Ravens set early tone in beatdown of Bills, show what they’re capable of going forward
BALTIMORE — Long before quarterback Lamar Jackson jogged onto the field and the Baltimore Ravens ran their first offensive play from their 13-yard line, they had decided exactly how they wanted to start.
In the team's offensive meetings during the week when the script for the first possession was revealed, coordinator Todd Monken said if the Buffalo Bills aligned a certain way, the Ravens were going to begin with a "crunch" run concept that, when executed, can take advantage of an aggressive defensive front that quickly gets upfield.
Lined up in the pistol with running back Derrick Henry 2 yards behind him, Jackson and his teammates scanned across the line of scrimmage and immediately realized they had the right play call.
"If we got the look, we're going to run it," said center Tyler Linderbaum . "If we didn't, we're going to can it. We got the look and I think everyone did a good job of blocking their guy, and then Derrick made a guy miss out of the gate."
Eighty-seven yards later, and after the 30-year-old, 247-pound Henry hit a maximum speed of 21.29 mph on the longest run in Ravens history, the tone had been set.
The Ravens never relented in their 35-10 beatdown of the previously undefeated Bills in front of a prime-time audience and 70,636 at M&T Bank Stadium , a result that not only steadies the team after its rocky start but shows what it could be capable of going forward.
"It's the start of it," said Jackson, wearing a wide smile for much of his postgame media availability. "We got the running game going, but the receivers, they did their part. Just the type of game we had to run the ball more. They were playing two high (safeties), and Derrick just did what he was supposed to do, and the offensive line as well."
This was the Ravens at their best in all three phases, displaying the type of form that, if maintained, makes them a significant threat to be playing for a Lombardi Trophy. They racked up 427 total yards of offense, 271 coming on the ground, including 199 by Henry, who had a rushing and receiving touchdown. Baltimore scored touchdowns on its first three possessions, persevered through a lull late in the second quarter that extended into the third, and then dropped the hammer on the Bills with two consecutive touchdown drives spanning the third and fourth quarters.
Defensively, the Ravens constantly harassed Josh Allen , who perhaps was playing the quarterback position better than anyone in football over the first three weeks, until Bills coach Sean McDermott waived the white flag and pulled Allen with his team trailing 35-10 and just over seven minutes remaining. The Bills had a glimmer of hope when they cut the Ravens' lead to 21-10 early in the third quarter, but Kyle Van Noy 's strip-sack of Allen on a Buffalo trick play all but extinguished it.
"It was kind of like the last fight, I guess, (that) they had," said Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton .
There would be no late-game letdown by Baltimore on this night.
"A big-ass win," said Ravens outside linebacker Odafe Oweh , who had one of the team's three sacks and two of its eight quarterback hits. "I'm just happy that we started dominant and finished dominant."
The Ravens held a Bills team that averaged 37.3 points and 329 yards per game to one third-quarter touchdown — and it took a miraculous 52-yard throw by Allen as he was falling out of bounds to set it up. Buffalo finished with just 236 yards of offense and averaged only 4.1 yards per play. In comparison, the Ravens averaged 7.9.
Baltimore's special teams did its part as well, never allowing Buffalo to get any momentum. The performance was thorough and resounding. The Ravens led by seven just over four minutes into the game, by 11 after the first play of the second quarter, by 18 at halftime and by 25 less than four minutes into the fourth.
"I really think it shows what a group of men — a group of people — are capable of," said Ravens coach John Harbaugh. "One, they just put their heads down, they don't worry about what people are saying, and they decided they are going to go to work every single day. They're going to meet, they're going to work on football and they're going to practice the way they're supposed to practice. And when you do that as a football team, you have a chance to improve, and we have done that. Now we know we are just getting better. We know what's possible, we know what we're capable of, but we have a long way to go, and we have a lot of work to do."
At 2-2, the Ravens have dug out of their worst start to a season since 2015. Another test in the form of the division rival Cincinnati Bengals awaits in six days in the Queen City. But Sunday provided the 2024 template for the Ravens, who have always been at their best when following the lead of their run game. Jackson just happens to have an extremely dynamic partner in the backfield this year in the form of Henry, who is gaining traction with his new team each passing week.
"That's kind of always what we've been about if you look back at the history of the organization," Harbaugh said. "Running the ball and playing great defense, and then we have weapons. We're blessed with weapons. (Lamar) just walked in here right now. He's the best weapon in football right there, and everybody rallies around him, and he distributes to everybody else. That's where it starts, but the run game is massively important to us."
Can the Ravens win a Super Bowl while relying so heavily on their run game? Maybe not. But it hasn't been about that for the past two weeks. It's been about finding an offensive identity to lift the team out of its tough start and taking advantage of the weaknesses of opponents. The Dallas Cowboys had a banged-up interior defensive line and struggled to stop the run. So the Ravens ran the ball 45 times for 274 yards in a 28-25 victory that shouldn't have been that close.
The Bills like to load the field with defensive backs and rely heavily on their nickel and dime packages. They also were missing their top two inside linebackers and nickel corner. So the Ravens ran the ball early and often. When they did pass — Jackson was 13-of-18 for 156 yards, two touchdowns and a 135.4 passer rating — they attacked Buffalo in the middle of the field.
"I like what Coach (Monken) was doing tonight," said Jackson, who added 54 rushing yards and a touchdown on just six carries. "He kept the defense honest. We were going to (shot) gun, being under center in the play-action game, the run game. Just good across the board."
And physical. Nowhere was that more evident than on the 87-yard Henry run that got the party started. It was a blocking clinic from the offensive line to the fullback to the tight ends to the receivers. It didn't appear that Henry was even touched.
"I felt pretty good about that play all week," Henry said. "Justice (Hill) and everybody in the room were talking about how that play is always successful since they've been here — it's always been explosive. I was anticipating it, but I'm glad that they did a great job. I just had to make one cut and get into the end zone."
On the play, rookie Roger Rosengarten , making his first career start at right tackle, kept the Bills' Greg Rousseau from filling a hole inside. Right guard Daniel Faalele let defensive tackle Ed Oliver penetrate and slid over to occupy DaQuan Jones . Fullback Patrick Ricard picked up an onrushing Oliver. Linderbaum got to the next level, where he handled linebacker Dorian Williams .
Patrick Mekari , making his first career start at left guard, slid to his left and handled A.J. Epenesa , which allowed left tackle Ronnie Stanley to get upfield and erase linebacker Baylon Spector . Tight end Mark Andrews then made sure safety Taylor Rapp couldn't make the play. All that was left was for Henry to outrace defensive backs Damar Hamlin , Christian Benford and Cam Lewis to the end zone.
Through four weeks, Henry leads the NFL with 480 rushing yards. His 6.0 yards per carry is a career high. He also already has six total touchdowns.
"If today doesn't show that I'm comfortable, then I don't know what else to say," Henry said. "It's been fun. We didn't start the way we wanted to, but like I told those guys, this is why I came here, because of the culture. Our back is against the wall, 0-2. We just kept believing. We kept fighting, and now we're back where we want to be, and let's just keep building on this one in all three phases."
(Photo: Tommy Gilligan / Imagn Images)
