Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - One win down, three more to go for the Buffalo Bills.
After earning a 31-7 win over the Denver Broncos in the AFC Wild Card Round on Sunday in Orchard Park, the Bills punched their ticket to the AFC Divisional Round next weekend, where they will host the Baltimore Ravens at Highmark Stadium.
The matchup of the two front-runners for Most Valuable Player in 2024 - Josh Allen vs. Lamar Jackson - will take place next Sunday with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
This game Sunday features a rematch of a Week 4 showdown between both teams in Baltimore on "Sunday Night Football". At the time, the Bills were 3-0, looking to extend a perfect start to the season, going up against a 1-2 Ravens who had only gotten their first win of the year the week prior.
The Bills, however, fell too far behind early, facing a 21-3 deficit at halftime. Even after a touchdown to start the second half and a three-and-out defensively, all momentum was lost when Allen was stripped of the football on a questionable trick play call, resulting in a recovery for the Ravens.
The Ravens then went on to put up 14 more points to close out a 35-10 win at M&T Bank Stadium.
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However, this isn't the first time the Bills and Ravens will meet in the NFL Playoffs in the heat-to-head history.
In their only playoff matchup in the 2020 AFC Divisional Round at Highmark Stadium, the Bills were able to come away with a 17-3 victory to reach the AFC Championship Game for the first time since the 1993 season.
After entering halftime tied at 3-3, the Bills took the lead for good in the third quarter when Allen connected with wide receiver Stefon Diggs for a three-yard touchdown.
The play of the game, though, came in the dying moment of the third quarter when nickel cornerback Taron Johnson stepped in front of a Jackson pass in the end zone, and returned the interception 101 yards for a pick-six and a 17-3 Buffalo lead.
The Bills ended up advancing to face the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game the very next week, only to fall short of returning to the Super Bowl.
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At season's end, the Ravens finished their 2024 campaign with a 12-5 record, earning them the 3-seed in the AFC Playoffs as the AFC North champions.
Leading the way for Baltimore this season was Jackson, who finished the year with the second-most total yards from any quarterback in the NFL with 5,087 yards, behind only Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. He did finish, though, tied for the most total touchdowns in the league this season with Burrow, accounting for 45 touchdowns for Baltimore.
The NFL's reigning MVP was efficient through the air, completing 66.7% of his pass attempts for 4,172 yards and 41 touchdowns to just four interceptions. He also rushed for 915 yards on 139 carries and adding another four touchdowns.
Earlier this past week, Jackson earned honors as an AP First-Team All-Pro for the third time in his NFL career. He earned 30 first-place votes for the honor, which was 12 more first-place than Allen, who was named a Second-Team All-Pro in 2024.
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On the ground, the Bills will have to contend with veteran Derrick Henry, who made an immediate impact in the Baltimore backfield in his first season with the team. Henry accounted for the second-most rushing yards (1,921) in the league this year, while also finishing tied for the most rushing touchdowns (16) with Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs and Bills running back James Cook.
In Buffalo's Week 4 loss to the Ravens, Henry carved up the Bills' defense with a whopping 199 yards on 24 carries and two total touchdowns. His one rushing touchdown came on Baltimore's first offensive play of the game, where he took off for 87 yards for the score.
Leading the way in the receiving game for the Ravens in 2024 was second-year wideout Zay Flowers, who reeled in 74 receptions for 1,059 yards and four touchdowns.
However, Jackson's favorite target in the passing game suffered a knee injury in Baltimore's regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns. This forced him to miss the Ravens' AFC Wild Card matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night.
Defensively, the Ravens finished as a top-10 unit in the NFL in the regular season, giving up an average of just 324.2 yard per-game. While the Ravens finished the year as the best run defense (80.1 yards per-game) in the NFL, their weakness is their pass defense, finishing second-worst in the league at 244.1 yards per-contest.
Despite that, Baltimore's defense only averaged 21.1 points-against per-game in 2024, which was slightly better than the Bills (21.6) in the regular season.
Speaking of Saturday night's Wild Card matchup for the Ravens, despite the final score possibly indicating a closer matchup, it was Baltimore dominating the Steelers on both sides of the ball for a majority of the contest. The Ravens secured a 21-0 lead at halftime, and managed to keep the Steelers mostly at bay in the final 30 minutes of play.
While Jackson didn't flash much in the win, accounting for 256 total yards and two passing touchdowns, it was Henry who inflicted the most damage against Pittsburgh, rushing for 186 yards on 26 carries and two scores.
Here is a complete look at the entire schedule of games for the AFC Divisional Round next weekend:
Complete coverage of Sunday's AFC Divisional Round matchup between the Bills and Ravens begins at 10 a.m. on WGR. Hear all the play-by-play action beginning at 6:30 p.m. with Chris Brown, Eric Wood and Sal Capaccio on the call.
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