ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — It didn’t take long for Amari Cooper to get the hang of Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills’ offense – even when the quarterback changed plays at the line of scrimmage.

Five days after arriving in Buffalo following a trade with Cleveland, Cooper turned his first catch in his Bills debut into a go-ahead touchdown of a 34-10 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

As it turned out, the limited practice time was enough for the 10th-year veteran to get to grips with Buffalo’s extensive playbook. Cooper said he understood his role in adjusting to the line of scrimmage by running an in-route with Allen hitting him open up the middle for a 12-yard TD, putting Buffalo ahead 14-10 on the opening possession of the second half.

“We had a built-in alert about the play based on whether we got a specific look,” said Cooper, who gestured to fellow receiver Keon Coleman to confirm the play. “We got the look we wanted, we checked it and it worked just like in practice.”

Cooper finished with four catches for 66 yards on 18 offensive snaps. And his presence alone played a role in opening up space for Buffalo’s other receivers who had previously struggled to get open.

“Anytime you have a player of his caliber he demands extra attention. If you don’t, we’ll probably throw him the ball,” Allen said of Cooper. “But our guys did a good job of getting open and making plays.”

Coleman became Buffalo’s first receiver this season to reach 100 yards with 125 on four catches.

Allen celebrated his 100th career start with his 26th 300-yard performance while finishing 21 of 33 for 323 yards and two touchdowns. He improved to 68-32 as a starter and matched four players — Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers — for the sixth-most wins in a quarterback’s first 100 starts.

Allen overcame a slow first half in which he went 4 of 11 for 65 yards, and also completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Ty Johnson. James Cook and Ray Davis capped the rout with touchdown runs in a performance that saw the AFC East-leading Bills (5-2) overcome a 10-0 deficit.

The Titans continued their free fall, falling to 1-5 – their worst start to the season since opening 2015 at 1-6. And a change in quarterback didn’t help an offense that over the weekend ranked as the worst in the NFL in numerous categories, including scoring. For the fifth time this season they have failed to reach the top 17.

Backup Mason Rudolph got the start while Will Levis was dealing with an injury to his right throwing shoulder.

In mentioning Levis from week to week, coach Brian Callahan said he made the decision to go with Rudolph after practice on Friday.

“The injury is real. He tried to fight through it. I appreciate the toughness and willingness,” Callahan said.

As for the loss, Callahan said it reflected an offense that has struggled to score in the second half for much of the season.

“We went backwards in attack. We had penalties, we had a million problems, quarterback hits, all that stuff. Not good enough,” Callahan said. “We didn’t do well enough in the second half to do anything worthwhile. It’s frustrating. I have to find an answer.”

The Titans started strong with Rudolph’s four-yard TD pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Nick Folk’s 25-yard field goal giving them a 10-0 lead before being shut out on their final eight drives.

Rudolph finished 25 of 40 for 215 yards with a touchdown, interception and lost fumble.

Buffalo blew the game open by scoring three touchdowns and two field goals on its five possessions in the second half.

The game turned in the opening moments of the second half, as Buffalo’s defense forced the Titans to turn the ball over on downs. On third-and-1 at Buffalo’s 45, Tony Pollard took a direct snap and was stopped for a loss of 1 yard while trying to dive over the middle. On the next play, rookie defensive tackle DeWayne Carter and safety Taylor Rapp combined to stuff Pollard for a three-yard loss.

Cooper scored six plays later.

Cooper’s debut brought new cheers from hometown fans, with “Cooooop!” echoes through the stadium after every catch. In fact, the only thing the 30-year-old failed to bring in was a fall after bobbing Allen’s swing pass down the left sideline, which appeared to bounce off his helmet and nose on third-and-1, to end on Buffalo’s opening possession.

“It seems like a different ‘Coop’ chant every time,” Cooper says of a chant that dates back to his college days in Alabama. “Just grateful, grateful, there was something special about today’s though.”

Injuries,

Titans: OL Jaelyn Duncan, starting in place of Leroy Watson, did not return after injuring his hamstring.

Bills: WR Curtis Samuel was ruled out after hurting his shoulder in the first quarter. …LB Terrel Bernard did not return after hurting his ankle in the third quarter.

Next

Titans: Play at the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Bills: Play at the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl