WGR

‘Unless they want to rely on beating the New York Jets in Week 17, Buffalo will have to take down at least one team with the elite defenses that quarterback Josh Allen and the offense have struggled against many times this season.’

‘There is a lot to like about how the Bills’ future looks. Some of their strategies have been greatly improved this season. Their pass-to-run ratios have gone up and rank near the top of the league (smart); their willingness to go for it on fourth down, also increased (smart); the faster pace on offense in recent games also provides an advantage that some teams willfully pass on. The Bills of the last, oh, 20 years have been one of those franchises, and perhaps they are one no longer.’

‘Allen may not need to throw for 300 yards and four touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers or New England Patriots who both have extremely limited offenses, but the second-year quarterback needs to come through in critical situations.’

‘”I probably watched more film leading up to this game than any ever. The good thing is we limited Lamar on big plays. We limited him to a few 7-yd runs, but not much more. They keep it simple for Jackson.”‘

‘“One week at a time,” the Bills head coach said when asked what the message is to his team now that they know there’s a clear path to the playoffs. “Respect the opponent. Respect our preparation. Respect the process as we prepare and get some rest today for them after they left this afternoon. Get themselves ready to go. This is a good football team we’re going to face. A team that’s had a lot of success if you study the tradition of the NFL and the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s going to be a good week in preparation for us and we’re looking forward to it.”’

‘Baltimore got careless in Buffalo’s last gasp, with three critical penalties that totaled 56 yards and gave the Bills a trip to the red zone and advancing as far as the Baltimore 16 yard line. After heavy pressure applied by the Ravens defense, Allen and company were left with 4th and 8 on the 16 yard line looking for a first down to keep their hopes alive, but the pass to John Brown fell incomplete and sealed the loss for Buffalo.’

‘I know every week is different and the individual matchups within a given game will likely determine your winner. But I feel like what I learned today is that no matter who the Bills draw in a likely Wild Card matchup, they’ll be in the game. Need it be said, if you’re in the game then you’ve got a chance to win the game. They’ll need some combination of better throws from Allen and his receivers doing a better job of catching the good passes. But I’m heading into the final 3 games of the year feeling like the Bills have the potential to be a factor in the NFL Playoffs, not just get in.’

‘Despite the loss I think this game should leave with you a couple of thoughts. One, the Bills won’t have any trouble winning at least one more game which should be enough to get them in the playoffs. This Bills team is good enough to go on the road in the wild card round and win a game.’

‘Winning the division is still a tough road for the Bills as they would need an upset win from the Miami Dolphins or Cincinnati Bengals over the Patriots, and win-out including their own win against New England at Gillette Stadium in two weeks.’

‘The Ravens brought more pressure than the Bills had seen all season, and they didn’t handle it well. Running backs had to stay in and protect a lot, giving Allen fewer options, but he also was under duress a lot of the afternoon. Baltimore wound up sacking him 6 times and Ravens defenders were credited with 12 QB hurries!’

‘Something that will help the Bills more than other defenses vs. the Ravens is they have very athletic linebackers in Matt Milano and Tremaine Edmunds. Not that they can chase Jackson down, but they can maybe string him out more to take away cut-back lanes and use the sideline as a defender if he does get around the edge.’

‘”Ed has displayed that he’s about the team and that’s what we want,” head coach Sean McDermott said Wednesday. “That’s who we are. That’s part of our culture and that said though, he has stayed hungry, and that’s been a part of the reason for his growth of late, in my opinion. He played fast last week in Dallas and started to do some things that he’d been working on and I think as he continues to work and put time in, he’ll continue to get the results. Usually those two are connected, habits and results.”‘

‘”I just think the guys are so focused on one-week seasons and trying to win this game. It’s a very strong opponent, as it’s been very well mentioned throughout the course of the last several of weeks. You spend time watching the tape of this football team, being the Baltimore Ravens, and there’s very, very few areas of weakness. We’ve got to continue to improve as a football team, do our job and play good, fundamentally sound football.”‘

‘Bills’ starting guard Quinton Spain and backup running back T.J. Yeldon both missed practice Thursday with illnesses, while offensive tackle Ty Nsekhe was still out with an ankle injury as the team gets ready to play the Baltimore Ravens Sunday.’

‘”It’s the next game. I’ve been around this league long enough. They’re all big games; they’re all important. Obviously once you get to this time of year, the games, I guess, mean a little bit more because you can start to see the playoff picture. It’s not that far out. This is going to be a team that is obviously going to be in the playoffs, and we have to come out and show that we can compete with a team of their caliber. But if we don’t win, it’s not like it breaks our season… We’re going to come out here and compete, and obviously trying to come away with a ‘W’, but understanding that we have a bigger picture here. This game is not going to define us.”‘