Buffalo Bills NFL podcast following Week 14 24-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
The Buffalo Bills fell to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at New Era Field, 24-17. It certainly wasn’t the Bills’ finest game offensively, but there is a lot of optimism and growth than can come from a loss like this.
No, this isn’t the Bills first loss in 2019. The reason that this loss feels differently though, is that the Bills hung tough with the NFL’s finest team.
The Baltimore Ravens offense has been one of the most explosive forces in 2019, and have been a delight to watch as a fan. The Bills defense contained the young and very spry Lamar Jackson on the ground, perhaps laying a blueprint for a future team, or even themselves, to continue to restrict Jackson”s scrambling ability.
The problem though, Lamar Jackson can throw pretty well, and in tight spaces. Jackson torched the Bills secondary on a blown coverage touchdown to tight end Hayden Hurst, and several mid-range passes, but overall, the defense did it’s job. Held the hottest and one of the highest scoring offenses to a reasonable score. Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t take advantage.
The team is already looking ahead, as they have a big Sunday Night Football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team that is also currently in the playoff picture, and looking to improve their spot. The Bills have a competitive, but not overwhelming final three game stretch, including a Patriots team, that of course shouldn’t be overlooked, but is not having their best season in quite some time, despite their record.
Here’s the latest episode of The Bills Wire Podcast following the Bills’ loss to the Ravens:
Everything you need to know about the Baltimore Ravens, the Buffalo Bills’ Week 14 opponent.
Dec 1, 2019; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) runs during the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
The Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens square off this Sunday in a match up of AFC Heavyweights in Orchard Park. The Ravens are the hottest team in the NFL right now, defeating the Patriots and the 49ers over the last month. For the Bills, the chance to hang with a team of this caliber, is one to salivate at.
Here is all of the history that you need to know between the Ravens and Bills to get you ready for Sunday:
Since the Ravens inception in 1996, these two have played the Bills eight times.
They first played on Halloween in 1999, with the Bills getting a narrow 13-10 victory.
Their most recent encounter was the season opener just last year. The Ravens won 47-3 in that game.
Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson both made their NFL regular season debuts in last years game. Allen came in for a struggling Nate Peterman after he failed to move the offense down field, and Lamar was given the opportunity to get repetitions after the Ravens were well ahead.
The Ravens lead the all-time series, 5-3 , outscoring the Bills 180 to 112 in those eight encounters.
2019 So Far
Baltimore is way ahead of what many experts thought that they would be. Lamar Jackson’s growth, combined with excellent coaching from the Ravens staff, has propped the Ravens up as the best team in the NFL currently. Greg Roman, their offensive coordinator, is the dual-threat quarterback whisperer, and has this Ravens offense exciting to watch, and efficient, utilizing well sold trickery and misdirection.
After a good start, which saw them begin the season 2-2 with a blow out victory over Miami, a close victory over the Cardinals, and losses to Kansas City and division rival Cleveland, Baltimore hasn’t looked back since. Garnering eight straight wins, the Ravens have mostly dominated, with seemingly no end in sight.
Their major victories have been giving the Patriots their first loss of 2019 on primetime television, a double-digit victory over the Seattle Seahawks, led by another MVP candidate in Russell Wilson, lopsided victories over the Texans and Rams, and most recently, a strong four quarter effort to defeat the San Francisco 49ers.
It’s safe to say that 2019 has been good for the Baltimore Ravens. They currently sit at second in total offense, behind the Cowboys. Baltimore has accumulated 5,049 yards of total offense this season, with one fewer game than the Cowboys currently. Although they haven’t really needed too, they are the 26th ranked passing offense, with 2,555 yards passing for Jackson. By a long shot, they are the number one rushing offense, with 2,494 rushing yards in total, over 700 rushing yards ahead of the second best rushing offense, who they defeated in last week.
The Ravens also happen to be the highest scoring offense, by nearly 60 points ahead of the 49ers, who come in at number two. Baltimore is tied at first with Seattle for 26 passing touchdowns, and first in rushing touchdowns with 18.
