S Jordan Poyer
While the Bills defense did play well, the lone blemish on them was their defending of big plays the Ravens made. Sometimes it’s hard, but like with Stephen Hauschka, if we’re going to mention one end of the spectrum, we’ll mention another.
Safety Jordan Poyer did lead the Bills with 10 tackles against the Ravens. Two more than the next closest (Tremaine Edmunds). But two of the Ravens’ scores saw Poyer right there. Jackson scored on a flip pass to tight end Nick Boyle. On the play, Poyer was in pursuit of Jackson and didn’t realize Boyle was open until a second before the pass. Then Jackson was hit as he threw the ball to tight end Hayden Hurst and on that play down the seam, there was some sort of mix up between Poyer and fellow safety Micah Hyde as that one went down as a 61-yard score. If anything, we’re holding the Bills safety to an elite level of expectations, something he’s earned.
Offensive line
And the easiest saved for last. Numerous members of the Bills offensive line looked bad in this one. This comes down to scheming by offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, too. But the Bills did little on-field adjusting or just did a really bad version of it as Josh Allen was sacked six times and hit 12 times, in total, in the game. Mitch Morse was supposed to come in this offseason and help with these on-field adjustments. Quinton Spain took a crucial late penalty which nearly stalled a drive, too. The interior of the Bills line was manhandled at times.
Some holes were found in the running game, but overall, a yuck performance from the offensive line which saw 12 tackles for loss to go along with those 12 quarterback hits as well.
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