AFC Game Of The Week
Buffalo Bills at Baltimore Ravens
Bills: After steamrolling their first 2 opponents, they had a tough test in Florida with the Miami Dolphins. Tell me if you’ve heard this come out of my mouth or if you’ve ever read this out of anything I wrote: The Buffalo Bills depend on Josh Allen way too much for my liking. Until they decide to display a little bit of balance on the offensive side, they will continue to run into problems come January and they won’t advance far in the postseason. When will we see them get physical in the trenches and run downhill? I know for a fact they’re capable of doing it. Let me rewind it back to some numbers from that game last week. The first set of stats to get out of the way. Josh threw the football a total of 63 times. You read that correctly. That’s overkill in my eyes. I understand the league is so pass-happy but throwing it that many times is setting yourself up to lose the game. Don’t you all hear me say that my pet peeve in football is when the Quarterback is also your leading rusher? That’s what the case was on Sunday for them. When they have it clicking, the offense has no issues. The defense has been grabbing my attention because they are the top-ranked defense once again in the league. As formidable as they are, the injuries have been piling up. If they have some of those missing pieces on the field last week, they win that game. They will look to bounce back on Sunday in Baltimore.
Ravens: I like how they were able to bounce back after losing a tough game in week 2 against the Miami Dolphins. After blowing a big lead, teams can come out with that chip on their shoulder and play angry the following week and they handled their business against the New England Patriots winning by 11 points. Let’s say the season were to end today, Lamar Jackson would have my vote for the MVP award. He’s taken that chance and bet on himself. So far, it’s paying off. In the first 3 games of the year, Lamar has thrown 10 touchdown passes which leads the league. The usual plan to limit the offense is to load the box and crowd the line of scrimmage. This year, Lamar has made defenses pay when defenses do that and that tells me he’s improving how he reads defenses. The Ravens have a top-4 offense in the league averaging 33 points per game. I like what Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman is putting together with the balance on display. Whenever I think of Baltimore Ravens football, defense comes to mind. They always have an elite unit. Last season, the secondary was injured and had a ton of injuries. This year, they’re healthy, but still have issues in the secondary. They’ve been susceptible to giving up the big play down the field and you see the vulnerabilities in the backend. Maybe last week’s performance can help turn the page because they forced 4 turnovers. They’ll return home Sunday for a big game in the AFC.
Bills X-Factor: Devin Singletary– I’m going out on a limb here and making Devin my X-Factor for this game. He would be a 1,000-yard rusher if the Bills decided to be smart and feed him the football. When he gets his carries, he can make a difference. I see people on Twitter say the Bills should draft a Running Back and I’ll respond and say not at all, they have one. Make him more of a point of emphasis for this offense because he can help take that pressure off Josh. Also, the Ravens are struggling to stop the run so far this year.
Ravens X-Factor: Odafe Oweh– Another thing affiliated with Ravens defenses is a pass rusher. They’ve always had a guy who can get after the Quarterback. They knew they were continuing that trend when they drafted this kid from Penn State. The Ravens must boost their pass rush and it starts with Oweh. He’s been on the field for more than 80 percent of the team’s defensive snaps but has yet to record a sack. With an elite Quarterback in town, that should change on Sunday afternoon. The Ravens are tied for 12th in the league with 7 sacks.
Final Thoughts: This should be fun. Both Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson will always be linked to each other. They’re both members of the same draft class (2018). Entering this game, Lamar leads the league in touchdown passes and Josh is 2nd right behind him. The Ravens must find a way to contain Josh, plain and simple. He’s so dangerous as a dual-threat and can hurt a defense in so many ways if you don’t get to him early on and often. With the injuries to the Bills defense, look for the offense to overcompensate for the holes in Buffalo’s secondary meaning they will sustain long drives. I’ll also be watching this Buffalo defensive front against Lamar Jackson. This Buffalo defensive front is fast, and they play downhill. The Ravens secondary will be tested against these Buffalo receivers.
Prediction: Bills 34, Ravens 30