Jackson comes in 18th for passing yard leaders this year, with 2,532 passing yards, just 59 yards behind Josh Allen. His 25 passing touchdowns are good for second in that category, only one touchdown behind Russell Wilson. Jackson is also 11th in completion percentage, with 66.5%. He’s doing well in the interception category as well, throwing only five this year, tied for 23rd with Matthew Stafford, Gardner Minshew, and Joe Flacco.
As for rushers, Jackson is in the top-10 of the NFL, 977 yards for him on the ground, with a good chance of crossing 1,000 this Sunday, averaging 81.4 yards per game. Mark Ingram, the starting running back, is not far behind, sitting at 12th with 837 rushing yards. Ingram has been a complementary and integral part of the offense, not only with yardage and production, but with selling fake handoffs. Gus Edwards sits at 32nd in yardage with 460 yards.
Obviously, with such a run heavy team, receivers aren’t having “career-years,” but it does not matter, they are doing their part to put their team in a winning position. Tight end Mark Andrews leads receiving for Baltimore, with 693 receiving yards, coming in at 32nd in the NFL. Andrews is fourth amongst tight ends however, just behind Travis Kelce, Darren Waller and Zach Ertz.
Marquise Brown is the leading wide receiver for the team. The rookie sensation is 58th in receiving yards with 520 yards by air, and six touchdowns of his own. Willie Snead is the next closest, ranked 125th with only 289 yards.
Historically, Baltimore has always been a defensive heavy team, and this year is no different. Despite losing some talented players, they traded for Marcus Peters and have a very young, and talented defense. The Ravens are currently the seventh ranked defense, allowing 3,881 yards against them. They are the 11th ranked passing defense, giving up 2,742 yards by air, and are the sixth ranked rush defense, allowing 1,139 yards on the ground. Baltimore is also the fourth ranked defense in points allowed, giving up 219 points so far, just behind the Buffalo Bills.
This Sunday has a big game feel to it. Sure, the Bills just defeated the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, with the National Spotlight firmly on them, but there is something special about this game against Baltimore.
This Sunday has a big game feel to it. Sure, the Bills just defeated the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, with the national spotlight firmly on them, but there is something special about this game against the Ravens.
How do you gameplan for a team of the caliber and level that the Ravens are playing at right now? It’s not as easy as it would seem. The Ravens offense is unique, and it’s key piece, the sophomore sensation Lamar Jackson, is having an MVP-caliber season. His speed, combined with his growing passing ability, and the offensive units ability to sell fake out plays, has stumped the best defensive coordinators across the NFL, including one of the greatest minds in pro football history, Bill Belichick.
The challenge is one that the Bills are certainly up for, and another opportunity to prove that they’re for real. The coordinators and players have their work cut out for them. In this episode, podcast hosts Matt and Jeremy examine what they believe that the Bills have to do to try and slow down one of the fastest offenses running in the NFL.
Boykin caught 77 passes and 11 touchdowns at Notre Dame but I’ll always remember this block before anything else he did in blue and gold.
With the Baltimore Ravens playing on and owning Monday Night Football this week it meant for a chance for the nation to get a closeup of MVP-frontrunner, Lamar Jackson. Before we get to the Notre Dame connection to this game let me just say that his meteoric rise to super-stardom makes me incredibly happy to be wrong about what he might be able to do in the NFL.
He’s not only the most exciting player going this season but he’s also got to be the favorite to win the MVP award after doing what he did to the Patriots a couple weeks ago on Sunday Night Football and again for his five touchdown passes and complete domination of the Rams on Monday Night Football.
Now to the Notre Dame side of this game:
Miles Boykin must have a thing for the Los Angeles Coliseum. In last year’s regular season finale you may remember what he did to spring Tony Jones, Jr. to the end zone to clinch a 12-0 regular season.
