The Buffalo Bills showed massive improvements after the bye week, handling the Ravens in a 36-10 victory last Sunday. It marked the 12th season in a row that the Bills have won their first game after the bye, with some of the game's advanced stats helping explain what was different in the team's first double-digit victory of the year.

Here's what made Buffalo's win on Sunday stand out:

Dialing up the pressure

The Buffalo Bills blitzed on 64.5% of opposing dropbacks against Baltimore in Week 8, according to Next Gen Stats, the team's highest blitz rate since 2021. Through the first six games of the season, the Bills' blitz rate hadn't surpassed 39%. It was also the highest blitz rate that Ravens quarterbacks have faced this season.

When blitzing against Baltimore, Buffalo generated 11 pressures, seven of which were considered quick pressures (under 2.5 seconds), good for a new season-high. The team also tallied three sacks in the win, including a strip-sack by S Cole Bishop in the second quarter.

The Bills blitzed the second most among teams in Week 8, only behind the Minnesota Vikings, whom they'll take on this Monday. The increased aggressiveness paid off, resulting in the highest pressure rate in the NFL last week (61.3%).

Pressure on the QB came quickly, with Buffalo holding the sixth-fastest average time to pressure (2.48 seconds) in Week 8. The Bills also had the sixth-highest sack percentage in the league in Week 8 (12.9%), converting those pressures to sacks at a high clip.

OLB Greg Rousseau was dominant rushing the passer against the Ravens, leading the group with six of the team's 30 pressures. Rousseau created pressure on 27.3% of his rushes, good for fifth among players with 10 or more rushes in Week 8.

11 different players, including Rousseau, generated at least one pressure for the Bills, with eight recording multiple. DL Deone Walker was efficient on the inside, finishing the week sixth in pressure rate among qualified defensive linemen (19%).

Coverage and the rush in harmony

The front seven controlling the line of scrimmage paired well with the secondary playing its best game of the season.

Limiting opposing passing attacks was high on Buffalo's priority list entering Week 8. Baltimore threw the ball 61.2% of the time against the Bills, the ninth-highest rate league-wide.

Acknowledging that Buffalo faced backups Tyler 'Snoop' Huntley and Joe Fagnano most of the day, the defensive backfield was still impressive, only allowing 68 passing yards, tied for the fourth-lowest total in a game this season.

Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard showed a different side to his scheme against the Ravens. Entering the game, the Bills ran man coverage on 19.5% of dropbacks, raising that number to 54.8%, the fourth-highest rate in the NFL in Week 8.

The switch was a success, with Buffalo allowing the second-lowest passing yards per play (2.3) in the league. The unit also had the third-best passing Expected Points Added (EPA) per play allowed (-0.83).

EPA quantifies the value of yards gained in terms of points scored, with the per-play allowed metric measuring the average value added by the defense, with negative values indicating better defensive performance.

Playing more man coverage also helped to limit yards after catch (YAC), finishing third in YAC allowed (52), along with fourth in YAC over expected allowed (YACOE) at -10.

CB Christian Benford and CB Davision Igbinosun played their best games of the season on the outside, nearing the top of the league in a number of advanced metrics.

Coverage EPA quantifies the net value added when a player is targeted in coverage by translating yards gained into points scored. From the defender's perspective, negative values indicate better performance. Benford was sixth in the NFL in Week 8 (-5.8), while Igbinosun finished 10th (-4.7).

Igbinosun didn't allow any easy completions on Sunday, ending his big day with the second-best catch rate allowed over expected among qualified defensive backs in Week 8 (-74.6%). The metric measures how often a defender allows a completed pass compared to what would be statistically expected. Benford was eighth among qualified DBs (46.7%), while ILB Dorian Williams joined in on the fun, earning the top spot across all positions in the NFL (-90.2%).

Benford and S Damar Hamlin were both tied for sixth in tight window percentage (50%), the percentage of targets where the nearest defender had less than one yard of separation from the targeted receiver when the pass arrived.

Hamlin was ninth in the league in average target separation, with just 1.6 yards between him and his opponents on average.

DJ Moore sparks the deep passing game

On the offensive side of the ball, the passing game stayed consistent as it has through the first seven games of the year. QB Josh Allen completed 21 of 34 of his passes for 289 yards with two touchdowns in the win over the Ravens.

He found success stretching the field, finishing his day 6-of-10 for 157 yards and two touchdowns on downfield throws (10+ air yards). Allen's longest completion in air yards also came on Sunday, with 43 yards under his bomb to WR DJ Moore in the third quarter.

Sunday was Moore's first game back after missing Weeks 5 and 6, sliding right back into the WR1 spot on the outside. The 29-year-old caught three of his four downfield targets for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Moore continued to be one of Allen's favorite weapons, seeing seven or more targets in all three of his full games this season. In his three full games, he has a team-high 28.7% target share and 42.3% air yards share, which would rank sixth and fourth in the league, respectively, on the season according to Next Gen Stats.