Bills vs Ravens Divisional Round

[Dan]

2 minutes ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

Tomorrow's game to me is bigger than any potential AFCCG the following week. Naturally, one would think a game for the right to play in the Super Bowl has more meaning and purpose than a divisional round game. But this game just has so many narratives that need to be killed. First and foremost, McD has to get this team over the divisional round hump and going in the right direction again. That alone is huge and will restore a ton of faith in the fanbase. 

 

Secondly, the Allen vs. Lamar noise is through the roof. Both fan bases want it to be proven on the field who is the better QB. Which of course is silly considering they don't throw the ball to themselves with the other in coverage. But that is how the media sees it and like it or not it will be part of each players lasting legacy. 

 

Sunday's game is the biggest game and has the most on the line that I can realistically remember in my lifetime and I'm 40. I have faint memories of all four Super Bowl losses but as young kid you don't grasp the significance of those games.

 

The AFCCG against the Chiefs would be the second biggest game but I'd put this game ahead of that one. 

 

 

I agree… to an extent.   If we win, yes, all these narratives are put to rest.  But, by monday night all the pundits will immediately switch to Buffalo being blown out by the Chiefs. Allen can't beat Mahommes.  Reid owns us.  Blah blah.  There will be another full week of hearing how Buffalo will lose.   
 

We had that last week playing Denver for pete's sake!  The media immediately pivoted to how awesome the Ravens are with barely a single person detailing the beatdown we bestowed upon them.  

[Kelly to Allen]

2 minutes ago, Dan said:

I agree… to an extent.   If we win, yes, all these narratives are put to rest.  But, by monday night all the pundits will immediately switch to Buffalo being blown out by the Chiefs. Allen can't beat Mahommes.  Reid owns us.  Blah blah.  There will be another full week of hearing how Buffalo will lose.   
 

We had that last week playing Denver for pete's sake!  The media immediately pivoted to how awesome the Ravens are with barely a single person detailing the beatdown we bestowed upon them.  

 

What is the narrative going to be when we blowout whoever we play in the super bowl?

Edited 12 hours ago by Kelly to Allen

[Straight Hucklebuck]

3 minutes ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

I think you're definitely going to see some big throws early to get a lead. Having Coleman and Hollins on the outside this year with their size and jump ball abilities is night and day from last year. It's almost not fair lol

 

Kincaid is the guy who I think will have a big day. Smith and Harrison trying to cover him is a joke 

 

 

I agree with you on Roquan. 
 

He’s stubby and isn’t a coverage linebacker. Backs and Tight Ends should be able to put all three Baltimore inside linebackers in the spin cycle. 
 

On Coleman - yeah I don’t see much of a mismatch for the Bills. The routes are leggy, it’s slow, they’re too deep. WGR had the stat - something to the effect of he’s been targeted on go-routes 19 times and he’s only caught 5 of them. As I have said before it also puts pressure on Allen to place the ball perfectly so that he can minimize turnover risk. 

 

Cooper (if healthy and mentally right) needs to be on the field - his usage has been weird all year. It’s put up or shut-up time going forward for him.

 

So far this year it’s almost always been enough on offense - maybe they can run on the Ravens, use quick hitters and make their big plays through RAC and scramble drills. Just wondering on the outside if it’s enough. 

 

 

 

[Boatdrinks]

Just now, Kelly to Allen said:

 

What is the narrative going to be when we blowout whoever in the super bowl?

Whatever it is , I won’t care.

[JoshAllin]

Whatever narrative is to be expected, it will turn back to the bills favor if they make the SB and they play the lions after the close to blow out win vs them

[Kelly to Allen]

2 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

I agree with you on Roquan. 
 

He’s stubby and isn’t a coverage linebacker. Backs and Tight Ends should be able to put all three Baltimore inside linebackers in the spin cycle. 
 

On Coleman - yeah I don’t see much of a mismatch for the Bills. The routes are leggy, it’s slow, they’re too deep. WGR had the stat - something to the effect of he’s been targeted on go-routes 19 times and he’s only caught 5 of them. As I have said before it also puts pressure on Allen to place the ball perfectly so that he can minimize turnover risk. 

 

Cooper (if healthy and mentally right) needs to be on the field - his usage has been weird all year. It’s put up or shut-up time going forward for him.

 

So far this year it’s almost always been enough on offense - maybe they can run on the Ravens, use quick hitters and make their big plays through RAC and scramble drills. Just wondering on the outside if it’s enough. 

 

 

 

 

That's probably the biggest false narrative in the media. Buffalo will definitely run on Baltimore and it's going to expose their back 7. 

 

Cooper, Coleman and Hollins will be pretty dominant here. Humphrey is their best corner but they have to play him in the slot. 

 

Seattle has similar personnel on defense and got destroyed. 

 

Burrow ate them alive but his defense was truly atrocious 

 

 

[Pokebball]

19 minutes ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

What is the narrative going to be when we blowout whoever we play in the super bowl?

Whatever you want it to be. If this happens, you've earned the narrative!

