, Will Levis.

The Titans are 7-22 since a 7-3 start to the 2022 season. Levis is 0-4 in games he starts and finishes this season, and has more interceptions — a league-high seven — than touchdowns (five), while coming off a 20-17 loss to Indianapolis in which he went 16 of 27 for 95 yards.

“I certainly didn’t envision us being in this particular place,” Callahan said. “And we’re going to find out how resilient we are. And that’s all part of it. That’s part of playing quarterback in the NFL.”

Tennessee's offseason addition of Calvin Ridley hasn’t helped, with the receiver limited to nine catches on 27 targets.

“I don’t know off the top of my head,” Levis said of how many his attempts to Ridley were off target on Sunday. “It’s not something that we can point fingers at or whose fault it is. But I can be better. I know he can be better.”

Allen has had to adapt in opening the season with a patchwork group of receivers following the offseason departures of Stefon Diggs and Gab Davis. Though his passing production is down to 193 yards per outing, 48 below his career average entering the year, Allen’s yet to throw an interception and accounts for 13 (10 passing, three rushing) of Buffalo’s 20 TDs.

“You see a night like that where there’s nothing, quote-unquote, sexy about what he did, but, man, he was so efficient,” coordinator Joe Brady said, referring to Buffalo beating the Jets. “At the end of the day, we got Josh Allen as our quarterback. Good things are going to happen.”

Pass defense

The Titans defense ranks first in the NFL against the pass, and has yet to allow more than 200 yards in an outing. On the downside, the Titans' first interception came last week with Amani Hooker picking off Joe Flacco. The Titans have just nine sacks, and getting Allen down quickly isn’t easy.

“He’s one of the best in the league and he’s been consistent at what he’s done,” safety Quandre Diggs said. “And obviously you want to keep him in the pocket, but that’s easier said than done.”

Streak stopped

The Titans’ young offensive line took one big step by not allowing a sack last week. That ended a run of 33 games of giving up at least one sack going back to a win over Buffalo on Oct. 18, 2021.

“We know that there are still a lot of things to fix, and we’re going against another really good front with some guys who want to get after the passer," second-year left guard Peter Skoronski said. “I think we’re confident but not relaxed.”

Kicking issues

The Bills are running out of patience with Tyler Bass' accuracy issues after the kicker missed his third field-goal and second extra-point attempt of the season on Monday. Buffalo signed Lucas Havrisik to its practice squad on Thursday, a day after general manager Brandon Beane put Bass on notice.

“We want nothing more than Tyler to be our guy,” Beane said. “But this is a production business and he knows he's got to make those kicks. ... And if there's a better option that we have to turn to, then we'll do that.”

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AP Pro Football Writer Teresa M. Walker contributed.

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John Wawrow, The Associated Press