The Ravens wanted to bury Buffalo’s defense on the ground, and they did so well from the literal start to (almost) finish.

A week after accumulating 274 rushing yards in Dallas, Baltimore piled up another 271 rushing yards at home against the Bills, in front of a “Darkness” crowd dressed in menacing black. The only problem was that the Ravens ended the night just a yard short of getting Henry to 200.

“The reality is he doesn’t need a lot of space to run,” rookie tackle Roger Rosengarten said. “If you give him a little space, he will take advantage of it. He is ’22’ for a reason. He is ‘King Henry’ for a reason. He shows it week in, week out and we have to just give him a chance. He’ll do the rest.”

After the game, Henry was asked if he felt comfortable yet in the Ravens’ rushing attack.

“If today doesn’t show that I’m used to it and that I’m comfortable, then I don’t know what else to say,” he said. “It was fun.”

The 87-yard run was a crunch concept, center Tyler Linderbaum said. It is designed to be effective against aggressive, penetrating defensive fronts (like those of the Bills) by leaving a defensive lineman in the backfield, then cutting him off with a tight end or fullback while the offensive linemen move to the next level to go.

As Rosengarten said, it’s a play that is either blown up in the backfield for a loss or for a big win. Needless to say, it was a hit.

“It’s usually a great play when it’s blocked well and everyone blocks it beautifully,” said fullback Patrick Ricard, who had the first key block on defensive tackle Ed Oliver. “I kind of wished we would do it again, but we’ll take the touchdown.”

The Ravens had plenty of other crafty attacks against the Bills, keeping them sharp despite a constant onslaught of heavy formations. Baltimore had 54 offensive snaps. They only had 17 with three receivers. They had 15 with just one wideout.

Baltimore’s offensive attack was unrelentingly physical. The Ravens hammered the Bills with a merry-go-round of Henry, Justice Hill and Lamar Jackson, who combined to average 8.0 yards per carry, including 5.18 yards per carry before contact, according to TruMedia.

“They had our numbers tonight, and they came out and beat us physically and dominated at the line of scrimmage,” Bills linebacker Baylon Spector said.

Henry also had runs of 38 and 25 yards. Jackson had a 19-yard run and a 9-yard touchdown that eased nerves after the Bills closed the Ravens’ early lead to 11 points. Hill led the Ravens’ aerial attack with six catches for 78 yards, including a score of 19 yards.