Rob Issa, FISM News
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Two young quarterbacks shined under friendly lights as both home teams dominated last night’s Monday Night Football doubleheader.
Bills 41, Titans 7
Josh Allen threw four touchdown passes and the Buffalo Bills (2-0) routed the Tennessee Titans (0-2) 41-7 in their home opener at Highmark Stadium.
A second-quarter tackle turned into a scary moment for the home team, however. Buffalo cornerback Dane Jackson was making a tackle just before halftime when teammate Tremaine Edmunds inadvertently hit him helmet-to-helmet, causing Jackson’s head to violently go backward, according to a Reuters report.
Jackson was taken off the field by ambulance to Buffalo‘s ECMC Hospital, where he will receive a CT scan and an X-ray, the team said. He is being evaluated for a neck injury but has full movement in his extremities, the Bills said.
The 25-year-old is in his third season with the Bills after being selected in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Bills, the preseason favorites to win the Super Bowl, opened the season with a convincing 31-10 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams on the road.
They’ll visit the unbeaten Miami Dolphins (2-0) on Sunday.
“When you can play a game like that, it doesn’t matter who it’s against. That’s a good team that we played,” Allen said after the win over Tennessee. “For us to go do that was great. But we turn our attention toward the Dolphins. We’ll learn from it and turn the page and look forward to Miami next week.”
The Titans, who finished with the No. 1 seed in the AFC last year, are 0-2. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill ended the game on the sideline, replaced by rookie Malik Willis. Tannehill’s final pass was picked by Matt Milano and returned 43 yards for a touchdown.
“This one’s tough to swallow,” said Tannehill, who was 11-of-20 passing for 117 yards with two picks. “But you can’t sit around and have the woe-is-me attitude. You have to be able to turn the page and get some things fixed.”
Star running back Derrick Henry ran for only 25 yards on 13 carries as the Titans were outplayed in every facet of the game.
“They outcoached us. They outplayed us,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said.
The game was already out of reach by the time Vikings-Eagles kicked off at Lincoln Financial Field.
Eagles 24, Vikings 7
Jalen Hurts had an exceptional first half, tossing a touchdown pass and running for two more, as Philadelphia’s defense intercepted Kirk Cousins three times en route to a 24-7 victory.
Hurts had his best game as a professional, finishing with 333 yards passing and a completion rate of 83.9 percent.
“We just came out and played very efficient[ly],” Hurts said.
“Last week, I talked about the inconsistencies and the urgency and the communication and the operation. And that starts with me. Obviously we operated at a high level early on in the game. I think that’s something that we have to be able to sustain throughout the whole entire game regardless of the situation. That starts with everybody. I think as a whole, as a team, coming out here and playing on Monday Night Football. … To be able to come out here and perform at a high level as a team, that’s big for us.
The Vikings were coming off a lopsided win over Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in Week 1, but their defense couldn’t stop Hurts and the Eagles in the first half, and the offense was mistake-prone throughout the night.
After a blocked field goal set Minnesota up in excellent field position, Cousins threw an interception. After a pick by Jordan Hicks gave the Vikings the ball inside the red zone, Cousins threw one more interception.
“Disappointing performance. Credit the Eagles,” Cousins said. “I thought they did a good job against us all night long. And now we have to respond in a short week and be a resilient group and get back on track. We need to play better and we will play better up ahead.”
The Vikings aim to get back on track at home against the Detroit Lions (1-1) in Week 3.
“It’s going to be a challenge. We’ll get right back to work as a staff and make sure our guys turn over and get their recovery however we can,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “We have a nice plan for those guys and know that this is our first short week leading into a tough divisional game at home.”
The Eagles visit Washington (1-1) to face Carson Wentz, who led the Eagles to an 11-2 record before he suffered a season-ending injury in 2017 when the franchise won its only Super Bowl title.