Trying to find a silver lining on a nightmarish Sunday when the Buffalo Bills got embarrassed by the Baltimore Ravens in what was supposed be the headliner game of Week 4 was difficult.
The best that battered quarterback Josh Allen could do was this: “I’m glad this happened early in the season so we can correct things.”
Well, yeah, better in late September than late January, but if the Bills play like they did during their 35-10 beatdown at the heavy hands of the Ravens, there won’t be any football for this team being played in late January, let alone early February
The Bills suffered their worst regular-season loss since Nov. 21, 2021 when they were pummeled at home 41-15 by the Colts. They had not lost a game by more than seven points since that day, but all streaks are meant to end and this one certainly ended with a thud.
“Baltimore came out and they beat us,” coach Sean McDermott conceded. “They outplayed us, they outcoached us, and we’ve got to identify the problems and get them fixed. Winning the line of scrimmage was a challenge for us tonight consistently and if you don’t win the line of scrimmage – and that’s a whole team thing, not just the O-line and D-line, but overall we’ve got to do a better job up front, O-line and D-line and then collectively as a team win the line of scrimmage.”
Here’s how I graded the Bills:
PASS OFFENSE: D
Allen made several terrific plays which is what he is always going to do, but unlike most games where he can single-handedly lift the Bills if they happen to be struggling, he could not do it against this ferocious Ravens defense that simply out-schemed and outplayed the Bills all night.
The lack of a consistent downfield passing game was a problem, something that wasn’t an issue when the Bills were playing with a lead for most of the previous 10 quarters. Allen finished 16 of 29 for 180 yards without a TD, and he lost a fumble on a botched flea-flicker.
Keon Coleman had a terrible drop, though he did bounce back to make two excellent contested catches and finished with three for 51 yards. Khalil Shakir was sharp again and he had the Bills’ biggest gain, a 52-yard catch and run on a play where Allen extended the play brilliantly. Dalton Kincaid had five catches for 47 yards, but like Coleman, he had a key drop that killed the Bills’ first possession.
Up front, as McDermott said, it was a mess as the Ravens front controlled the line leading to three sacks, at least 10 pressures and several QB hits on Allen. This was the first time since 2021 where Allen did not produce a touchdown either running or passing.
RUN OFFENSE: D
James Cook was muted pretty well, mainly because he had very little room to run, but also because he had only nine carries thanks to the Bills falling behind so far, so fast. They couldn’t establish the ground attack and their longest run of the game were a pair of eight-yarders, one by Cook, one by Allen.
The offensive line could not get much push in the run game and there were too many times when the Ravens were able to get penetration, most prominently on the botched flea-flicker as Kyle Van Noy burst through to pressure Curtis Samuel who took a direct snap in the shotgun. With the timing messed up, Samuel barely got the ball to Allen and then Van Noy stayed with the flow and hit Allen as he tried to throw, forcing the fumble that pretty much spelled doom for the Bills.
PASS DEFENSE: C
Lamar Jackson didn’t have to do much and he completed just 13 of 18 passes for 156 yards, but two of those went for touchdowns to Justice Hill and Derrick Henry. The one to Hill made it 21-3 as the Ravens got him matched up with LB Dorian Williams and that was no contest. On the short TD to Henry, Nicholas Morrow was helpless in coverage.
On the outside, the Ravens got nothing against CBs Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford who continued to play at an elite level. The Ravens’ starting WRs, Rashod Bateman and Zay Flowers, combined for two catches for 33 yards while TE Mark Andrews was blanked and TE Isaiah Likely had just one catch for 26 yards.
The Bills did get a sack on Jackson from Baylon Spector which forced a punt, but otherwise there was not nearly enough pressure when he did drop to pass. This was a game where the defensive line was far too quiet. Did you even notice any of the players individually? Greg Rousseau? Ed Oliver? Von Miller? They were all mostly invisible and because of that, the Ravens were able to attack the Bills second level.
RUN DEFENSE: F
Henry was untouched on the first play of the game and he sprinted 87 yards for a touchdown, starting a 199-yard explosion for him. That run helped him average 8.3 yards per attempt, and he also chipped in with three catches for 10 yards.
Hill provided a little change of pace with 18 yards, and Jackson, as usual, made several big plays with his legs and gained 54 yards and scored a touchdown on a nine-yard run. Even FB Patrick Ricard got into the scoring, through in an unconventional way. Douglas forced a Henry fumble at the goal line and Ricard fell on the ball in the end zone to make it 35-10.
The Bills were pushed around up front for the first time all season and their inexperience at LB was glaring. Williams made mistakes, but he also was in on 12 tackles while Spector had six plus his sack and a fumble recovery when Williams knocked the ball out of Jackson’s hands on a scramble.
SPECIAL TEAMS: D
Not that it mattered, but Tyler Bass missed badly to the left from 48 yards early in the fourth quarter. Had he made the kick, the Bills would have been within two scores at 28-13, but once that ball sailed wide, the game was essentially over.
Brandon Codrington muffed a punt but was fortunate to recover, while on the other side, the Bills allowed their former teammate, Deonte Harty, to return three punts for 34 yards which dropped Sam Martin’s net average on his season-high six punts to 39.2. There were no kickoff returns by either team as the kickers combined for nine touchbacks, further making a mockery of the new dynamic kickoff.
COACHING: F
It’s not too often a Sean McDermott team gets this badly outcoached in every phase. I know fans love to jump all over McDermott, but that’s just the truth. The Bills are a well-coached team, led by the eight-year veteran, but this was not one of his finer nights.
On offense, Joe Brady’s star took a hit as he was unable to get anything working in the protection game and it derailed the passing attack. The flea-flicker play call was, in hindsight, stupid. It didn’t make sense at that time with the Bills down 21-10 but finally starting to enjoy some success. They didn’t need to get cute there, and it blew up in their face.
On defense, Bobby Babich had no answers for the Ravens run game which produced 271 yards. Yeah, 87 came on one breakdown play, but take that away and it was still 184.