BALTIMORE – After three weeks, the Bills appeared to be on top of the NFL world. With three straight wins – including two in a row on a national stage in primetime – the Bills looked like one of the best teams in the league.

But the Ravens, fresh off a near collapse against the Cowboys the week before, were game for now. They dominated the first half and, after a brief pause, did so again in the second en route to a 35-10 drubbing of the Bills.

“They rushed out and smacked us,” quarterback Josh Allen said.

The loss pushed the Bills to 3-1 on the year and led to a host of questions heading into another big game in Week 5.

Why the trick play was a disaster from the start

The Bills had a lot of problems on offense. They came in knowing it would be difficult to compete against the Ravens’ stout defensive line and linebackers. With some reliance on the passing game needed, the Bills struggled to protect Allen all night and it led to a lot of bad situations for the offense to get out of. But even with those early-game issues, they were able to make it a one-possession game with plenty of time on the clock. And then the trick game happened. While this wasn’t the only reason for the Bills’ loss, it robbed them of all the progress the team had built early in the second half. The play was the worst offensive coordinator Joe Brady has made yet, and it was a catastrophe as soon as the ball was snapped.

The Ravens weren’t fooled by all the pre-snap moves to put Allen out wide, with Samuel in shotgun behind center. The Ravens communicated calmly and stayed within their principles as the ball was snapped. For the Bills, chaos ensued. Tight end Dalton Kincaid lined up just to the outside of left tackle Dion Dawkins. Dawkins’ likely responsibility was to get just enough block on the edge rusher so that Allen could get back between the hash marks with some protection in front of him. But because Kincaid moved from left to right after the snap behind the offensive line, it prevented Dawkins from getting enough hits on rusher Kyle Van Noy, and that threw off the timing of the entire play.

.@KVN_03 takes the ball out and @kyledhamilton_ recovers!!!

Watch on NBC! pic.twitter.com/joofwJAxEw

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 30, 2024

Van Noy charged off Dawkins’ half block and into Samuel after his throw to Allen, hitting the receiver right in Allen’s face. It forced Allen to move back wide, open to every conceivable hit, with multiple defenders closing in on him while the offensive line had walled off the area between the hash marks. There was nothing the linemen could do at that point. Then Allen went into hero mode, tried to throw it across the field and took the biggest hit he’s taken all year when Travis Jones picked him off with a defensive tackle just after Van Noy stripped the ball.

But the call was borderline stupid for several reasons, even before the outcome of the game was known. First, the Bills had finally found some offensive success after an entire first half of frustration. They scored in their previous attempt to make it 21-10, and in the early stages of the next they scored real success as a multi-dimensional attack. Allen hit Keon Coleman for a big gain. Running back James Cook had a couple of good rushes to help put them in Ravens territory and at least seemingly get within field goal range. Then Brady made the call on 2nd and 7.

Additionally, the offensive line struggled against the Ravens’ defensive pressure for much of the game, forcing Allen from his spot more than they would like. Taking him out of the pocket where he initially got the ball and opening him up for those kinds of hits was short-sighted at best. And to top it all off, knowing that Allen has a tendency to play the hero and put him at risk for a blowout in the open season while already dealing with a hand injury made it an all-time bad decision by Brady. The offensive coordinator has been good for much of the season, and this one decision doesn’t undo that, but it was forced and just poorly timed given the situation. After the game, head coach Sean McDermott was relatively tame in what he had to say about the game.

“That’s something Joe and I will discuss at length, and I’m sure he’ll want a call back. Me too,” McDermott said. “And we will learn from that and move on.”

But after translating McDermott for the past seven seasons, there was a real, “we’re in a public place right now, but we’ll discuss this when we get home,” dad energy imbued in the response. As it happened, McDermott was watching the play intently, and Allen barely touched the ground on Jones’ hit. As Allen’s lower back touched the earth, McDermott appeared to reach up to his waist for the controller for his headset. Given his response after the game and overall disappointment with the call, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he opened the line of communication.

But McDermott is right in his frustration. It wasn’t the reason they lost the game, but it was the reason that kept them from getting back into it when they finally seemed to be turning the corner. That play-call probably won’t see the light of day for a very long time. And with good reason.

Derrick Henry split the Bills defense for 199 yards rushing. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

How the backup magic on defense finally ran out

Through the first three weeks, the Bills had done their best to convince the football world that any loss to a starter — whether in the offseason or due to injury in the past two months — they could make happen. And to their credit, they flew around over the last ten quarters, playing in their whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts style that helped mask some of those individual weaknesses. They deserve a lot of credit for those first three weeks. But this game against the Ravens was a reality check in every sense.

The Ravens wanted to attack these principles by wanting the Bills to prove they could be physical enough to get through one-on-one blocks to get to the ball carriers and make tackles in the open field. The Bills struggled mightily in both categories. If the Bills were to sit back as they had in their last two games, the Ravens used the quick passing game to prove that those individuals in that part of the zone could skate through blockers and then make the tackle. Too often it led to big play after big play.

And that was where with three backups the entire second level of the defense came back to bite them. Whether it was Baylon Spector’s inability to get out of the blocks, Dorian Williams taking the bait on some deceptive plays, or Cam Lewis showing a clear downgrade in the run game from their starting nickel, that trio was exposed in a way they shouldn’t have been. That hasn’t happened since they took over from their respective starters. But being on the field presented a number of problems for this particular opponent.

GO DEEPER

Ravens suppress Bills 35-10 behind dominant Derrick Henry, stout defense

Because Lewis had more trouble defending runs and is smaller than usual starter Taron Johnson, it forced the Bills’ hand to rotate their personnel a little more than they normally would and entirely without nickel. That, combined with the two injuries to Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard, meant that Nicholas Morrow – signed primarily for his special teams skills – was the third linebacker against heavier personnel packages. It was just another small detail that led to a bigger problem, and the bills were found in a number of mismatched situations. Additionally, it put more pressure on the team’s safety to take action than was necessary for this match, and it showed some of the limitations of Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin. The Ravens didn’t even have to test the Bills’ defensive line that much because all the success they needed was in the middle of the field.

In the second half, the defense started to show a little life, forcing the Ravens to punt quickly on their first two possessions. Part of that was the adjustments the Bills made to get rid of the low blitz-speed style that had been so successful, while keeping the backend covered. Once they started applying some extra pressure, they briefly found a few more positive results. They deserve some credit for the way they turned, and when they were told to give the attack a chance in the second half, they did just that. But after that trick play, everything deflated, they went back to giving up big plays and that was all the Ravens needed to put the game away. The Bills desperately need Bernard and Johnson back in the lineup as the blueprint is now in on how to approach this injury-depleted unit.

Bills MVP: WR Khalil Shakir – Once again, regardless of the situation, Shakir found a way to make the 52-yard play that almost got the Bills back into the game.

Bills LVP: Run defense — It was difficult to choose with so many candidates. Ultimately, allowing a rushing touchdown of 87 yards on the first snap and then another 184 yards on 33 attempts after that is a pretty big reason why the Bills couldn’t find their footing.

Next: The 3-1 Bills continue the second of their three-game stretch as they take on the 3-1 Texans on Sunday afternoon in Houston.

(Top photo: Greg Fiume/Getty Images)