Four observations from Bills’ dominant Ravens win, asterisk and all

ORCHARD PARK – Feel free to put an asterisk next to the dominant performance put forth by the much-maligned Buffalo Bills defense, but don’t expect them to apologize for the misfortune suffered by the Baltimore Ravens Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium.

The Ravens lost star quarterback Lamar Jackson to a potentially season-ending thumb injury on their first offensive play of the day, and then his backup, Tyler Huntley, went down with a toe injury early in the second quarter.

That left the Ravens in the untenable situation of playing emergency third-string QB Joe Fagnano the rest of the way and it created a feeding frenzy for a Buffalo defense that was ravenously hungry. And yes, it was obviously easier for the Bills’ defense to eat, but plays still needed to be made and Jim Leonhard’s guys made them as Buffalo cruised to a 36-10 victory.

“I don’t want to take away from what the defense did,” linebacker Terrel Bernard said. “They’ve got playmakers on their offense, so I feel like we did a good job. Jim called a great game, we had some things we knew we needed to get cleaned up, and I feel like we did that this week. We communicated well, we did our jobs, and we played four quarters of good football. So I’m excited for the guys.”

The soundttrack of this Buffalo season through six games had been the moaning by fans and media regarding the incompetence of a defense that started the day ranked 30th in points allowed per game and 31st in yards allowed. They had been torched on a weekly basis but because Josh Allen and the offense had been next to unstoppable, the Bills soared to the top of the AFC.

Sunday, the script flipped because while the offense put up 36, it was a struggle into the middle of the third quarter and the Bills maintained a slim lead thanks to their defense.

“I think our defense should look at today and understand that that’s what the expectation is,” coach Joe Brady said of a unit that held the crippled Baltimore offense to 10 points, 10 first downs, 144 total yards, forced three turnovers and had six drives where the Ravens did not gain a first down.

“I’m not talking about the production,” Brady continued, “I’m not talking about the takeaways and sacks. I’m talking about the style that they played, the way that they flew around. I think the silent tape is going to speak loudly tomorrow in terms of the way that they played for one another, the way they ran around, the communication. We challenged them coming off the bye, I thought they responded to it and, and they just kept going.”

Here are my main observations:

Bills blitzed Baltimore into oblivion

One of the keys to the defensive performance was the Bills’ huge uptick in blitzing, though much of that had to do with the mobile Jackson and Huntley being out and the more stationary Fagnano trying to play from the pocket.

Also, the Bills knew the Ravens’ offensive line was compromised because of injuries so they blitzed on 66.7% of the Ravens’ dropbacks, more than double their normal single-game rate this season. That helped lead to four sacks, including a big one by Cole Bishop that knocked Huntley out of the game and forced a fumble that rookie Kaleb Elarms-Orr recovered.

“It’s nice for us to be able to pull our weight,” Bishop said. “I feel like we’ve got to continue to do that. I feel like everybody was just doing their job. Me and Kaleb coming through that B gap and then it’s 2-on-1 on the running back.”

Greg Rousseau led the way with six pressures and a sack as he owned Ravens right tackle Roger Rosengarten, and he was likely helped by the return of Ed Oliver helping to push the pocket from the middle in his return after missing the last two games.

“I think it was just like an adjustment thing,” linebacker Bradley Chubb said of the blitz tactics. “You got a quarterback who wasn’t really expecting to play, or whatever the case is. You kind of got to send the house at him and make him think a little bit more.”

Two DB’s stepped up in a big way

The Bills played without suspended safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and injured nickel corner Dee Alford, and neither player was missed as Damar Hamlin and Te’Cory Couch took their places and probably played better than the starters have all year.

Gardner-Johnson and Alford have both been disappointments after signing as free agents, and after how this game went, you have to wonder if Hamlin and Couch will continue to start.

“T. Couch, he’s been injured, now he’s back and the Dee Alford situation so we need him to be up and for him to be able to make plays on the football with critical tackles and special teams, it’s going to be like that moving forward,” Brady said.

Again, not having Jackson was catastrophic for the Ravens, but that doesn’t fully explain how the Bills blanked Zay Flowers, who had zero catches on five targets. He came into the game as one of only two WRs averaging at least 100 yards per game.

According to Sumer Sports charting, Couch covered Flowers seven times and allowed zero targets, Christian Benford had him five times with two targets, and Hamlin had him five times with one target. Again, no catches.

“It’s really just going out there doing my job,” said Couch, who had been on the practice squad but was signed to the 53-man roster Saturday. “Whatever coach Jim calls, just going to execute at my best ability. And you know, for me, it’s always about winning, winning my one-on-one matchup, and that was just my plan.”

Not to be forgotten, rookie corner Davison Igbinosun – who has clearly taken over for Max Hairston – made the first interception of his career on a ball that was tipped by Bishop, calling the moment “euphoric.”

Tylan Grable held up in place of Spencer Brown

The Bills had to play without their stud right tackle who did not practice all week due to an ongoing back injury that has plagued him for several years. So Grable made the first start of his career in a game that actually mattered. His other two came in Week 18 games when the Bills were resting starters.

Grable saw a steady diet of edge rusher Mike Green and in 14 matchups he allowed just one pressure, one of only two pressures on 42 pass block snaps.

“For him to go in there and me to kind of feel like I didn’t have to call it very differently, the confidence and trust I have in him,” Brady said. “There’s a reason why he’s our third tackle that can play both positions. I thought he was outstanding. That’s hard in the league to win football games and to play backup offensive linemen. Grabes, there was no hesitation and no blink.”

D.J. Moore was back, for now

After missing two games and parts of two others, Moore returned and the offense immediately benefited as he caught four passes for 82 yards including an 11-yarder for a TD and a beautiful 49-yard contested catch on a post that set up a James Cook TD.

However, on his final catch, which converted a fourth down, he suffered what he called a “hyperextension” to his knee. He said after the game he’ll be fine, but he also said that after he initially hurt his shoulder.

“Meant everything,” he said of his return. “Got the jitters out when I first stepped on the field, and then I got the jitters out even more when I fumbled, and I was like, ‘All right, now it’s time to really lock back in and get going.’ So I was nervous at first, and then went out there and just was like, ‘All right, this is the game that I love,’ and was good.”

Allen was thrilled to get his best weapon back.

“The big post is an unbelievable catch,” Allen said. “That’s the type of spark that he gives us, where we don’t have to go on these long sustained drives. He gives us that downfield presence, the run after the catch stuff, and obviously we got to clean up the ball security (Moore lost a fumble). He’s an absolute stud and the more we can get him the ball, the better we are.”

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Four observations from Bills’ dominant Ravens win, asterisk and all