Remember the Titans? They won in their NFL return

Derrick Henry scored two touchdowns and Malcolm Butler intercepted two passes as the Tennessee Titans returned from a two-week, COVID-19-induced layoff with a 42-16 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday night.

The Titans and Bills were supposed to play on Sunday, but the game was postponed as Tennessee dealt with continued COVID-19 concerns. The Titans’ Oct. 4 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was moved to Oct. 25, and Tennessee still has seven players on reserve/COVID-19.

Since their 31-30 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 27, the Titans had hardly practiced because of 24 positive tests for the coronavirus among players and staff, but they still managed to defeat another unbeaten team on Tuesday.

The 2019 NFL rushing champion, Henry ran for 57 yards on 19 carries – the fewest rushing yards in a game for the former Alabama All-American in exactly one year. On Oct. 13, 2019, Henry had 28 yards on 15 rushing attempts against the Denver Broncos. In the 12 games since, he’d never had fewer than 63 rushing yards and recorded seven 100-yard games, with a high of 211.

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But Henry still accounted for two touchdowns.

Henry scored on a 1-yard plunge as Tennessee took a 14-7 lead with 13:54 left in the first half and swept right for a 9-yard touchdown as the Titans pushed their advantage to 35-16 with 3:57 to play.

Butler made his first two interceptions of the 2020 season and lifted his career total to 15.

The former West Alabama standout picked off a pass by Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen on the third snap of the game, and a 29-yard return allowed Tennessee to start its first possession at the Bills 16-yard line. Titans QB Ryan Tannehill threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver A.J. Brown on the second snap from there.

Butler’s second interception included a tackle-breaking 68-yard return to the Buffalo 12-yard line, setting up another Tannehill touchdown pass as Tennessee took a 28-10 lead with 1:49 left in the third quarter.

Butler also made seven tackles in the game, including one behind the line of scrimmage.

Henry and Butler were among the nine players from Alabama high schools and colleges at the Buffalo-Tennessee game:

· Bills defensive end Mario Addison (Tarrant, Troy) made three tackles, registered a quarterback hit and broke up a pass.

· Titans linebacker Daren Bates (Auburn) played but did not record any stats. Bates came up from the Tennessee practice squad on Tuesday as a COVID-19 replacement

· Rashaan Evans (Auburn High, Alabama) started at inside linebacker for the Titans. Evans led Tennessee with nine tackles.

· Ben Jones (Bibb County) started at center for the Titans.

· Bills linebacker Deon Lacey (Hueytown, West Alabama) played but did not record any stats. Lacey joined Buffalo’s active roster from the Bills’ practice squad on Monday.

· Bills safety Siran Neal (Eufaula, Jacksonville State) played but did not record any stats.

· Bills running back T.J. Yeldon (Daphne, Alabama) ran for 52 yards on seven carries and caught a 22-yard touchdown pass. Yeldon’s TD catch with 10:00 to play was his first score since Oct. 21, 2018, when he caught a six-yard touchdown pass against the Houston Texans for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yeldon played his first four seasons in Jacksonville, where he started 30 of his 51 games, before joining Buffalo as a free agent before the 2019 season. Tuesday night’s game was his ninth appearance for the Bills.

Tennessee has a 4-0 record entering an AFC South contest against the Houston Texans, who visit Nashville at noon CDT Sunday.

Now 4-1, the Bills were scheduled to play the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night. But with Buffalo playing on Tuesday night, that game was rescheduled for Monday, with a 4 p.m. start at Bills Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.

Five NFL regular-season games have been played on a Tuesday. The only one since 1946 occurred on Dec. 28, 2010 – a 24-14 victory for the Minnesota Vikings over the Eagles in Philadelphia. The game was rescheduled because of a snowstorm. In his first NFL start in place of injured Brett Favre, rookie quarterback Joe Webb from UAB completed 17-of-26 passes for 195 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 31 yards and a touchdown on six carries for the Vikings.

Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry runs into the end zone during an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn.AP Photo/Mark Zaleski

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

Buffalo Bills running back T.J. Yeldon holds on to a reception in the end zone during an NFL game against the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn.AP Photo/Mark Zaleski

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