ORCHARD PARK – For the second consecutive week, the Buffalo Bills have a seemingly similar challenge ahead of them when they travel to Baltimore to face the Ravens on Sunday night.
Last week, many – and I’m raising my hand here – thought the Bills were going to struggle against Jacksonville because the Jaguars were coming to town 0-2 and desperate to turn their season around, making them a dangerous opponent. Obviously, it was a pretty silly story because the Bills mocked the Jaguars in a 47-10 shellacking.
However, it’s not crazy to think the same thing when the Bills and Ravens take to the NFL’s biggest stage on Sunday Night Football, because unlike the 3-0 Bills, Baltimore stumbled to a 1 start -2 and is already trailing 3-0. 0 Steelers through two games in the tough AFC North.
“To be honest, every game is a big game for us, because we’re trying to get somewhere,” Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said Sunday after leading a 28-25 victory over the Cowboys to put the Ravens in column W. “We gotta win these games to get to the playoffs, man, and win these playoff games to get to the Super Bowl.” It starts with the game in front of us. So the 0-2 start, we didn’t want that to happen.
The next game that awaits them is Buffalo against a team that has outscored its first three opponents 112-48 and if you care about the power rankings, they have taken first place several times ahead of the defending Super Bowl champions who have been totally unimpressive in their own 3-0 start.
Not that the Bills are paying attention to any of that, especially considering what they have in front of them with three straight road games against expected AFC playoff teams Baltimore, Houston and the Jets.
“What we did here with the Buffalo Bills it’s just about keeping it simple and just playing our game,” edge rusher Von Miller said. “I don’t really just focus on results. Just coming in and playing football, keeping it simple, lowering expectations and just playing our game. And that worked for us, and that’s the type of mindset we have as well. let’s get into this game.”
Here are three questions I have before the Ravens game:
1. Do the Bills have the best boundary CB duo in the league?
It’s way too early to start making this claim, but Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford are playing at an elite level for the Bills. Among the 42 cornerbacks who have played at least 100 snaps in coverage, Pro Football Focus has Benford as the second-highest rated player while Douglas is 20th.
Benford continues to be an incredibly effective player. He was targeted 13 times and allowed just five catches for 26 yards. His 25.4 snaps per reception ranks fourth among corners, and his passer rating of 14.6 is tied for third. When it comes to sixth-round picks, Benford was one of the Bills’ all-time finds, and he essentially erases their failure to first-rounder Kaiir Elam in the same 2022 draft.
“I think he went to a basketball school, Villanova, so I don’t think people were looking for football players there, but he showed up,” Douglas said. “He just has this bad attitude about himself, like every time he comes to play he’s going to make sure you know he’s there. He’s one of the guys who, I say, is very disciplined in what he does.
As for Douglas, he’s allowed seven receptions on 11 targets for 68 yards, and he brings the constant threat of a big play with 19 career interceptions and three fumble recoveries, six of those turnovers coming in just nine games last year for the Bills after he was acquired in a trade from Green Bay.
“Well, they do a good job, and those two have formed a really good relationship that’s been fun to watch,” McDermott said of his tandem that took out first-round pick Marvin Harrison Jr. in of the first game, muting Miami’s dynamic duo. of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, then arrested Christian Kirk, Gabe Davis and another prized rookie first-round pick, Brian Thomas, on Monday. “Rasul hasn’t even been here a full year yet, so I think they’re learning from each other and the experiences they’ve had on and off the field.”
2. Is this the best offensive line of the Josh Allen era?
Yes, and it’s not particularly close. Mitch Morse spent five years as Allen’s center and he was a very good player, and throughout Morse’s stay, Allen also had Dion Dawkins as his left tackle.
However, as the years went by, they lined up with guys such as Daryl Williams, Rodger Saffold, Ike Boettger, Ryan Bates, Jon Feliciano, Quinton Spain, Brian Winters and Cody Ford. Not great, and Allen’s legs were often his saving grace.
Things started to solidify in 2023 when Spencer Brown, in his third season, began to excel at right tackle, left guard Connor McGovern was signed to solidify that spot, and rookie second-round pick O’Cyrus Torrence played every snap in all 17 games and grew considerably throughout the season.
Morse is now gone, but McGovern has slid seamlessly to center, David Edwards has taken over at left guard, Torrence played well against Jacksonville after two tough games, and Dawkins and Brown have been two of the best tackles in the NFL through three weeks . According to PFF rankings, Dawkins and Brown have allowed no sacks and only five total pressures in three games.
Allen was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week and his reaction to that: “It’s too bad our O-line couldn’t win Offensive Player of the Week, because they played hard, and even going back to Week 2, James was able to win that because of what our O line is doing. So, make sure they get some love and they get some praise. They deserve it because they play together, they play very well, they communicate well. It’s easy to play quarterback behind these guys right now because of how hard they work and how well they execute.
3. Do the Bills need more Dalton Kincaid?
Kincaid made two big plays against the Jaguars and they made the same play in the first quarter. He got open for a 28-yard gain on a third-and-3, then finished that drive by extending his route and finding open space while Allen gained time in the pocket, and he recovered the Allen’s pass on the run into the back of the end zone for the touchdown that made the score 13-0.
Beyond that, Kincaid caught another pass for seven yards and was targeted just two other times on his 34 snaps.
The Bills make a lot of noise about their “everyone eats” mentality on offense, but on a team where there is no clear No. 1 receiver, the opportunity for Kincaid, the first-round pick of the team in 2023, becoming a major player is there, but it hasn’t happened yet. It’s been good, but I feel like there could be so much more.
Among the 20 tight ends who have been targeted at least 10 times, Kincaid’s 85 receiving yards rank 13th, and of his eight receptions, only three have produced first downs. Las Vegas rookie tight end Brock Bowers already has 18 catches for 197 yards with 10 first downs, and he’s catching passes from Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell.
Sal Maiorana covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades, including 35 years as a full-time staff writer for the D&C, and he wrote numerous books on the team’s history. He can be reached at [email protected] and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
This article originally appeared on the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills vs. Ravens: 3 questions before Sunday night’s showdown
