Oct 2, 2022; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) runs as Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey (44) defends during the third quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
NFL: Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens
Since last Sunday, the Bills and their fans have had a bad taste in their mouth from a last second loss to the Miami Dolphins. That continued through the first two quarters of this Sunday’s game versus the Baltimore Ravens. The Bills quite literally did everything wrong early on, and quickly found themselves down 20-3. The offense was out of sync from the first snap, committed two costly turnovers, and couldn’t get anything going at all. Thanks to Buffalo’s bend-don’t don’t break defense, they were able to hang in there and eventually get things rolling. In the final drive of the first half, Josh Allen flipped a switch, washed the horrible start away, and began the comeback.
Allen mounted an 11-play drive that ended in a touchdown pass to Isaiah McKenzie. That pulled the Bills within 10 at halftime, and from then on, Josh Allen went into Josh Allen mode and took over the game. It was not his prettiest game on the stat sheet, but Allen made multiple huge plays when they were needed and was the entire offense. Allen finished with 213 passing yards, one touchdown, an interception, 70 rushing yards, and a rushing touchdown. Continuously converting important third downs, evading sacks, and simply put, doing ridiculous Josh Allen things, while capping it off with a game winning drive; it was an MVP caliber performance from Allen to make sure his team got the win. The Bills scored 17 unanswered points and are now 21-1 when Josh Allen has both a passing touchdown and rushing touchdown in a game. Allen has also now tied Peyton Manning for the fourth-most total touchdowns all-time in a players first five seasons with 147. He also now joins Cam Newton and Russel Wilson as the only quarterbacks ever to record 15,000+ passing yards, and 2,500+ rushing yards in their first five career seasons.
On the other end, the Bills’ defense who is still missing some key players, was phenomenal in the second half. In the first half, Lamar Jackson was 12-16, for 108 passing yards and a touchdown. In the second half, the Ravens were held scoreless as Jackson went 8-13, for 36 yards, and two interceptions. Lamar has only been held scoreless in the second half one other time, it was in the 2020 playoffs, also against the Bills. Jackson’s second interception was costly, as it kept the game tied, and allowed Allen to chew clock and mount the game winning drive. On fourth and goal, Jackson was flushed from the pocket and kept the play alive with his feet, backpedaling and desperately looking for an open man. Devin Duvernay shook himself wide open in the back of the endzone. All-Pro safety Jordan Poyer quickly realized and began a mad dash to Duvernay. He arrived just in time and made the play of the game, picking it off to halt a Ravens drive that started on their own 4-yard line and scoring no points. In three games played this season, Poyer now has four interceptions and leads the league.
The reason the Ravens went for it on fourth-down instead of kicking a field goal? Josh Allen in MVP mode struck fear into head coach John Harbaugh who did not trust his defense. Bills’ cornerback Taron Johnson was confused as to why the Ravens went for it but said, “At the end of the day we’ve got Josh (Allen) on the other side of the field, so it kind of made sense why they wanted to score a touchdown.” Through 4 games this season, the Bills have only allowed a wild seven points total in the second half. This win also quiets the narrative that was buzzing about Buffalo not being able to win close games. The Bills look to continue getting healthy again and will battle the Steelers in week five.
