Bills unable to stop Ravens running back, falling 35-10 in first loss of season

BALTIMORE — In a battle of two of the most dominant AFC teams over the last five years, the Buffalo Bills are no longer undefeated, falling 35-10 to the Baltimore Ravens.

“Make no mistake, that’s a good team that we just played,” said Bills quarterback Josh Allen. “When they’re playing that well, especially on the offensive side of the ball, we on offense have to figure it out and we have to find a way to match scores and we just didn’t do a good enough job tonight and that starts with me.”

Ravens running back Derrick Henry rushed for 199 yards on just 24 carries in the win, gashing the Bills defense early and often. The Bills drop to 3-1, but still lead the AFC East after the Jets fell to the Broncos at home earlier Sunday.

This is the Bills first loss of more than a single possession since November 21st, 2021 when the Indianapolis Colts rolled the Bills 41-15 in Orchard Park.

DRIVE-BY-DRIVE BREAKDOWN

The Bills first drive of the game saw Josh Allen convert a 4th & Inches at his own 39-yard-line to extend the drive. But just three plays later, the Bills were once again faced with a 4th & short at the 50-yard-line, this time Sean McDermott opted to punt as two yards stood between Buffalo and a first down.

The Ravens took over and on their first play from scrimmage, future Hall of Fame running back Derrick Henry went 87 yards untouched into the endzone for six and Baltimore took a 7-0 lead just over four minutes into the contest.

Drive number two for the Bills saw a laboring 11-play set that only went 38 yards and was pushed back twice due to a pair of offensive holding calls. Despite the setbacks, Buffalo found itself in position for a 50-yard field goal, one that Bills kicker Tyler Bass sent right down the middle for his first 50+ yard make since Nov. 19 of last year.

On the ensuing drive, the Ravens made it very clear that field goals would not be enough to win. Baltimore marched down the field on a drive that’s biggest play was only 10 yards, was aided by a Bills unnecessary roughness call, and capped it all off with a Lamar Jackson throw in the flats to Henry for a five-yard score.

The Baltimore defense responded by forcing a three-and-out. The offense didn’t skip a beat, converting on a pair of 3rd & Longs before Jackson fired a 19 yarder to Justice Hill at the goalline to give Baltimore a 21-3 lead.

The Bills offense, once again, couldn’t muster anything, punting after three plays from scrimmage.

After the Ravens looked to go four-for-four on their first four drives, getting into Bills territory before Jackson coughed the ball up on a scramble. Buffalo linebacker Dorian Williams forced the fumble and the Bills got on top of it, giving the defense its first stop of the night.

The offense did not capitalize, running six plays for just 13 yards. The drive had potential, however, as Josh Allen fired a deep ball to Keon Coleman that hit the rookie in the hands and fell incomplete. 

The Bills punted and the Ravens ran out the second quarter clock as the teams entered the locker room with a Baltimore 21-3 lead.

The Ravens received the opening kickoff of the third quarter. They were hindered by an intentional grounding call on Jackson on what ended up being a three-and-out leading to Jordan Stout’s first punt of the night.

The Bills offense faced a 3rd & 5 from their own 45, desperately needing to put points on the board. Josh Allen flushed out to his right, facing Baltimore defenders on his heels when he tossed up a prayer right before he went out of bounds with Khalil Shakir all alone on the receiving end. Shakir made his way to the three-yard line before being wrapped up. Buffalo running back Ty Johnson punched it in on the next play to give the Bills their only touchdown of the game.

The Bills forced their second-straight punt on the ensuing drive and quickly got to work, picking up a pair of first downs on their first four plays. But on the sixth play of the drive, Buffalo dialed up a trick play where Curtis Samuel flipped the ball back to Allen and as the Bills signal caller looked to pass, Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy knocked the ball out of Allen’s hands and Baltimore fell on top of the ball.

The Ravens took advantage of a short field, getting into the redzone via a Justice Hill screenpass followed by a Jackson scamper in for six.

The Bills followed that up with another drive that ended in disaster–a missed 48-yard field goal from Bass that would have cut Baltimore’s lead to a two-possession game.

Baltimore, once again, took advantage and marched down the field in six plays that ultimately ended in a peculiar touchdown. Henry lost the ball, a fumble forced by Bills cornerback Rasul Douglas, but the ball was recovered in the endzone by Baltimore fullback Pat Ricard for the score and Buffalo trailed 35-10.

After that, the teams traded punts before the clock hit zero and the final score read 35-10 in favor of the Ravens.

QUICK STATS:

• Josh Allen: 16-for-28 passing for 180 yards, 21 rushing yards
• Khalil Shakir: four catches for 62 yards on five targets
• Keon Coleman: three catches for 51 yards on four targets
• Dalton Kincaid: five catches for 47 yards on seven targets
• Dorian Williams: 12 tackles total, one quarterback hit
• Baylon Spector: one sack