BALTIMORE — Standings for the Buffalo Bills in their 23-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium…
The Ravens were held without a point after Justin Tucker’s field goal late in the second quarter, giving the offense a whopping 23-20 win in front of a crowd of 70,494.
The eyeball test and stat sheet continue to tell a much different story about the Bills’ running game. Buffalo finished with 125 yards on 25 carries — an average of 5.0 yards per attempt — but it was quarterback Josh Allen who once again led the team on the ground. Allen had 11 carries for 70 yards and a touchdown. He is the team’s only player with a rushing touchdown in the first month of the season. Allen’s running ability is a big part of the offense, but it’s still not ideal that the ‘traditional’ way of running the ball hasn’t had more impact. An example of why it remains troubling: The Bills’ first four downs had as many yards up for a first down: 9, 10, 10, 10. Being unable to get the ball running on first down puts the attack in difficulty. tasks. Devin Singletary had 48 yards on 11 carries, with a long gain of 18 yards, while Zack Moss was limited to just 6 yards on three carries. Other than last week’s 43-yard run against the Dolphins, Moss has really struggled. A 7-yard run by Singletary and a 3-yard run by Allen for a first down put the Bills in position to kick the game-winning field goal with no time left.
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Allen started slowly in the air. His first three passes could all have been intercepted, and one of them was. His fastball was really buzzing early on, but he could have taken a few changes sooner. Stefon Diggs had four catches — each seemingly more difficult than the next — on his way to a team-leading 62 receiving yards. Dawson Knox had three catches for 40 yards. He continues to struggle with injuries, and his 20-yard reception on a game-winning third-and-second play was one of the biggest of the game. Isaiah McKenzie scored a touchdown for the second straight game, the first time he had such a streak in his career, before leaving the game with a concussion.
Safety Jordan Poyer was the playmaker with the critical interception. But several other Bills executed their missions perfectly to lead to the big defensive stoppage.
A play that probably won’t get much attention, but should: On second and on goal from the Bills’ 1-yard line in the fourth quarter, linebacker Matt Milano dropped Ravens running back JK Dobbins for a loss of 3 meters. It turned out to be a huge game, as the Ravens couldn’t convert the next two games after being just out the door.
“Back against the wall, I just try to do anything. Get rambling in there, you know? said Milan. ” You have nothing to lose. They’re on the 1 meter line, so might as well shoot.
Milano tied his career high with 13 tackles. Milano had two tackles for the loss, as did center linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. Baltimore’s rushing offense is hard to contain — the Ravens gained 162 yards on 33 carries — and quarterback Lamar Jackson was, predictably, a headache to defend as he opened up the lane with 73 yards on 11 carries. Most of that damage seemed to come on engineered passing plays when Jackson pulled him down and ran when no one was open.
“That’s why we love him,” quarterback Josh Allen said. “He’s going to put his body on the line, and that interception was huge.
Jordan Poyer delivered two huge plays, with a pair of interceptions in the fourth quarter. The first came on an angled ball that was deflected by defensive tackle Prince Emili, an undrafted rookie free agent from Penn. The Bills have twice fired Jackson, with Von Miller getting his third of the season and Greg Rousseau sharing a sack with defensive tackle DaQuan Jones. Poyer defended three of the Bills’ four assists. Nickel cornerback Taron Johnson picked up two penalties in the Ravens’ latest offensive practice.
The Buffalo Bills’ comeback win has big long-term implications for the playoffs, as Baltimore is a legitimate Super Bowl contender in the AFC, Mark Gaughan writes.
Tyler Bass was perfect on three baskets, 38, 39 and 21 yards, the last of which won the game. Bass has scored 85 more points in a row, which is the fourth-longest streak in team history. He has a long way to go to catch Rian Lindell for the franchise record 225 from 2003 to 2010, but Bass’ streak is impressive considering he comes from a longer distance. Sam Martin punted in the fourth quarter, pinning Baltimore inside their 5-yard line with a 56-yard kick. Martin averaged 45.3 net yards on his three punts. The Bills gave up no yards on punt returns. Kick coverage gave dangerous Ravens backman Devin Duvernay a 28-yard return, but Tyrel Dodson also made a nice tackle on Duvernay for just a 12-yard gain on his other kick return . McKenzie had a 42-yard punt return in the first half.
Down 17 points on Sunday to the Baltimore Ravens and seemingly spinning their collective wheels, the Bills woke up late in the first half and controlled play in the second half of their comeback.
The Bills trailed by more than 10 points at halftime under Sean McDermott for the 14th time on Sunday. They improved to 1-13 with their first victory in this situation. McDermott coached his 85th game of the regular season, becoming the only third-place holder on the franchise’s all-time roster behind only Marv Levy (182 games) and Lou Saban (117). Only Levy has a better winning percentage at .615 – just above McDermott’s .612. The Bills used excellent clock management late in the game to completely bleed the clock, leaving no chance of a miracle Baltimore comeback. It wasn’t a perfect performance for offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey — the Bills’ first drive in the fourth quarter that started at the 50-yard line after Poyer’s first interception of the game was particularly lousy — but he managed to pull off a smash. adapt to having only three healthy receptors. That Singletary fell at the end of his 7-yard run instead of scoring a touchdown showed great awareness on his part and shows that the coaching staff preached about the importance of situational football.