Bills are crushed by the eager Ravens, losing 35-10 in Sunday night’s stinker

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The Buffalo Bills didn’t look particularly encouraging in their first loss of the 2024 season, losing their Week 4 game 35-10 to the Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore got off to a hot start by forcing the Bills to punt early and immediately took advantage by scoring on the first play of its first possession. It continued to snow from there and the game got away from the Bills in a big hurry. The deficit was reduced through a courageous comeback in the second half, but in the end it was all in vain.

We’ll break down the most inspiring part of the game (yes, technically I included something there), inquire about a position group that needs its starters back, look at players in need of better performance, and break down how incredible it was an annoying, very specific move during this game.

The score is ugly. The game itself was mostly ugly. Things could easily have been much worse.

After halftime, the Bills came up with a plan and played much sharper and better than in the first half, both on offense and defense. It obviously didn’t end well for them and there’s a lot of criticism for the players and coaching staff, but this game could have been over by halftime, and they made it until late in the third quarter before completely escaping them.

Moral victories don’t count, but on a night where the Bills were clearly outmatched early on, it shows that they were able to bounce back in the second half. As far as individual performances go, Josh Allen was normal, and Dalton Kincaid was more involved than usual early in the season, finishing with five catches for 47 yards. Despite a brutal fall, rookie Keon Coleman was able to bounce back with two big plays on the field in the second half. Khalil Shakir also continued to be solid, recording four catches for 62 yards.

Related: Headlines about the Bills’ disheartening Week 4 loss to the Baltimore Ravens

In the first few weeks, the Bills were able to overcome the various injuries they suffered on defense. All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano was injured before the start of the season with a torn biceps, elite nickel cornerback Taron Johnson broke his arm early in Week 1 and starting middle linebacker Terrel Bernard suffered a strained pectoral muscle in Week 2. Buffalo was able to recover from these losses and play good football in the first few weeks of the regular season.

The Ravens clearly recognized the weakness and attacked it again and again, getting into strong personnel and simply hitting the ball downhill. After one point, the Bills had to abandon their usual nickel defense and start playing with the “basic” look of a three-linebacker. At the end of the day, it didn’t help much, and the question of when the two biggest keys to the Bills’ defense will return remains open as the Bills have three difficult games ahead of them. The return of Taron Johnson or Terrel Bernard or both in the next few weeks will be crucial to getting the Bills’ defense up to a reasonable level. Until then, the Bills will have to find a way to hide players like Baylon Spector and Cam Lewis and hope that’s enough.

The general consensus among NFL analysts, fans, etc. is that if you have a good quarterback, a good offensive line, and a good defensive line, you will be competitive in any game. The Bills were anything but competitive on both ends when it came to their line play on Sunday.

The offensive line was overwhelmed by the Ravens’ defense from the start and the defensive line was outgunned for most of the game. In the first few weeks, the line play was a big plus for the Bills, allowing them to control the line of scrimmage offensively and run the ball effectively to control the pace of the game. Defensively, they applied fairly constant pressure and slumped. That just didn’t happen in Baltimore and it dictated the game pretty early. While it’s certainly not a cause for concern (in the sense that it probably won’t be that bad for the rest of the season), it was a big problem on Sunday and it’s a problem that needs to be addressed now; No time can be spent on problems with either line, they must be corrected and resolved by next week.

Related: 4 takeaways from Bills’ embarrassing Week 4 loss to the Ravens

There’s really nothing else you can fit in this spot, right? After Baltimore forced two three-and-outs and reached paydirt early in the second half, all the momentum had shifted to the Bills and they found themselves in Ravens territory, moving the ball effectively and methodically. The last thing they needed to do at that moment was shoot for the moon and steal yards, but that’s exactly what they did, calling out some kind of flea-flicker involving Curtis Samuel and Josh Allen and the too led to an Allen fumble. Regardless of what the plan was, regardless of whether or not they were in the position they wanted, there was simply no reason to stop this play.

Joe Brady has been rightly praised since he took over as offensive coordinator last year after Ken Dorsey was fired. One of the reasons he was more successful than Dorsey is that Brady seemed to have a really good feel for the game and how it was evolving and ebbing before his eyes. That simply wasn’t the case on Sunday, and it was never more evident than when they called out that trick play call that not only resulted in a turnover, but also resulted in their superstar quarterback getting blown up. Things like this simply shouldn’t happen or happen because these mistakes are too costly.

The Buffalo Bills will face the Houston Texans next week at NRG Stadium at 1 p.m. The Texans got off to a good start, tying the Bills’ four-game record, but struggled to match that 3-1 record. All the headlines revolve around former Buffalo wide receiver Stefon Diggs and his first opportunity to play against his former team. That being said, it’s a potential play for the Bills to steal from the Texans, exploit their weaknesses and bounce back from a tough game against Baltimore. However, if they lose two in a row, things will get tighter.

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