Bills report card: Buffalo's defense feasted on Ravens' emergency QB
· Yahoo Sports
ORCHARD PARK - You just become numb to at some point, the way the Buffalo Bills can pile up points, even on a day when things were not going particularly well in the early going.
The Bills bumbled and stumbled their way through a mistake-prone first half filled with turnovers, penalties and red zone issues, but you can’t hold them down forever and sure enough, they found their way in the final 30 minutes and rolled to a 36-10 victory over the quarterback depleted Baltimore Ravens Sunday on a gorgeous first day of November at Highmark Stadium.
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“That first half was, by our standards, really bad,” Josh Allen admitted. “Weren't throwing it, weren’t catching it, didn't feel like I was doing a good enough job. Obviously, the couple turnovers in the first half, it's not winning football, and sitting there, we're talking with the guys going into halftime, just saying, ‘Hey, we're way better than this.’”
They are, and they showed it after the Ravens pulled within 16-10 early in the third quarter, scoring three unanswered touchdowns to pull away to their sixth victory in seven games.
“I was pissed at halftime,” coach Joe Brady said. “There's a standard by how I believe out offense should play. Some of the same mistakes that have shown up were showing up. We turned the ball over, getting nice plays and penalties are showing up, getting the ball in the red zone and penalties showing up. It was like Groundhog Day. Now the second half, I thought was more of who we are, being able to finish drives.”
The final numbers showed 36 points on 24 first downs, 426 yards, 8-for-19 on third- and fourth-down conversions, on a season high 37 minutes, 36 seconds of possession time.
The victory also continues a most impressive streak that Joe Brady is now the steward of. Buffalo has won 12 consecutive games following a bye, a streak that began with Rex Ryan continued for nine years under Sean McDermott, and now one under Brady. It’s the second-longest streak in NFL history behind the Eagles’ 13 from 1999-2011. And since the bye came to the NFL in 1990, the Bills’ 27 victories are tied for the most in the league with the Eagles and Broncos.
Here’s how I graded the Bills:
PASS OFFENSE: B-
Allen began this game 8 of 19 for 112 yards with one interception (not his fault) and very nearly a second in a slop fest of a first half. There were strange play calls by Brady and some terrible execution by the players. But Allen came out in the second half and was much better and finished 21 of 34 for 289 yards including fourth-quarter TDs to Dalton Kincaid and DJ Moore.
Moore made his return after missing two games and it was an eventful one. In addition to his TD he made a great contested catch for 49 yards to set up James Cook’s third-quarter TD run. But he also caught one over the middle in the second quarter at the Ravens 18 and fumbled the ball away. And then in the fourth, he converted a fourth down but came up limping and had to leave the game with four catches for 82 yards.
As for the Bills tight ends, Kincaid saved the group as he had a 40-yard reception and then a 23-yard TD, though he also had a bad drop, as did Dawson Knox on a play where he would have had a big gain, and Jackson Hawes had a pass go through his hands that turned into Allen’s lone interception. Hawes also committed a holding penalty that killed a third-quarter possession.
RUN OFFENSE: B-
It figured to be a hard day on the ground because the Ravens had not allowed a 100-yard individual rusher for 21 straight games, and that streak was extended. Cook got to 80 and he scored a touchdown, but those were 80 tough yards on 21 attempts, and then he suffered a neck injury in the fourth quarter, though he did return for one play which was a relief.
Baltimore came into the game ranked ninth against the run and it was difficult for Buffalo’s offensive line to get things rolling. Even Allen had a tough time, especially near the goal line. He did score once on the tush push, but the Ravens stopped him on several short yardage plays. The Bills finished with 146 yards, but it took 41 attempts for a low 3.6 average.
PASS DEFENSE: A+
Things became untenable for the Ravens when they lost Lamar Jackson on the first play of the game and backup Tyler Huntley early in the second quarter to injuries, meaning emergency QB Joe Fagnano was forced to make his NFL debut under trying circumstances.
Jackson went out when he banged his thumb on Greg Rousseau’s arm and that was a huge blow, but soon thereafter, Cole Bishop crushed backup Huntley on a blitz and forced a fumble which Kaleb Elarms-Orr recovered, and Huntley suffered a toe injury. Not ideal, and the Bills took full advantage of his inexperience. Coming into the game, the Bills blitzed at a rate of 29.3%, a frequency that ranked 18th in the league, but in this game they blitzed on 66.7% of Baltimore’s dropbacks according to Sumer Sports.
Rousseau snapped his sack drought at three games while Bishop, Landon Jackson and TJ Parker also rang the bell. And in the secondary, with backups Damar Hamlin and Te’Cory Couch playing, the Bills stunningly eliminated star Ravens WR Zay Flowers as he had zero catches on five targets. The Ravens had only two receptions from their WRs, one each for Rashod Bateman and Jakobi Lane and finished with 68 net passing yards.
RUN DEFENSE: A
Despite their QB woes, the Ravens curiously didn’t lean into Derrick Henry as he carried just six times in the first half for 26 yards and a TD and finished the game with just 53 yards on 11 attempts. It didn’t make much sense because the game was close into the third quarter, but they still tried to throw and it failed miserably.
Obviously, losing Jackson was a titanic blow in every way, and that allowed the Bills to key specifically on Henry and that may have been why offensive coordinator Declan Doyle couldn’t just feed him.
Terrel Bernard led the defense with six tackles while Couch, Hamlin and Geno Stone — in his Bills’ debut — had five each.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A-
Once again it was another solid day in the kicking game with the exception of one bust on a kickoff coverage that resulted in a 59-yard return by Rasheen Ali to the Bills 35, though the Ravens wasted it because Tyler Loop missed a 34-yard field goal.
Tommy Doman continues to shine in his rookie season. His first punt was a 51-yarder that was fair caught because it had a hang time of 5.22 seconds which is great, and his second was returned just two yards so he had a 46.5 net average.
Tyler Bass was great as he made field goals from 56, 22 and 51 yards and made all three of his extra points.
COACHING: B-
Brady’s first-half play-calling was so absurdly bad, it’s hard to fathom. After a crisp opening drive, Brady started to get way too cute and it cost the Bills points. There were dumb calls on two fourth downs, one at the 1-yard-line, that were inexcusable. Things obviously got better in the second half, so he got away with it.
On defense, Jim Leonhard smelled blood in the water when the Ravens were down to Fagnano and he attacked the way we thought he would all year. The Bills had been far too passive in the first six games but they unleashed their blitz packages and yes, you can get away with it against a third-stringer, but it’s definitely something they need to build on because their pass rush needs help.
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at [email protected], and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills report card: Buffalo's defense feasted on Ravens' emergency QB