Maybe the Buffalo Bills had a Monday morning bloodwork appointment.
A week after the Bills showed how much they believe in their “everybody eats” offense, too many of them fasted Sunday night in M&T Bank Stadium.
Even when the Baltimore Ravens tried to force-feed their guests to wellness early in the second half, the Bills wouldn’t bite in a 35-10 defeat.
The peckish Ravens proved ravenous from the jump and by the end of the game were picking at whatever was left of the Bills’ carcass. Derrick Henry set a club record, running 87 yards for a touchdown on their first snap. Deep into the fourth quarter, with Josh Allen long chased from the game, the only unsolved mystery was whether Henry would surpass 200 yards on a Bills defense that entered Week 4 looking next-man-up invincible but now has fans wondering who GM Brandon Beane might have on speed dial.
The Bills yakked all over their cleats. A sequence of Ravens gaffes provided ample opportunity to rally right before halftime and throughout the third quarter, but a failed trick play — farcical in its timing and execution — took away the Bills’ pride. For good measure, Tyler Bass missed a 48-yard field goal to open the fourth quarter.
A week after Bills fans were aglow with Allen’s ability to serve 10 different targets in barely two quarters against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had as many under-pressure throwaways (four) as attempts to Keon Coleman and more than he made to James Cook (one), Curtis Samuel (one) and Dawson Knox (one).
Feast or famine, do or diet, these Bills have much to think about before visiting old friend Stefon Diggs and the Houston Texans next Sunday.
“We have to come out and be ready to play earlier,” Bills linebacker Baylon Spector said. “They had our numbers tonight, and they came out and out-physicalled us and dominated on the line of scrimmage. That is one of our goals each and every week, to come out and be physical, and they came out and got on us.”
An hour after kickoff, the Bills were having their lunch eaten on both sides of the ball and trailed 21-3 with 7:43 left in the second quarter. I texted a friend: “Here’s where Josh Allen decides to do it all himself, commits three turnovers and hurts his elbow.”
Allen didn’t give the ball away three times, yet he was far from flawless. As Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton said of cornerbacks Brandon Stephens and Nate Wiggins: “They dropped some money today.” Coleman also dropped a pass, a perfectly placed bomb down the left sideline that would have gained 34 yards and put Buffalo 14 yards away from the goal line 60 seconds before intermission. The Bills instead ended up with zero points and trudged to their locker room down 21-3. Coleman’s drop looked like Diggs’ long whiff against the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs, the ball going through his arms.
Dropping a perfectly placed ball was emblematic of the Bills’ performance against the Ravens. (Geoff Burke / Imagn Images)
But the moment that symbolized Buffalo’s anemic evening was that bilious gadget play. Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady doesn’t have a history of hocus-pocus. What transpired with 6:29 remaining in the third quarter should cure him of any more temptation for a while.
Down just 11 points, Samuel, thrower of zero passes in the NFL or at Ohio State, took a shotgun snap on second-and-7 from the Ravens’ 44-yard line. Allen was lined up to Samuel’s left. Samuel pitched the ball to him poorly, putting Allen under even more duress as he wound up to heave. Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy hit Allen’s arm, forcing a fumble. Defensive end Travis Jones crushed Allen on the spot.
The dust settled to find Hamilton had recovered the ball, Allen prostrate and tight end Dalton Kincaid also on the ground while M&T Stadium went bonkers. Allen and Kincaid didn’t miss any plays, but the absurdity of the scene was unmistakable.
“It was a trick play, kind of like the last fight they had,” Hamilton said. “We ended up getting a big play, and our offense went down and scored after that. Kind of put out that fire.”
Allen’s best play was about as low-percentage as they get. Scrambling to his right and within a yard of the sideline, he spotted Khalil Shakir, who had gotten behind the Ravens’ secondary, for a 52-yard pickup three minutes into the third quarter to set up Buffalo’s lone touchdown. As scintillating as the hookup was, it was symptomatic of a problem.
“Josh was moving off the spot quite a bit tonight,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “He made some great plays doing that, but then it’s just not the healthiest way to live back there.”
The Ravens sacked Allen three times and recorded eight QB hits.
Last Monday, Highmark Stadium erupted in several “M-V-P!” chants for Allen, but those sweet letters echoed for two-time honoree Lamar Jackson on Sunday night. Jackson was a modest 13 of 18 for 156 yards, but he threw for two TDs. He ran six times for 54 yards and a touchdown. The Bills sacked Jackson once and hit him just three times.
Baltimore offensive coordinator Todd Monken made Buffalo’s defense look like many feared it would a couple of weeks ago upon losing linebacker Terrel Bernard and nickelback Taron Johnson.
Buffalo’s top four tacklers entering Sunday started two combined games last year, and both were by sophomore linebacker Dorian Williams. The other three — nickelback Cam Lewis, safety Damar Hamlin and Spector — weren’t expected in training camp to become starters, but injuries moved them up the depth chart.
Bills safety Taylor Rapp suffered a concussion while tackling Henry early in the second quarter and didn’t return. Second-round rookie Cole Bishop replaced him and finished with six tackles.
Henry’s stat line should have been better, but he fumbled at the goal line. That mistake also went Baltimore’s way, with fullback Patrick Ricard pouncing on it for a touchdown with 11:23 left. The game ostensibly was over. McDermott gave Allen one more series before inserting backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky with 7:17 remaining.
“It’s an hour plane ride home,” McDermott said. “I wish it was a five-hour plane ride because I’d have enough time to find all the things we need to work on. It just wasn’t up to our standard tonight. I say that in the way of we have to do things better fundamentally, execution-wise. It’s not just one position. It’s we — as a collective, as a team — have to fundamentally do a better job and physically do a better job.”
Sunday night was the first of three straight games away from Buffalo. The Bills will have played four road games in five weeks and five road games in seven weeks.
No home cooking for a while. The Bills had better find a better recipe than the one they used for Baltimore.