Top 3 Things We Learned

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Top 3 things we learned from Bills at Ravens | Sunday Night Football Week 4

Sep 30, 2024 at 01:15 AM

Alec White

Content Coordinator

The Buffalo Bills had a tough showing on Sunday Night Football against the Ravens, dropping their first game of the 2024 season by a final score of 35-10.

Buffalo was out-gained 427-236 by Baltimore and suffered it's largest margin of defeat since the 2021 season.

Here are the top three things we learned:

1 — Pick your poison

From Baltimore's opening offensive snap of the game, it was immediately apparent how the Ravens planned to attack Buffalo's defense. RB Derrick Henry and QB Lamar Jackson combined for 253 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

"Winning the line of scrimmage was a challenge for us tonight, consistently," McDermott said. "And if you don't win the line of scrimmage, and that's a whole team thing, not just on D line, but overall, we've got to do a better job up front."

Overall, the Bills were out-gained on the ground 271 yards to 81 yards and allowed 8 yards per rush. It's the first time this season the Bills have given up over 200 rushing yards and also the first time they've rushed for under 100 yards.

A Henry 87-yard touchdown run on their first play from scrimmage set the tone for what turned into a long, fateful night for the Buffalo defense. Henry gashed through untouched to the end zone for the third-longest run of his career and the longest run in Ravens franchise history.

"I gotta do a better job communicating, getting everyone lined up, gotta read the keys," LB Baylon Spector said.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott gave his perspective on the play.

"Schemed up well, yes, because they executed, and we really didn't even touch the running back. And they ran what we call 'wham' against our three technique there. And we've got to be in a better position," he said.

Henry finished the night one-yard shy of a 200-yard performance; he also caught a touchdown in the second quarter. Jackson contributed to several chunk runs as well with 54 yards and a touchdown on six carries.

The Ravens were particularly lethal when they brought in heavier personnel (either two running backs or two tight ends) to take advantage of Buffalo's smaller personnel. Buffalo allowed all five touchdowns when the Ravens used any of these groupings.

Henry's opening TD run and Jackson's 19-yard TD pass to RB Justice Hill came when the Ravens had two RBs and one TE lined up; Henry's TD catch and FB Patrick Ricard's TD happened with two RBs and 2 TEs on the field.

Jackson's 9-yard TD run occurred in 12 personnel (1RB, 2TE).

Derrick Henry forced 7 missed tackles and gained +119 rushing yards over expected against the Bills, the 3rd-most RYOE in a game since 2018.

The Ravens have generated +27.6 EPA on designed runs this season, more than double any other team.#BUFvsBAL | @Ravens pic.twitter.com/BZ3fxbpDzd
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 30, 2024

2 — Allen TD-less for first time in nearly three years

For the first time since Nov. 7, 2021, QB Josh Allen was held without a passing or rushing touchdown. Allen also had just 42 yards passing in the first half as the Bills trailed 21-3 at the break.

"They had a good plan, a good pressure plan," Allen said.

Per Next Gen Stats, Allen was pressured 15 times by the Ravens for a pressure percentage of 44.1%, the highest pressure percentage allowed by the Bills offensive line this season.

"The communication that we have with me and the O-line could have been better tonight. That's something, again, we'll look at and we'll clean up. But they had a solid plan. They kind of understood what we were trying to do, and we got to make adjustments in-game."

Despite the uneven performance, Allen said he knows everyone is going to be accountable and will work to correct it going into Week 5 at Houston.

"We just didn't do a good enough job tonight. It starts with me and takes everybody in this building to keep winning and continue winning games. Like I said, a lot to learn from and we'll watch this tape, learn from it, flush it, and look to next," the QB said.

Allen also addressed the trick play that went awry in the third quarter where the Ravens blew up the play call and forced a fumble on Allen as he was trying to release the ball.

"Coach called a shot, and the guy made a good play. It's as simple as that. He dove inside. I tried to stay out, and I was just trying to get rid of the ball, and the guy made a good play. That's what it comes down to," he said.

Allen stayed down on the ground for a moment after the play and was briefly checked out by the training staff. He said there was no concern about his throwing shoulder.

"No, it was more just my low back hitting the ground than anything. So we're good," he said.

Josh Allen was 0.9 yards away from the sideline when he threw a 52-yard completion to Khalil Shakir.

Since entering the NFL in 2018, Allen has completed 6 of 7 passes for 118 yards & 3 TDs within a yard of the sideline. The rest of the NFL is 1 for 16.

Powered by @awscloud pic.twitter.com/cJzgFwR0Ku
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 30, 2024

3 — One-score streak snapped

The Bills entered Sunday owning the longest streak in NFL history of 43 consecutive games without losing by more than six points.

It's a remarkably consistent standard that Sean McDermott and Co. have upheld over the last three seasons, but that streak was snapped in Baltimore.

"Give credit where credit is due. The Baltimore Ravens came out and they beat us. They outplayed us. They out-coached us, and we've got to identify the problems and get them fixed," McDermott said.

WR Curtis Samuel emphasized in the locker room that the team can't let one bad loss turn into two bad losses with another tough opponent next week.

"You can't let that wreck holes for the season," he said.