Buffalo has no answers for its brutal loss to the Ravens

BALTIMORE — It was difficult to find a silver lining on a nightmarish Sunday when the Buffalo Bills were embarrassed by the Baltimore Ravens in what was supposed to be their Week 4 headlining game.

The best that beleaguered quarterback Josh Allen could do was this: “I'm glad this happened early in the season so we can put things right.”

Well, better late September than late January, but if the Bills play like they did during their 35-10 loss to the strong-handed Ravens, there will be no 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 November 21, 2021, when they were beaten 41-15 at home by the Colts. They hadn't lost a game by more than seven points since that day, but every winning streak comes to an end and this one certainly ended with a thud.

“Baltimore came out and they beat us,” coach Sean McDermott admitted. “They have outdone us, they have overtaken us, and we need to identify the problems and fix them. Winning the line of scrimmage was a challenge for us throughout 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, you have to “We can do a better job up front, O-line and D-line and then win the line of scrimmage together as a team.”

This is how I evaluated the bills:

Pass offense: C-

Allen made several great plays, as he always will, but unlike most games where he can single-handedly lift the Bills up when they're struggling, he was able to do it against this ferocious Ravens defense that simply outsmarted , couldn't make it and played the Bills all night long.

The lack of a consistent downfield passing game was a problem, something that wasn't a problem when the Bills played with a lead for most of the final ten quarters. Allen finished 16 of 29 for 180 yards without a touchdown and lost a fumble on a botched flea flicker.

Keon Coleman had a terrible drop but recovered, made two excellent contested catches and finished with three catches for 51 yards. Khalil Shakir was sharp again and had the Bills' biggest gain, a 52-yard catch-and-run on a play that Allen brilliantly extended the play. Dalton Kincaid had five catches for 47 yards, but like Coleman, he had a key drop that wiped out the Bills' first possession.

Up front, as McDermott said, it was chaos as the Ravens front controlled the line, resulting in three sacks, at least 10 pressures and multiple QB hits on Allen.

RUN OFFENSE: C-

James Cook was pretty well cushioned, mostly because he had very little room to run, but also because he only had nine runs because the Bills had fallen behind so quickly. They couldn't establish the ground attack and their longest run of the game was a pair of eight-yarders, one by Cook, one by Allen.

The offensive line couldn't get much pressure in the run game and there were too many times that the Ravens were able to penetrate, most notably the botched Flea flicker when Kyle Van Noy broke through to pressure Curtis Samuel, who had one direct snap executed in the shotgun. Because the timing was messed up, he barely got the ball to Allen, and then Van Noy stayed in the flow and hit Allen as he tried to throw, forcing the fumble that pretty much spelled doom for the Bills.

Pass Defense: B

Josh Allen: Ravens were the better team

Josh Allen meets with reporters after the Bills' 35-10 loss to the Ravens.

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 hit on Hill made it 21-3 when the Ravens paired him against LB Dorian Williams, and it was a no contest. Nicholas Morrow was helpless in coverage for the short TD to Henry.

On the outside, the Ravens couldn't accomplish anything 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 blanked 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 when he dropped to pass.

RUN DEFENSE: F

Henry went untouched on the first play of the game and sprinted 87 yards for a touchdown, sparking a 199-yard explosion for him. That run helped him average 8.3 yards per attempt and he also contributed three catches for 10 yards.

Hill provided a little variety 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 got into the rankings in an unconventional way. Douglas forced a fumble from Henry at the goal line and Ricard fell on the ball in the end zone, making it 35-10.

The Bills were pushed around up front for the first time all season and their inexperience at LB was glaring. Williams made errors but was also involved in 12 tackles, while Spector had six plus his sack and fumble recovery when Williams knocked the ball out of Jackson's hands on a scramble.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D

Not that it mattered, but Tyler Bass missed badly left from 48 yards early in the fourth quarter. Had he made the kick, the Bills would have gotten within two points at 28-13, but as soon as the ball missed, the game was essentially over.

Brandon Codrington fumbled a punt but was lucky to recover, while on the other hand the Bills allowed former teammate Deonte Harty to return three punts for 34 yards, bringing Sam Martin's net average on his six punts, a season high, to 39 .2 lowered. There were no kickoff returns from either team as the kickers combined for nine touchbacks, further making the new dynamic kickoff ridiculous.

COACHING: F

It's not too often that a team is coached so poorly by Sean McDermott at every stage. I know fans love to attack 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 their finest nights.

On offense, Joe Brady's star took a hit as he couldn't get anything going on defense, which killed the passing attack. In hindsight, the flea-flicker play call was stupid. It didn't make sense at the time, as the Bills were down 21-10 but were finally starting to find some success. They didn't have to get cute there and it exploded in their faces.

On defense, Bobby Babich had no answer for the Ravens' running game, which racked up 271 yards. Yes, 87 came on a breakdown game, but take that away and it was still 184.

Sal Maiorana has been covering the Buffalo Bills for four decades, including 35 years as a full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he 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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