By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
So close and yet so far away. The Buffalo Bills hung tough with the Baltimore Ravens, one of the NFL’s best teams in Week 14.In the end, a chance was there, even though the road to get to the end was ugly.
With that, here are five takeaways from the Bills’ 24-17 loss to the Ravens:
Bills make it interesting
The Bills lost. But Buffalo did make things interesting late. After struggling to make it into the Ravens’ territory throughout the game, the Bills offense finally did late and scored. Quarterback Josh Allen hit Cole Beasley with a pass on the goal line and then the Bills went for the two-point conversion and completed it, once again to Cole Beasley.
Defensively, the Bills then forced a three-and-out after cutting into the lead. Linebacker Lorenzo Alexander had a huge play in that series, breaking up a third-down pass which would have gone for a first down.
On the next offensive Bills drive, the Bills didn’t look great. Running back Devin Singletary had an impressive run or two, but the Bills were bailed out by some penalties.
Regardless, in the end, the Bills had a look at it. Not many expected this to be a one-score game with the explosive Ravens in town and the Bills hung around enough to likely earn some respect since both teams played ugly at times.
Tough day for Josh Allen
Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen had his first head-to-head meeting with fellow 2018 first-round QB draftee, Lamar Jackson, and Allen didn’t play well. Making matters worse was Allen’s struggles from the get-go. Of course, things aren’t all on the quarterback, but Allen missed his opportunities when they were there. In the first half, Allen had at least three chances to connect on deep balls that would have put points on the board. Instead, Buffalo failed to score a touchdown in the game until late in the fourth quarter, converting on three field goals instead when the game was within reach.
Early, Allen was 1-for-8 passing and ended the first half 8-for-17. Against such a strong opponent, opportunities weren’t going to be handed to Allen over and over. He needed to take advantage of them and throw the ball away when possible. The Bills QB finished the game 17-for-39 pass for 146 yards and one touchdown.
Offensive line… woof
And here we are. When we said it wasn’t just on Josh Allen, we meant the offensive line. Perhaps a case or two could be made for receivers not getting open for Allen, but by comparison, Allen was the one running for safety all throughout the game.
In total, Allen was sacked six times in the game, and on one occasion, he was strip sacked and the Bills lost the ball thanks to linebacker Matt Judon. In regard to quarterback hits, double that. The Ravens had 12 shots on Allen in this one. Allen himself wasn’t great, but he was never able to really get into a rhyme or build any confidence with completions as the Ravens got plenty of pressure to him. Even late in the game, the Bills shot themselves in the foot with costly sacks and even a late penalty.
Lamar contained
When it was all said and done… the Bills defense certainly did their part… for the most part. The Ravens have an explosive offense and fantastic playmaker in Lamar Jackson under center. Everyone knew the Ravens would get some points, but a shootout never ensued.
While the offense struggled early, the gap never got too excessive. The defense forced three-and-outs and gave the offense some chances, including the mentioned late opportunity. While this might be something observers of the Bills are used to, many teams in the NFL this season have seen their defense have success and get absolutely toasted by the Ravens. Buffalo didn’t and proved itself against the best offense in the league, even intercepting the oft-cautious Lamar Jackson, who only had five interceptions entering the game, and had not thrown one since Week 5. He couldn’t even muster 50 yards of rushing in the game.
Overall, Jackson was 16-for-25 passing for 145 yards with three touchdowns and the interception. Jackson rushed for only 40 yards on 11 carries.
Tight ends eat up the Bills
The Bills are often a strong defense at defending opposing tight ends. The Ravens are among the NFL’s best teams in getting their tight ends involved in the gameplan and they still found a way to do so against Buffalo. Two tight ends scored against the Bills.
First, Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson rolled out and found Nick Boyle with a flip on the goal line and he scored. While an impressive flip, nobody was near Boyle on the play and he walked right into the end zone. Former first-round pick Hayden Hurst also did massive damage with a 61-yard score. On a route up the seam, Jackson completed a pass impressively while being hit by Shaq Lawson. It looked like a broken coverage as the tight end was pretty much wide out and showed some good speed in beating Buffalo’s safety Jordan Poyer to the end zone.