Bills’ defense fueled by naysayers in win vs. Jackson, Ravens

ORCHARD PARK, NY — The Buffalo Bills were well aware of the outside noise.

There were question marks and discussions held online and on television before the Bills’ divisional round game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday about how this defense would fare against quarterback Lamar Jackson, running back Derrick Henry and the rest of the Ravens’ offense.

The Bills’ defensive players used it to help fuel their performances. While the Ravens’ offense was able to get into a second half groove, the Bills, aided by some Ravens miscues, were able to do enough to secure a 27-25 victory to advance to the AFC Championship Game against Kansas City Chiefs. This will be the team’s second AFC Championship appearance in the past 30 seasons.

“Our guys heard it all — they heard it all week long. We’re not big enough, we’re not strong enough. Not talented enough. Whatever it is, they heard it,” coach Sean McDermott said. “I don’t do the social media stuff, but I think most of those guys do. And look, we did, I think, in the first half, a pretty good job. The second half, (Henry) got going a little bit And he’s going to jump some runs I mean when he gets that momentum he’s hard to stop So but even there we could have done some things better and I think basically so when we just see on this game , it came down to fundamentalism in football. And we talked about that a lot.”

The Bills held Henry to 84 rushing yards compared to 199 yards in the Ravens’ 35-10 Week 4 win, with the availability of linebackers Terrel Bernard and Matt Milano and nickel cornerback Taron Johnson important to this unit after all three missed the first meeting. The Ravens’ offense rushed for 176 yards on 20 carries, and the Ravens had nine runs of 10-plus yards.

The Bills were aided by several drops and miscues by the Baltimore offense, most notably on tight end Mark Andrews’ dropped 2-point conversion attempt, but the defense also took advantage, coming away with three takeaways against a team that had 11 turnovers all regular season. The Bills’ offense was then able to score touchdowns on three of four possessions in the first half, in addition to the unit not turning the ball over.

The Bills have gone 21 straight games including the playoffs without losing a turnover game, tying the longest such streak in NFL history (the Rams also did it from 1952 to ’53).

“We don’t listen to the outside noise, but everybody was saying this and that about us and that we didn’t have enough talent, weren’t good enough to be in those positions, and our guys just keep working hard and we’re internally driven,” quarterback Josh Allen said. “We love each other and I think you saw how much we played for each other there.”

In the first half, the Bills held Baltimore to just 10 points despite the Ravens outscoring the Bills in a number of areas. Turnovers were key for the unit, including safety Taylor Rapp (who left the game with a hip injury) intercepting Jackson, and safety Damar Hamlin sacking Jackson and linebacker Von Miller recording the ensuing fumble.

The Bills’ defense found success by overpowering Jackson on 13 of 31 dropbacks (42%) and pressuring him on eight of those dropbacks (62% pressure percentage when the Bills blitzed).

“We take a lot of pride in what we do here as a defense,” defensive end AJ Epenesa said. “Just speaking as a defense, we were told all week how they were going to do this, how they were going to do that, and that, I’d like to say, fueled us a little bit. We started this game a little bit hotter than we have done earlier and that’s something we’ve been focusing on and now we’ve got to do it in the second half, start the second half hot and do things like that. But to come in with that fire and to like we started, I think , that’s good.”

The Ravens were able to score on three of four possessions in the second half — with Bernard saying the team was motivated all week, forcing a fumble on the second drive — to get back within two of an 11 deficit point. . But the bills ended up having just enough.

“Some of it was ugly, some of it looked good, but at the end of the day we got the win and I think there was a little extra motivation,” tight end Dawson Knox said. “Especially being, I think the first time, the Bills (are) underdogs at home in the playoffs … a little extra can of worms or whatever you want to call it.”

Next up for the Bills: Getting past the most familiar foes. They’ll have a chance to avenge past losses once again, this time at Arrowhead Stadium against No. 1 seed Chiefs, a team that has beaten Buffalo in the postseason in all three meetings with Allen and Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, including the 2020 AFC Championship Game. Allen and Mahomes are now tied for the second-most meetings between two starting quarterbacks in NFL postseason history (Tom Brady and Peyton Manning lead the list with five meetings).

The Bills defeated the Chiefs 30-21 earlier this season at Orchard Park.

“Yeah, man, it’s super exciting,” Hamlin said. “Playing for an AFC championship is kind of crazy to think about and I feel like it’s only right to go up there and play them. They’ve been what, two-time reigning Super Bowl champions. Back-to-back. No. 1 seed this year, best record in the NFL. So it’s only right that you go through Arrowhead.