[Rockinon]

21 minutes ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

I think you're definitely going to see some big throws early to get a lead. Having Coleman and Hollins on the outside this year with their size and jump ball abilities is night and day from last year. It's almost not fair lol

 

Kincaid is the guy who I think will have a big day. Smith and Harrison trying to cover him is a joke 

 

The ravens are going to be dumb and try to spy Allen with Hamilton. They'll try some exotic looks but it's not going to work 

 

 

The last game, the Ravens ran some blitzes where they overloaded rushers from one side, usually, the right side and it was pretty effective. Josh is going to be prepared for that this time. I agree, the passing game is going to be opened up more. I expect there will be some passes on 1st down and 2nd down. They can't blitz every down. I also think our group of receivers will have the Ravens' defenders heads spinning. By the second half, they'll give up on the blitzes and send more people out into coverage, to no avail.

 

Add in Josh's uncanny ability to go off in big games, I think the Ravens are in for a very rude awakening.  i don't care that the Bills only scored 10pts the last game. That is not happening this time. Not even close.

[ColoradoBills]

40 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

I wonder if the Bills would try some 4 and 5 wide in this game.

 

 

It would not surprise me.  It would open the field for Josh to run too.

So much talk of the combined Jackson/Henry running, Josh and James are going to have a good game too.

When the Ravens play man to man D watch out for Josh running the ball.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

7 minutes ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

Burrow ate them alive but his defense was truly atrocious 

776 yards, 9-1 TD Int Ratio, 67% completion percentage. 
 

The Bengals don’t have the Bills running backs, or Kahlil Shakir, but It was Ja’Marr Chase that cooks Baltimore and the Bills don’t have anyone like that. 

[Toledo Bill]

2 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

Miracles already happening. We found a worse ST coordinator than Matt Smiley.

I'm sorry... not possible.

[Billsfanatic8989]

This game is definitely not bigger than the AFC title round imo. 

 

If we lose to KC, nobody will care about beating Baltimore. If Baltimore loses to KC, nobody there will care about beating Buffalo. 

 

This game is critical because it's the next step to the next round. 

 

In the end, no SB win=a failed season. With Allen, that's just the way it is.

 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Billsfanatic8989

[Scott7975]

48 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

My view on this is simple - this is where  we have wanted the Bills for 5-years.

 

100% healthy going into the Playoffs.

 

The team as a whole has managed to achieve that goal.

 

I just can’t imagine McDermott sees a Ravens team that is starting to run 6-lineman and Ricard and two Tight Ends and concludes a basic Nickel is going to work. 
 

I agree with Simms - they’re going to have to take some chances in this game. 
 

The Bills knew Von was going to be suspended in Week 4, so he only played 9-snaps. He was at 50% last week. You have to believe he plays more. 

 

Even though Von isnt quite getting home, he has been our most consistent pass rusher. The dude gets a lot of pressures and gets the QB off his spot. He just needs to either keep contain or get the sack. I think he has been ramping up. I seen a lot of speed out of him last week. Lets hope he has his best game this week.

Edited 11 hours ago by Scott7975

[CaseyatBat]

The Ravens ESPN reporter was on TV this morning from their facility in Maryland and there was snow on the ground.

 

i thought this team was gonna be shook by some cold weather 

 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by CaseyatBat

[Scott7975]

48 minutes ago, MJS said:

It is crazy the Ravens have only two players on their injury report, one of which practiced fully all week.

 

Whats more crazy to me is they get a ton of penalties all year and last week only 3 for like 14 yards. Nobody just flips a switch and stops getting penalties.

[mannc]

50 minutes ago, MJS said:

It is crazy the Ravens have only two players on their injury report, one of which practiced fully all week.

How is that different than the Bills?

[Scott7975]

46 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

I don't know if the Bills defense is built right and has the talent to stop a Lamar-Henry duo.

 

But if we can keep Henry in check like we've done in 4 of 6 encounters, we'll win...

 

 

The key for them is patience. Hold the contain and let Lamar finish his move with the ball. Then get em. Pittsburg had no patience last week and just jumped Henry while Lamar said peace out with the ball.

[mannc]

2 minutes ago, CaseyatBat said:

The Ravens ESPN reporter was on TV this morning from their facility in Maryland and there was snow on the ground.

 

i thought this team was gonna be shook by some cold weather 

 

 

They are an outdoor team and they play in the AFC North, so no.

[TrentEdwardsCheckDownOn4th]

2 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

I was kidding you about the tickets this time.

 

The first two times I quoted you I wasn't.

 

Again, glad you made sure to sell them to Bills fans instead of on the open market.

 

Well technically I still have one ticket left,  my own.  I am probably going to wind up giving it away. Too cold!

[RochesterLifer]

33 minutes ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

What is the narrative going to be when we blow out whoever we play in the Super Bowl?

Oh, this is very predictable, at least for the 2BD naysayers:

If we beat the Ravens, we'll read that we can't win on the road and cannot slay the mighty Chiefs.

If we go to the Super Bowl, we'll read that we can't win the big one because we haven't won the big one.

If we win the Super Bowl, we'll read that we should have won multiple Super Bowls by now, and the lack of dynastic results is all because of McDermott's incompetence.

 

The fact is, many on this board lack fulfillment in their lives and compensate with uninterrupted negativity, massaging their egos as anonymous keyboard warriors. 

 

For the record, we are blessed to enjoy this Bills' generation. We are blessed to have the Pagula, Beane, McDermott troika guiding the way. We are blessed with a promising future. And we are blessed to enjoy the excitement and intensity of Sunday night's game - regardless of the outcome.

 

Speaking of the outcome, I see it as the Bills 34, Ravens 21.