4 reasons the Ravens will beat the Jets in Week 15

The 11-2 Baltimore Ravens take on the 5-8 New York Jets. Though no one is questioning the Ravens, here’s why they’ll win in Week 15.

The Baltimore Ravens get a rare chance to host a primetime game, taking on the New York Jets on Thursday to kick off Week 15. What had looked like an interesting matchup to start the season thanks to some players swapping sides over the offseason is now looking like a bloodbath in waiting.

It seems like no one is expecting New York to make this game even close, much less giving them a chance to win. But for anyone needing more reasons to expect a Ravens victory this week, here you go.

It’s the Ravens

Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images

Baltimore currently sits at the top of the power rankings for good reason. They feature one of the best defenses in the league right now and the most points scored on offense. They’ve beaten the best teams from both the AFC and NFC and have won nine straight games to get to this point. Not only have the Ravens won a bunch, they’ve blown out some really good teams that are expected to find their way to the postseason.

Anyone going into any week not expecting Baltimore to win simply hasn’t been paying very much attention.

By The Numbers: Stats to know from Bills’ loss to Ravens

Six stats to know from the Buffalo Bills’ loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Spoiler alert: There will be no talk of moral victories, no rousing motivation, nor wistful second-guessing. The Bills, though holding its own, were beaten by a better opponent Sunday in the Baltimore Ravens, 24-17.

The Ravens certainly didn’t look like world beaters, but they found a way to win — as good teams tend to do. The best thing Buffalo can do now is turn its attention to Week 15.

Here are six key stats to know from the Bills’ loss to the Ravens on Sunday:

209

Baltimore held Buffalo to a season-low 209 yards of total offense Sunday.
The Ravens held Josh Allen to just 146 passing yards and a touchdown on 17 of 39 passing. Baltimore was content letting Allen complete short passes, but took away the intermediate and deep ball. Allen was just 2-for-14 on attempts longer than 10 yards.

Devin Singletary eclipsed the century mark in total yards, going for 89 yards on 17 carries and snagging six receptions for 29 yards. Prior to Sunday, the Bills’ worst offensive output of the season came in a 31-13 loss to the Eagles in Week 8.

195

Baltimore’s defense definitely lived up to its billing in Sunday’s victory, though Buffalo’s defense certainly held its own.

The Bills held MVP candidate Lamar Jackson to a season-low 195 yards of total offense. Jackson did throw three touchdowns, including a 61-yard strike to Hayden Hurst on a busted coverage assignment early in the third quarter.
Remember, no moral victories to take away here, but Buffalo’s defense to 257 total yards – the fewest by the Ravens this season. That didn’t affect the outcome, but it’s empirical evidence that the Bills’ defense can hang with anyone.

23.5%

Buffalo struggled to extend drives, converting just four of its 17 third down attempts (23.5 percent). The Bills entered the game converted 38.4 percent of its third downs; its current 37 percent conversion percentage ranks 18th.

61.1 percent

In the event Buffalo was able to get into the red zone, the Bills settled for field goals all too often. Buffalo has a 61.1 percent red zone conversion rate on the season, 10th best in the league.

On Sunday, the Bills converted just one of its three red zone drives into a touchdown. Buffalo had a chance to tie the game on its final drive, with a first down at the Baltimore 18, but the drive ended with three straight incompletions after a 2-yard run on first down.

One

The Bills need one win over the next three games to clinch a playoff berth.
No hypotheticals, no complex scenarios; just win…once.

Buffalo’s first crack at a win-and-in starts on the national stage in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers have won three straights games – albeit against the Browns, Bengals and Cardinals – and seven of their last eight.

Pittsburgh, one of three AFC teams with an 8-5 record and nipping at Buffalo’s heels in the wildcard race, boasts the league’s fifth best defense in yards allowed, sixth best in points allowed and best in turnovers forced.

+1.5

Buffalo opened as a small underdog (+1.5) for the Sunday night game at Heinz Field. The line has since moved out to +2.

The Steelers are one of the hottest teams in football and are getting surprisingly solid quarterback play from third-string quarterback Devlin Hodges, who replaced backup Mason Rudolph , who replaced injured starter Ben Roethlisberger.

Still with me? Good.

The Steelers (8-5) are 7-4-2 against the number on the year; both teams are 3-1-1 in their last five games against the spread. Buffalo is 5-0-1 against the number away from New Era Field; Pittsburgh is 4-2-1 at Heinz Field. The Over/Under is set for 36.5.

15 starting QBs in NFL Week 14 were 25 or under

Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson are leading a group of young, starting quarterbacks in the NFL.

Fifteeen quarterbacks who started in Week 14 of the NFL season were 25 years of age or younger. And remember, the Giants’ Daniel Jones would have made it a Sweet 16 if he were not sidelined by an ankle sprain.

Lamar Jackson

Lamar Jackson Baltimore Ravens
Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Lamar Jackson is the frontrunner for MVP and had led the Baltimore Ravens on an incredible rise to the top of the NFL in only his second season. The QB from Louisville won’t turn 23 until Jan. 7.

