Turns Out The Bills Are Definitely Big And Tough Enough
Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
Coming into the heavyweight bout between the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens, all the talk was about whether or not the Bills’ defense had what it took to stop history from repeating itself. Back in October, Derrick Henry rushed for 199 yards and an 87-yard touchdown and Lamar Jackson gashed the Bills for 54 yards and a touchdown on six carries on the ground. How would Buffalo slow them down this time?
It turns out, we were all focused on the wrong running game. When the clock hit 0:00, it was the Bills’ rushing attack that made all the difference.
Josh Allen knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs, improving his postseason record to 7-5 in a game where he’d thrown for just 127 yards. But, as Bills fans who’ve watched the team all year know, an explosive passing attack isn’t the only way Buffalo wins games anymore. The Bills’ ground game made all the key plays, which made them look like… the Ravens.
James Cook might have finished the game with just 67 yards, but it seemed every time the Bills needed a big run, Cook delivered. And when he didn’t have a big gain, he kept chewing up clock. The Bills held the ball for 32 minutes against a team that finished the regular season sixth in time of possession.
It was a true team effort. You’d maybe say Allen had a quiet night on the ground… except for his two touchdowns. Ray Davis punched in a touchdown from the one-yard line on his four attempts. Ty Johnson only had five carries, but the final one was a scamper for a first down that allowed the Bills to kneel out the game and secure their date with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Add in some clutch kicks in the snow from Tyler Bass, and the defense made sure 27 points would be enough.
The final stat line for the Ravens says that they got their yards. The final stat line for Henry still showed 84 yards and a touchdown, Jackson ran six times for 39 yards, and Justice Hill got 50 yards on six carries of their own. But the Bills defense really slowed down the impact of Baltimore’s ground game, especially in the first half. Henry just logged 21 yards on eight carries in the game’s first 30 minutes, with the key play being stuffing him for a negative-yardage play on 1st-&-Goal from the two-yard line on the final Ravens drive of the first half.
“Our guys heard it all week long,” Sean McDermott said before the game. “We’re not big enough. We’re not fast enough. We’re not strong enough. We’re not talented enough.” What are they saying now?
Throughout the Bills’ history, it has felt like things have not always gone their way, to say the least. But on Sunday, it was Buffalo — not the Charm City — that felt charmed. The breaks all went for the Bills and against Mark Andrews specifically, who had a fourth-quarter fumble and dropped a game-tying two-point conversion attempt.
Terrel Bernard forces it.
Terrel Bernard recovers it.@BuffaloBills ball!📺: #BALvsBUF on CBS
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus and Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/mAjj3dp0Ms— NFL (@NFL) January 20, 2025
Of course, all the good vibes that come with Sunday’s win won’t matter if they can’t get the job done in the AFC Championship. The good news for the Bills, though, is they already know how to beat the Chiefs, as they did it 31-20 back on November 17.
But once again, we’re going to hear doubts all week about whether the Bills can slow down Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and whoever is lining up at wide receiver for them nowadays. They’ll have to block out that noise and just keep playing their game, which worked for them in their first matchup.
Kansas City might have bottled up Buffalo’s run game between the 20s, but Cook (20 yards on nine carries) still found the end zone twice. Allen added another score on the ground, and threw for 262 yards and a touchdown. And even after the bye week, the Chiefs’ run defense might still be vulnerable. They just allowed Joe Mixon to rush for 88 yards and a touchdown on Saturday.
On defense, Mahomes and Kelce are going to get their stats, they always do. But just like this week against Jackson and Henry, it’s not about shutting these stars down completely. It’s going to be about containing them and limiting the big plays. Instead of worrying about the perfect play, the Bills need to focus on simply making life difficult for the Chiefs. That was the gameplan against the Ravens, and they were able to secure the win with it. If they employ the same gameplan on Sunday, it’s going to be another victory, and the Bills will only be one win away from that elusive Super Bowl title.
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