Coming out of their bye week, the Buffalo Bills needed to get off to a fast start against the Baltimore Ravens and they managed to score on their opening drive to set the tone.
However, the real big test was going to be focused on the Bills' defense as Lamar Jackson was set to make his return from missing the last 3 games. Baltimore's offense definitely needed Jackson back, but they only had him for 1 play as he suffered a thumb injury that didn't just knock him out of the game, but he now needs surgery on it which has landed him on the IR, according to Ravens head coach Jessie Minter, per Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Banner.
Once Jackson went out, Tyler Huntley stepped in and while he got a little bit of playing time, he would then be knocked out of the game with what is being described as a turf toe injury, per ESPN's Adam Schefter. So, that left the Ravens with just Joe Fagnano who was the emergency third quarterback to step in and operate this Baltimore offense.
Buffalo's defense didn't change approach despite Ravens' QB troubles
The Bills left Week 8 with a 36-10 win over the Ravens, and there are plenty of reactions that you could have. However, one of the main storylines this season for the Bills has been how bad their defense has been.
They have been very bad against the pass (allowing 285 passing yards per game coming into Week 8). Now, their run-defense has been in the middle of the pack but it's a significant improvement from last season.
Now I get it, the Ravens' offensive approach was completely thrown off with the loss of both Jackson and Huntley. At the same time, this is the NFL and it is a next man up type of league, but the Bills didn't allow the Ravens to get into a rhythm of any kind after they put up 10 points.
The Bills had just a one-score lead on the Ravens at one point, but then once a James Cook rushing touchdown made it 23-10, the Bills never let the Ravens in scoring position from there on out.
Week 8 shows Bills fans that the defense can play complimentary football (but with an exception)
Throughout this season, the Bills' defense has allowed opponents to stay in the game and let the game get down to the wire. It's been restless at times, and DC Jim Leonhard had taken on a lot of heat for it.
Even though the Bills ended up playing an emergency QB3 for a majority of the game, Buffalo still managed to play some great defensive football and didn't fall into a trap with the first two Ravens quarterbacks going down.
Overall, the Bills' defense only allowed 144 total yards of offense. They also only allowed the Ravens to convert on 23% of their 3rd-down conversions. Baltimore also went 1/3 in the redzone which shows how inefficient they were as a unit.
Buffalo forced 3 turnovers (2 fumbles and 1 interception), 4 sacks, and 12 QB hits. In addition, the Ravens only rushed for 76 yards as a team.
Again, I don't want to get all excited about having this kind of game against a team that clearly didn't have their best players. At the same time, it was encouraging to see Buffalo's defense finally making plays and not allowing teams to score on them constantly.
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