Monday Night Countdown praises Bills after loss to Ravens

The Buffalo Bills lost to the Baltimore Ravens Sunday afternoon, but the defeat is not deterring some national media from praising the Bills as Buffalo makes their march to the playoffs.

The Buffalo Bills lost to the Baltimore Ravens Sunday, but the defeat is not deterring some national media from praising the Bills as Buffalo makes their march to the playoffs.

Steve Young and Louis Riddick, commentators on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown, shared how they believe the Bills are a dangerous team to see in the playoffs.

Young named the Bills as an under-the-radar team to watch for the remainder of the season.

“They [Buffalo] got beat by the great Baltimore Ravens, but it was tight. I think the defense of the Bills showed that if I’m Lamar Jackson, I don’t want to see the Bills defense again,” Young said.

Buffalo’s defense bottled up the potent Ravens rushing attack, limiting Baltimore to 118 yards on the ground.

Young reiterated his praise for the defense, highlighting how the team is “the second-best defense from a scoring perspective.”

When looking toward the playoffs, Young considered, “Could they go on the road in the playoffs and win some big games in some of these places? Yes, I believe they can.”

Louis Riddick also added his vote of confidence for the Bills, highlighting how teams who face Lamar Jackson and the Ravens will play them tougher than the first time around. Riddick also highlighted that it’s impossible to gauge the speed and execution of the offense led by Jackson.

“There are two guys, from the defensive coordinator perspective, from the defensive mind perspective that can deal with that style of offense intellectually are Sean McDermott and Bill Belichick,” Riddick said. “Sean McDermott will have them ready to play if they see Baltimore down the road again, he’ll have them ready-to-go.”

Riddick also added that Buffalo has a team that can get the job done in the playoffs, as Buffalo “play[s] that nasty, grind-it-out style of football, or at least they can.”

“Buffalo, for sure, because of the fact that they can play however you want to play, which means, usually in January, when it’s ugly. It means, ‘Can you last three-and-a-half hours like we can?'” Riddick said.

Even in this loss, the Bills, particularly their defense, is making believers out of audiences nationwide. They have a chance to clinch a playoff berth with a victory Sunday night at Pittsburgh.

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PODCAST: Bills underwhelm in 24-17 loss to Ravens

Kyle Silagyi is joined by McKenna Middlebrook to discuss the Buffalo Bills’ Week 14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

For the second consecutive week, the eyes of the collective football world were glued to a Buffalo Bills football game.

Only this time, the team failed to impress in a game that could’ve shifted national perception.

The contest was supposed to feature a battle between two of the league’s most exciting young quarterbacks. Instead, fans tuned into a defensive stalemate, a game in which neither Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen were able to construct strong outings.

It was ultimately Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens who got the upper hand, leaving New Era Field with an underwhelming 24-17 victory. On this episode of The Kyle Silagyi Variety Hour, host Kyle Silagyi is joined by BillsWire staff writer McKenna Middlebrook to discuss Buffalo’s Week 14 loss. They also talk about beards and Kyle’s pregame festivities.

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NFL Week 14: 32 elite performances

Lamar Jackson, Todd Gurley, Jameis Winston and Ryan Tannehill led the way in Week 14 of the NFL season.

Week 14 saw special performances and some memorable cleats, none more than those of Cardinals punter Andy Lee. Bravo.

Arizona Cardinals: Andy Lee

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Cardinals’ punter hit three boots for a 55-yard average. More importantly, he wore some cleats that were special to him and others. Lee, kicker Zane Gonzalez and long snapper Aaron Brewer all wore cleats for Madelyn’s Fund, a non-profit started by Andy Lee and his wife, Rachel, in November 2016. Madelyn’s Fund provides support to infant and pediatric patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and their families, particularly those who experience the trauma of infant loss. It is named in honor of Madelyn Lee, Andy and Rachel’s late daughter, who passed away in February 2015 at just 8 days old. “Doing this and going through all this, it’s just really helped us kind of heal from that loss,” Lee told the Arizona Republic. “I mean, obviously, it is still … I mean it sucks. It’s horrible. There’s not a day goes by — I still sleep with her blanket, her baby blanket, every night. “She’ll always be there, but doing this, it’s just helped us to be able to turn the worst thing that’s ever happened to us into something positive for other people.”

Week 15 Power Rankings: NFL’s ‘Hunger Games’ intensify as playoff spots become precious

With just 20 NFL teams still in playoff contention, here’s where all 32 NFL teams stand in Doug Farrar’s Touchdown Wire power rankiings.

Coming into Week 14 of the 2019 season, six teams (the Bengals, Giants, Dolphins, Falcons, Cardinals, and Lions) had already been eliminated from playoff contention, with another seven looking that reality in the face. And of those potential teams guaranteed to have an early end to their seasons, the Redskins, Panthers, Buccaneers, Jaguars, Chargers, and Jets joined their ranks. There are now 20 teams left with the playoffs as a possibility, the lowest total after Week 14 of the decade.

