We’ve got another week of Buffalo Bills football coming your way. Additionally, it will be back in Orchard Park against a very familiar opponent. The Bills are set to host the Baltimore Ravens in a Week 4 rematch where the Ravens gave the Bills their worst loss of the season, beating them 35-10. They are two totally different teams now.
The Bills are coming off a dominant 31-7 win over the Denver Broncos where we saw their offense put up over 470 yards of total offense. The Broncos had a tough defense, but they were exposed by Josh and company. In addition to Allen playing like the real MVP of the league, running back James Cook played like he was the best back in football.
The Bills rushed for 210 yards, with Cook leading the way with 120 yards and Buffalo’s first touchdown of the game. He became the first Bill since Thurman Thomas in 1995 to rush for over 100 yards in a playoff game, per the Bills PR X account.
In order for a team to have success, they have to establish the run to open up the passing game. However, the Bills could run into a big problem against the Ravens, which could ultimately affect Cook and the rushing attack.
Ravens run-defense could present major challenges for Bills rushing attack
Even though the Ravens’ pass-defense is very inconsistent, their run-defense is among the top of the league. They’ve only allowed 100+ rushing yards in five games (two resulted in a loss). Baltimore only gave up 81 yards on the ground to the Bills back in Week 4, which completed limited the Bills for all four quarters.
On the other sideline, Buffalo has been effective running the ball this season. They have rushed for 2,230 yards in the regular season, not including the 210 yards they ran for against Denver. However, Joe Brady will have to be creative to get past this Ravens defense that completely embarrassed Buffalo in the regular season. It may have to require to steer away from the rushing attack.
If the Bills are not able to get the run game going early on, it’s going to hurt the passing game which will heavily limit Josh Allen and the offense. Buffalo cannot afford to depend on their defense to win this game. Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are too good to put all of the faith in Buffalo’s defense. In order to take pressure off of the defense and allow them to play freely, it will be on Brady and the offense to make it happen.
This game is going to come down to perfect complimentary football. If the Bills are able to master it, they will come out of this game as winners.