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    Buffalo has no answer for the brutal Ravens loss

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    BALTIMORE – It was hard to find a silver lining on a nightmarish Sunday as the Buffalo Bills were embarrassed by the Baltimore Ravens in what was supposed to be the headlining game of Week 4.

    The best thing battered quarterback Josh Allen could do was this: “I’m glad this happened early in the season so we can correct things.”

    Well, better late September than late January, but if the Bills play like they did in their 35-10 loss to the heavy hands of the Ravens, there will be no more football for this team at the end of January. let alone early February.

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    The Bills suffered their worst regular-season loss since Nov. 21, 2021, when they were hammered 41-15 at home by the Colts. They hadn’t 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 admitted. “They’ve outpaced us, they’ve outwitted us, and we need to identify the problems and fix them. Winning the line of scrimmage was consistently a challenge for us tonight 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 have to do it a better job up front, O-line and D-line and then win the scrimmage together as a team.

    This is how I assessed the accounts:

    PASS VIOLATION: C-

    Allen made several great plays, which he always will, but unlike most games where he can single-handedly lift the Bills when they’re struggling, he couldn’t do so against this ruthless Ravens defense that was simply outgunned was. and beat the Bills all night long.

    The lack of a consistent downfield passing game was an issue, something that wasn’t an issue when the Bills played with a lead for most of the previous ten quarters. Allen finished 16 of 29 for 180 yards without a TD, and he lost a fumble on a failed flea flicker.

    Keon Coleman had a terrible fall, although he rebounded and made two excellent contested catches, finishing 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 in which Allen brilliantly extended the play. Dalton Kincaid had five catches for 47 yards, but like Coleman, he had a key drop that negated 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.

    RUN VIOLATION: C-

    James Cook was pretty well cushioned, mainly because he had very little room to run, but also because he only had nine carries thanks to the Bills falling behind so quickly so far. They couldn’t establish the ground attack and their longest run of the game was a pair of eight yards, one from Cook, one from Allen.

    The offensive line couldn’t get much of a push in the run game and there were too many times where the Ravens were able to get penetration, most noticeably on the failed flea flicker when Kyle Van Noy burst through to pressure Curtis Samuel, who took a direct attack. in the shotgun. With the timing messed up, he 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 all but spelled doom for the Bills.

    PASS DEFENSE: B

    Lamar Jackson didn’t have to do much, completing just 13 of 18 passes for 156 yards, but two of those went for touchdowns to Justice Hill and Derrick Henry. The one against Hill made it 21-3 when the Ravens aligned him with LB Dorian Williams and it 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 picked off and TE Isaiah Likely had just one catch for 26 yards.

    The Bills did get a sack on Jackson from Baylon Spector, forcing a punt, but otherwise there wasn’t nearly enough pressure as he fell to pass.

    RUN DEFENSE: F

    Henry was untouched on the first play of the game and he sprinted 87 yards for a touchdown, setting up a 199-yard rush for him. That run gave him an average of 8.3 yards per attempt, and he also had three catches for 10 yards.

    Hill provided a slight change of pace with 18 yards, and Jackson, as usual, made several big plays with his legs, gaining 54 yards and scoring a touchdown on a nine-yard run. Even FB Patrick Ricard scored in an unconventional way. Douglas forced a Henry fumble on the goal line and Ricard fell on the ball in the end zone to make it 35-10.

    The Bills were in front for the first time all season and their inexperience at LB was noticeable. Williams made mistakes, but he was also involved in 12 tackles, while Spector had six plus his sack and a fumble when Williams knocked the ball out of Jackson’s hands during a scramble.

    SPECIAL TEAMS: D

    Not that it mattered, but Tyler Bass missed badly to his left from 48 yards out early in the fourth quarter. Had he made the kick, the Bills would have been within two scores at 28-13, but once the ball sailed wide the game was essentially over.

    Brandon Codrington muffed a punt but was fortunate to recover, while at the other end the Bills allowed their former teammate, Deonte Harty, to return three punts for 34 yards, dropping Sam Martin’s net average to his season-high six punts to 39.2. There were no kickoff returns from either team as the kickers combined for nine touchbacks, further making the new dynamic kickoff look ridiculous.

    COACHING: F

    It’s not often that a Sean McDermott team is so poorly coached at every stage. I know fans like 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 wasn’t one of his finest nights.

    On offense, Joe Brady’s star took a hit as he failed to get anything working in the protection game, derailing the passing attack. In retrospect, the flea flicker game was stupid. Things weren’t right at the time with the Bills trailing 21-10, but were finally starting to enjoy some success. They didn’t have to get cute there, and it blew up in their faces.

    On defense, Bobby Babich had no answers for the Ravens run game that yielded 271 yards. Yes, 87 came on one break play, but if you take that away it was still 184.

    Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades, including 35 years as a full-time beat writer for the D&C, and has written numerous books on the team’s history. He can be reached at [email protected], and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

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