Boykin caught 77 passes and 11 touchdowns at Notre Dame but I’ll always remember this block before anything else he did in blue and gold.
It may have been out of hand at this point but its remarkable to me how Boykin’s highlight catch tonight occurs in almost the exact same spot as his block, nearly exactly a year to the day, that sent the Fighting Irish to their first College Football Playoff appearance. (Shoutout to Austin Hough of The Goshen News for pointing that out to me on Twitter).
I also wouldn’t be doing my proper work if I didn’t send mad-praise the way of Ronnie Stanley who has been an absolute monster for the Ravens and is a huge reason their downright nasty rushing attack works as well as it does.
The Ravens now sit at 9-2 on the season and atop the AFC North standings. Along with Boykin and Stanley, former Notre Dame corner back Bennett Jackson, Jr. is also currently on the Ravens roster.
Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has now played a full season’s worth of games, so now is the time to analyze how he’s done so far
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has hit a benchmark in his career. With nine regular-season games down in the 2019 season added to the seven he started last year, Jackson has finally started a full 16 games in the NFL. A full season’s worth of stats now on his resume allows us to better review how he’s done thus far.
Take a look at Jackson’s regular-season stats during his first 16 career starts:
Lamar Jackson passing stats:
Comp
Att
Comp%
Yds
TDs
TD%
INTs
INT%
Rating
267
425
62.8
3,237
21
4.9%
8
1.9%
94.8
Lamar Jackson rushing stats:
Att
Yds
YPC
TDs
225
1,258
5.59
10
While the amount of passing yards isn’t spectacular in today’s NFL, considering quarterbacks regularly throw for over 4,000 yards a season, Jackson’s passing stats are still impressive overall. It’s the best TD percentage since Joe Flacco’s 2014 campaign and the best passer rating of any Ravens quarterback in franchise history (with more than three games started). Considering Jackson was held back a bit by a more conservative offensive scheme during his rookie season, it’s even more impressive.
And that’s before we even get into the notion of Jackson as a runner. While Jackson often sees his rushing ability used to critique him as a quarterback, Jackson’s stats on the ground are impressive by themselves. If he were a running back, he’d likely be up for a Pro Bowl nomination on those stats alone. But when combined with his passing yards, Jackson would actually rank 50th in NFL history in single-season total offensive yards (rushing and passing yards combined) ahead of Peyton Manning’s 2004 campaign in which he was both a Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro quarterback.
Not too bad for a guy Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian said should switch to wide receiver. Or for a guy that’s only 22 years old and in the first 16 starts of his NFL career. Or even without any of those caveats . . . as Jackson compares favorably to some of the best players in NFL history.
First 16 career starts
Wins Lamar Jackson (13) Patrick Mahomes (12)
Rush Yds Lamar Jackson (1,258) LaDainian Tomlinson (1,236)
Passer Rtg Lamar Jackson (94.4) Tom Brady (90.1)
Yds per Att Lamar Jackson (7.6) Aaron Rodgers (7.5)
What’s the important takeaway here — and something so many of Jackson’s detractors seem to forget — is he’s still getting his feet underneath him in this league. Just like Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, Jackson is still getting accustomed to playing quarterback in the NFL and he’s steadily improving while putting up solid early results.
In seven games last season, Jackson had a 58.2% completion rate. That number has jumped to 65.9% in the nine games he’s started this year. He’s thrown 15 touchdown passes this year (5.9%) compared to just six last season (3.5%). He’s improved his passer rating from 82.6 last season to 101.7 this year. He’s averaging 1.25 more yards per attempt while being sacked 2% less. That’s not even getting into his rushing numbers, which have also improved from last year.
It’s also important to look at what Jackson has meant for the entire team as well. While stats are a huge benchmark of individual performance, the reality is no team makes it to a Super Bowl without winning games. Though no team picks up a win thanks solely to one player, Jackson has been among the league’s best through his first 16 games, going 13-3.
Jackson has now been under the microscope for a full season’s worth of starts and it’s clear he’s here to stay.
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