The Ravens dominated the undefeated Bills and made their way back to .500.
The Ravens, like usual, seized an early lead over their. But unlike their highly-criticized second-half M.O., they never relinquished it. By the game’s end, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen observed from the sideline as the Ravens soundly defeated them, 35-10. Below are reactions from the Beatdown staff.
Give the coaching staff credit, they masterfully out-schemed, out-planned and out-coached the Bills. Head Coach John Harbaugh had them prepared to play. Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken ran roughshod on the Bills, starting from the first play from scrimmage. Defensively, Zach Orr schemed to contain the Bills on both fronts and they executed on all but one play, really.
As I answered Buffalo Rumblings’ Matthew Byham’s questions this week: The Ravens — at their best — can go toe-to-toe with anybody.
The Ravens strengths were the Bills’ greatest weaknesses. The players executed, the coaches out-schemed and Harbaugh clearly had this team ready for Buffalo.— Kyle Phoenix
It’s a little early in the season to talk about signature wins, but the Ravens put together their most complete performance of the year against a talented, well-coached Bills squad that had no answers on either side of the ball. Todd Monken continued to unleash the Baltimore’s rushing attack against Buffalo’s light defense, and Zach Orr put Josh Allen in a headlock, stifling the Bills’ ground game and trusting his talent in coverage downfield.
Ravens fans could be forgiven for wondering if Derrick Henry’s 87-yard first-quarter touchdown was fool’s gold, but Orr ensured that Allen and the Bills never had a chance to spark the kind of second-half comeback that has haunted John Harbaugh in recent years. The Bills’ offseason turnover was evident as Allen looked for someone to take some of the burden off of him and make a play downfield. Khalil Shakir bailed him out once, but the Allen magic was otherwise absent amid a constant swarm of Ravens defenders.
Across the last two weeks, the Ravens have found their brand of football: a diverse, dangerous rushing attack with a QB that can layer throws to the intermediate areas of the field for first downs. It might be obvious, but it sure does work, especially against the two-high safety looks that are proliferating across the NFL. The 1-2 start cast a stark cloud over Baltimore, but a dominant primetime win over one of the best teams in football firmly reestablishes the Ravens’ position in the NFL hierarchy. — Nikhil Mehta
The Ravens notched the biggest statement victory of any team thus far this season by dismantling the darling of every national media pundit’s eye on both sides of the ball and in all three phases. On offense, they followed the biggest key to the victory by running it back with a heavy-personnel-led rushing attack to the tune of 200-plus yards for the second week in a row that resulted in another monster game for King Derrick Henry. Todd Monken was in his bag and the offensive line dominated yet again. Reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson outplayed the current MVP favorite in primetime with the whole country watching accounting for 210 yards of total offense and three total touchdowns to Josh Allen’s 201 and no touchdowns. In just his third game on the job, Ravens first-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr called an excellent game and his players executed it to near perfection as they shut down the most efficient and one of the most prolific offenses in the league. They didn’t give up 100 yards rushing and recorded multiple sacks for the third game in a row and forced a turnover. I’m sure the Ravens will be skyrocketing up power rankings after handing out this spanking. — Joshua Reed
It seems like the 2024 Baltimore Ravens have finally rounded into form. The Ravens dismantled the 3-0 Bills on Sunday Night Football, making the clear statement that they’re back and here to stay. The dream duo of Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson was unstoppable tonight as Henry accumulated over 200 yards of offense with Jackson scoring three times. This game felt a little like the 2019 matchup against the New England Patriots on SNF. The undefeated Patriots came to Baltimore and got blitzed by a Ravens team that would go on to win 14 games. Similarly tonight, the Ravens just overpowered Buffalo with a dominant rushing a defensive performance that put the rest of the league on notice. Baltimore has played A+ football for all but one quarter of their last two games and seem like they’re just scratching the surface of what they can accomplish in 2024. — Stephen Bopst
The Ravens came in and reminded the league why they went to the AFC championship game last year and why they were expected to be the best teams in the NFL this year. Lamar Jackson also reminded some media analysts that he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL.
Most importantly, the Ravens put together a second-half performance. Things felt similar after a Jackson fumble and a couple three-and-outs. The defense gave up a big broken play that led to a 21-10 game. It felt all too familiar like that collapse. But the defense locked in for most of the game and shut down one of the hottest offenses in the NFL. A third quarter fumble recovery by Kyle Hamilton led to a momentum changing score. The game was never close after that.
The defense stifled the Bills. Outside of the big broken play that led to a touchdown, the Bills offense only managed one field goal drive. The offense ran the Bills defense to paste. It was complete team win and a stunning show on a national stage. The Ravens are back in talks for winning the division and being one of the AFC, and NFL, teams. — Zach Canter