Things weren’t looking good early on, but the Bills showed poise, confidence, and resolve as they overcame a 17-point deficit and completed one heck of a comeback to beat the Ravens in Baltimore, in the rain, 23-20.
Heading into this game, dinged up against a good team, it was bound to be close but I couldn’t anticipate just how catastrophic of a start would be in store. Three plays into the game, Josh Allen threw a weird ball in a weird spot on a weird route with two receivers in the area, but it seemed like only the Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey was ready to catch it, which he did. The Ravens’ J.K. Dobbins cashed in the touchdown starting from the Bills’ 4-yard line and, in a disastrous blink, it was 7-0 Baltimore.
I am a big believer in bad omens and that was a bad one to get things started. However, it was one unfortunate mistake that got punished and there was still a ton of game left to be played. Isaiah McKenzie returned the ensuing kickoff 42 yards and the Bills were in business. However, route confusion wasn’t the only issue they dealt with early.
It became readily apparent on Buffalo’s second drive that catching the ball was going to be an issue. Josh Allen was just 2/5 on the drive for 21 yards with multiple receivers having issues securing the slick football. Fortunately, a key Allen scramble had moved them into field goal range and Tyler Bass put it through to get something on the board at 7-3.
Maybe the Bills’ were a little sleepy to start the game because I know rainy weather makes me want to be cozy on the couch, but they offered little resistance on the Ravens’ next drive. Baltimore went 81 yards in 15 plays, converting three 3rd downs along the way to Dobbins finding the end zone for the second time. It was his first game back this season and he had already found pay dirt twice. While it didn’t look good at the time, that was the only really strong drive of the half for the Ravens. It wasn’t much to chew on at the time, but there was some silver lining.
Buffalo looked to answer and probably wanted to keep things a bit safer with all the drops, but Devin Singletary fumbled after a 4-yard gain up the middle and the Ravens recovered. Another bad omen. However, given the conditions, it was easy to see that the ball security stuff was a result of the rain, not incompetence, but that didn’t slow the freakout. Singletary had been benched a few years earlier due to fumbling issues and he has been really good about it since then, but it looked like he may have been headed to the bench.
The Bills’ defense was able to hold to FGs on back-to-back drives thanks to upfront pressure. Ed Oliver and Jordan Phillips were still out, but Tim Settle was back in the middle and that helped a lot. On those two key possessions, the Bills came away with their only 2 sacks on the day, one on each drive. It’s hard to corral Lamar Jackson, as evidenced by one extremely ridiculous sack escape and heave that should have been intercepted, but it was a good sign of the pressure they could get and it would matter again later.
Allen kept struggling to complete passes and the Bills got Sam Martin the most work he’s seen as their punter. At that point, Allen was 5/13 for 42 yards with a pick. But right before the half, the Ravens went against their character and decided to throw it three straight times. Jordan Poyer had the first of several big plays, breaking up a 3rd & 5 and they would get the ball back before the half and have a chance to make a stand. And stand they did.
It was like they knew they had to score there and put fear back in the Ravens before giving them the ball to start the second half. Allen made sure to make that drive count. He went 6/9 on the drive for 63 yards and added a key scramble for 9 yards before finding McKenzie for the TD on something of a redemption play from last week.
With an ugly first half in the rearview, the Bills got to work. Maybe it was a fear response, but the Ravens came out throwing again and the BUF defense forced a quick 3 & out to give their offense time to work.
The weather hadn’t changed much and the passing game was still an issue. Allen didn’t even complete a pass on the ensuing drive but it was nice to see the recognition from the coaching staff. They kept it on the ground a little more and had solid results, and half the pass plays became Allen scrambles with good results too, including a fumble that he was able to rescue and get yards out of. They took advantage of the quick possession and put a FG on the board at the end of a 10-play 51-yard drive. Suddenly a one-score game, they really had to clamp down.
Matt Milano had himself a game and almost came up with that interception earlier, but he came away with a big tackle for loss to drop the Ravens into 2nd & 12 where they were forced to pass. The defense was able to key in on that and force the punt.
We have seen #17 put things on his back before and this was the Josh Allen drive. He was 4/6 on the drive for 45 but, more importantly, he closed out the drive with runs of 7 & 11. The latter was the quintessential Allen keeper as he juked and faked and ultimately powered his way for the game-tying TD. With everything that had gone wrong, the pendulum had swung and Baltimore was under massive pressure to respond.
With a 1st & 10 at midfield to start the 4th quarter, Baltimore was passing and as Jackson tried to find Mark Andrews, he found the helmet of practice squad elevation Prince Emili and Poyer who had squeezed down to cover the RB saw everything happening in slow motion, made his way to the ball and came up with the pick. More than just the INT, that was the play that said the bounced were definitely breaking the other direction.
The Bills couldn’t capitalize and went 3 & out after Allen was sacked for the only time in the game on 3rd & long to force the punt but Martin had pinned the Ravens at their own 5-yard line. Neither team had taken much time off the clock and Baltimore would get their chance with less than 14 minutes remaining.
They needed a drive and they got one, marching down the field and finding their way out of a 1st & 20 and a 3rd & 12 along the way. The nine-and-a-half-minute drive took them all the way to the Bills’ 1-yard line but another major TFL from Milano moved Baltimore off the goal line. Lamar tried to keep it but only gained a couple. Faced with a 4th & goal from the 2, John Harbaugh and company elected to go for the TD and that’s just what BUF defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier ordered. The Bills dialed up some pressure and as Lamar tried to make room he was forced into a fade away as he tossed the ball to the back corner of the end zone. Mr. Poyer came streaking across the back of the end zone for the interception.
With everything on the line, the Bills put together another surgical drive. Allen didn’t have an incompletion on this drive going 4/4 to four different targets for 49 yards and scrambling for another 7 yards. The play of the drive was a roughing the passer call that came on a 1st & 15 from the Ravens’ 41. He had let the ball go and the defender hit him pretty quickly after releasing it, so it didn’t appear late it and didn’t look like a shot to the head either, but Allen whipped his head around to make sure the ref saw what he needed to see. It may have been a makeup call from earlier, but Allen is no stranger to embellishing a hit to get a free 15 yards in the clutch either.
If you are a Ravens fan, you’re pissed. If you’re a Bills fan, you are glad to see it finally called this season. As a fan of the game, I don’t like seeing what many would deem a flop. However, as a Bills fan, I love the resourcefulness. I have seen him do it before on some soft contact along the sideline and that says a lot about how good of a field general Allen can be. Either way, the play stood, the Bills got into field goal range and forced Baltimore to burn all their timeouts afters some defensive miscommunication and a heads-up play by Motor not to score. Allen lined up T-Bass for the winner. He put it through from 21 yards to win it as time expired.
After the way things started, it didn’t matter how they won. It only mattered that they got the job done. They got a few key pieces back and it mattered, plus reinforcements are on the way. That’s going to be very important as McKenzie left the game with a concussion and Jamison Crowder broke his ankle at some point and is heading to IR. I know the Bills have Tayvon Austin stashed somewhere, but there’s going to be a lot of pressure on rookie Khalil Shakir to make plays for this offense.
The Bills head home to take on the Steelers in what I hope will be a payback game for last year’s opener. The Steelers aren’t good no matter who is under center, but the Bills need to execute at a high level regardless.
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