NASHVILLE – Tragedy has once again struck in Brain Daboll’s family.
The Buffalo Bills’ offensive coordinator coached Monday night against the Tennessee Titans with a heavy heart following the death of his grandfather, Christian Kirsten, on Sunday at the age of 95. The Bills suffered a 34-31 loss at Nissan Stadium.
Kirsten’s death comes less than a month after his wife of 68 years, Ruth, passed away Sept. 22. Together, they took Daboll in shortly after he was born and raised him together in their West Seneca home.
The Bills rallied around Daboll after the death of his grandmother, with offensive players dedicating their performance in a Week 3 win over Washington to their coach. The community also responded, sending condolence cards to Daboll at One Bills Drive -- a gesture that seemed to genuinely move the coach.
"Unfortunate news," Bills coach Sean McDermott said after Monday night's game. "You know, Brian's been through a lot over the last two or three weeks here, so our prayers and thoughts are obviously with him and his family. You never want to see someone go through that. It's just unfortunate.
After his grandmother’s death, Daboll spoke about the relationship his grandparents had.
“She was awesome,” he said. “She was tough. Loving. Loyal. Family oriented. She’d tell it like it is, no question about that. Never wanted to sugarcoat things. Made me into the man that I am today, along with my grandfather. She’d ride him pretty good. He’s at the house right now, so I don’t know if he knows exactly what he has to do, because he’s missing her riding him a little bit.”
Chris Kirsten worked most of his adult life as a groundskeeper at West Seneca West. The couple owned a farm on East and West Road before moving off of Mill Road.
“Just two hardworking individuals,” Daboll said. “Grinders. Tough. Instilled a lot in me that I’m very thankful for.”
Once again, the Bills’ offense turned in an inspired performance. This time, however, it came up short. Quarterback Josh Allen finished 35 of 47 for 353 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Allen, though, came up a couple inches short in the end. Facing fourth and inches from the Titans’ 3-yard line with 22 seconds left, Allen attempted a quarterback keeper, but left tackle Dion Dawkins wasn’t able to get enough of Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, who stopped Allen for no gain.
"I mean, felt good about our chances," McDermott said. "Had a chance to win the game right there."
Allen said after the game that he didn't have the best footing on the play, which led to him not being able to drive forward for the necessary yardage.
"We all we all thought was a great call," center Mitch Morse said. "It just didn't end up the way we wanted it to. It was just a tough deal. I thought it was a good call. And we just didn't execute well enough. And they did. And that's why the outcome is, what it is now. So kudos to them and we have a lot of looking inwards. I know I do in this game so work from there and go forward with that. This will be a tough one. It's a tough one to kind of swallow but we'll we'll get the corrections as tough as they may be, and go from there."
2. The Bills shuffled their defensive line. Going up against Titans star running back Derrick Henry meant using a heavier lineup, so the Bills made second-year defensive end A.J. Epenesa inactive. Epenesa, 23, had a breakout game in Week 2 against Miami, registering eight pressures, according to analytics website Pro Football Focus. Since that time, however, Epenesa has registered just four combined pressures in the last three games.
Rookie defensive end Boogie Basham was also inactive against the Titans, as was defensive tackle Vernon Butler Jr. The Bills dressed five defensive tackles – Ed Oliver, Star Lotulelei, Harrison Phillips, Justin Zimmer and Efe Obada (who also can play defensive end). McDermott said it was an opportunity to look at some other players.
Henry still got his – rushing for 143 yards and three touchdowns on just 20 carries. That included a 76-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. On the play, Henry reached a top speed of 21.80 mph, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, which is the fastest speed reached by a ball carrier this season and the fastest play of Henry’s career.
3. Matt Milano returned. The veteran linebacker was back in the lineup after sitting out the Week 5 win over Kansas City because of a hamstring injury. Milano did not make it onto the stat sheet in the first half.
Running back Matt Breida was a healthy inactive for the fourth straight game, while rookie offensive tackle Tommy Doyle sat for the fifth time in six weeks.
4. The offensive line stayed the same. The Bills once again started rookie Spencer Brown at right tackle and veteran Daryl Williams at right guard, sticking with the same alignment as last week. The other starters were center Mitch Morse, left guard Jon Feliciano and left tackle Dion Dawkins.
5. Dawson Knox left the game early. The Bills’ tight end had three catches for 25 yards and completed a two-point conversion pass to Allen late in the third quarter, but his night was over shortly after that. It was announced that Knox was questionable to return to the game because of a hand injury before he was ultimately ruled out in the fourth quarter.
6. Stefon Diggs, and his brother, accomplished something rare. Stefon Diggs caught his second touchdown of the season as part of a big game, hooking up with Allen from 14 yards out in the second quarter. It was Diggs’ second touchdown of the season, which matches the total his younger brother, Trevon, has scored for the Dallas Cowboys – as a cornerback. Trevon Diggs had his second pick-six of the season Sunday in Dallas’ victory over New England. It’sthefirst time that a player scored an offensive touchdown while his brother scored a defensive touchdown in the same NFL week since Vernon and Vontae Davis in Week 4 of the 2009 season.
7. The Titans gave Bills fans everywhere flashbacks. Call it Homerun Throwback, Part II. Only this time, there was a flag. Tennessee attempted to partially recreate one of the more famous plays in its franchise history – or infamous, from the Bills’ point of view – when receiver Chester Rogers threw across the field to defensive back Chris Jackson on a punt return. The play had shades of the original “Homerun Throwback,” which came during the teams’ AFC wild-card playoff game on Jan. 8, 2000 – when Titans tight end Franck Wycheck threw across the field to receiver Kevin Dyson, who raced 75 yards down the left sideline for the go-ahead touchdown in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter. Bills fans insist to this day Wycheck should have been flagged for an illegal forward pass, but there was no flag and the Bills suffered perhaps their most heart-breaking loss in franchise history.
Rogers’ throw to Jackson was a bit more obvious of a penalty, and officials correctly threw the flag.
8. There was a scary moment in the second quarter. The game was delayed while Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan was tended to by trainers after being injured on a rushing play. Lewan stayed face down on the field for several minutes while the cart was brought out. The stadium fell nearly silent as Lewan was carefully turned over and loaded onto a gurney, to which he was strapped down. As the cart took Lewan off the field, he was able to flash a “thumbs up” to the crowd. A short time later, the Titans provided an update that Lewan had movement in all of his extremities and was being evaluated for a possible concussion.
Injuries hit the Titans hard in the first half, as rookie cornerback Caleb Farley – Tennessee’s first-round draft pick – was ruled out for the remainder of the game with a knee injury. Additionally, Titans receiver Cameron Batson was hurt late in the second quarter on a kick return.
9. The Bills have a right to be miffed about their schedule. The Bills headed into their bye week after playing Tennessee. Given that they played Monday night, they lost about a day and a half of the usual time they would have off. Buffalo returns to the field at home on Halloween against Miami. Coach Sean McDermott is 4-0 with the Bills coming out of the bye week.
A year ago, the bye week came at both a good – and bad – time for the Bills. Buffalo had to sit for two weeks on the Arizona Cardinals’ shocking “Hail Murray” victory. But the Bills, then 7-3, went on to close the regular season with six consecutive wins and then won two playoff games to reach the AFC Championship Game.
10. The Titans’ Brett Kern missed the game. Kern, a Grand Island native, is on the NFL’s reserve/Covid-19 list. The Titans signed Johnny Townsend to take Kern’s place on the 53-man roster. Kern has punted six times in three games this season for Tennessee, averaging 43.8 net yards.