Of the teams that are still in this thing, only the Ravens appear close to invincible. They’ve won nine straight, and even when they have to win ugly against great teams like the 49ers and Bills, they manage to do it. The 49ers grabbed the NFC’s one-seed with their thrilling win over the Saints, but they also allowed Drew Brees to throw five touchdown passes. The Seahawks had a shot at conference superiority, but they got blown out by the Rams, who have managed to become interesting as a wild-card possibility.

Any thoughts about the Patriots as a Super Bowl contender will have to wait until and unless Bill Belichick’s team somehow manages to re-generate its offense as it did last season. You’ll remember that the 2018 Patriots lost to the Dolphins in Week 14, lost to the Steelers in Week 15, became the NFL’s best power-running team almost overnight, and never lost another game. A re-run of that would be one of Belichick’s greatest coaching feats. The Texans and Chiefs seem to be different teams every week, the Vikings have major secondary issues, and the Packers are waiting for Aaron Rodgers to become Aaron Rodgers again.  As for the NFC East, where the Cowboys and Eagles are playing as if they’re in a two-way tie for last… well, don’t even get me started on the inequity of divisional playoff seeds.

So, as many teams have already been eliminated, the 2019 playoff picture is as fascinating as any in recent years, precisely because there’s only one team that appears to have everything figured out, and a bunch of teams fighting for their own positions with their own faults.

Here’s where all 32 teams stand in our Week 15 power rankings.

32-25 | 24-17 | 16-9 | 8-1

What we learned from Bills’ Week 14 loss to Ravens

What we learned, Buffalo Bills vs. Baltimore Ravens, NFL Week 14

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Bills did what few, if any, teams have doneso  far this season on Sunday: Slow down Lamar Jackson and the high-powered Baltimore Ravens. However, it was not enough to get them their 10th win of the 2019 season.

The Bills’ three-game winning streak was snapped by the Ravens, 24-17, in a game where Buffalo will get plenty of credit for hanging with perhaps the NFL’s best team right to the final minute of the game.

In the end, Baltimore left Orchard Park with it’s 11th win of the season and a playoff berth because they hounded and frustrated the Bills’ offense, especially quarterback Josh Allen. One week after his best and most efficient outing as a pro, Allen had one of his least efficient performances of the season, completing just 17-of-39 passes for 146 yards.

Still, Allen found his groove a bit in the fourth quarter and led the Bills back. Trailing 24-9 in the final frame, Allen helped direct a 78-yard touchdown drive that he capped with a three-yard touchdown throw to Cole Beasley. The Bills then wisely went for two and converted (Allen to Beasley again) to cut the margin to just seven with seven minutes to play.

Buffalo then forced a three-and-out and had a chance to drive for the tie or, perhaps, the lead in the final minutes. Aided by a couple of unnecessary roughness penalties and a 26-yard pass interference penalty, the Bills moved the ball inside the 20, but the drive stalled. With one last chance, on 4th and 8 from the Baltimore 16, Allen threw incomplete to John Brown near the goal line, and Baltimore was able to kneel out the game.

While the game was ultimately a disappointing one for the Bills, a lot went right for them on this Sunday afternoon. The Bills’ defense turned in one of it’s best performances of the season in holding the Ravens, the league’s highest-scoring team, mostly in check. Jackson finished with just 40 rushing yards and 145 passing yards. Similar to the Bills’ Week 4 performance against New England, it was the type of defensive effort that should earn praise and raise eyebrows across the league, even in a loss.

Also, the Bills got some help away from New Era Field as Oakland, Houston, and Indianapolis all lost, meaning the Bills can clinch their second playoff berth in three seasons simply by beating the Steelers next Sunday night in Pittsburgh. Oh, the Patriots also lost too, meaning the Bills are still just one game back in the race for the AFC East crown.

Here are four things we learned as the Bills fell to 9-4 Sunday at New Era Field:

3 most important takeaways from Ravens beating Bills

Another close victory might have some Baltimore Ravens fans concerned. But they should take away a few key lessons from Week 14.

The Baltimore Ravens squeaked their way to a ninth consecutive victory by beating the Buffalo Bills in Week 14. Though it was far from the easiest game Baltimore has had this season, they persevered and continue to control their postseason fate as the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

But with a little time to digest the game and take the pulse of fans around the internet, there are a few things everyone should take away from this game.

Walk away from the ledge

Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images

After back-to-back close games, some Ravens fans are starting to sweat. In spite of beating two really good teams, there are those that are really concerned about Baltimore’s offensive output and if the defense is as good as advertised. But anyone still not just as excited about this team’s chances this season has gotta take a chill pill.

As I noted before, bad weather is a good portion of the problem in these last two games. Even with high winds in Week 14 and driving cold rain in Week 13 affected what the Ravens were able to do, they still put up a combined 44 points and were able to mount long drives when they needed them.

Defensively, Baltimore needs to patch up some things, namely their run defense. But against two of the best rushing teams in the league, it wasn’t exactly unexpected that the Ravens might struggle a little. But much like the offense, Baltimore’s defense was able to get key stops and ultimately win the game against the Bills.

The Ravens have guaranteed themselves a playoff spot and still remain the best team in the league right now. They’re doing pretty well for themselves with just three games remaining and a postseason schedule that doesn’t look nearly as bad as expected.