ANYONE who knows me knows I love the Buffalo Bills but their presence (it can't even be referred to as a performance) on the field in Baltimore on Sunday, 9 SEP 18, was shameful and embarrassing. They didn't even look like a team and they sure didn't look like they had been coached as a team. People in the metro Buffalo area should hear a giant sucking sound today as the Bills, players and coaches, collectively pull their heads out of their asses and work to get ready for the Los Angeles Chargers next Sunday 16 SEP 18.
GAME RECAP: Bills drop season opener to Ravens
Kyle Silagyi
Sunday, Sep 09, 2018 04:35 PM
Location: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD
Regular season records: Buffalo (0-1), Baltimore (1-0)
In a nutshell:
The Bills couldn’t get anything going in the passing game. They struggled to gain yardage on the ground, as well. Couple this with a few mishaps on defense and special teams, and it accounts for a 44-point loss in Baltmore.
The offense failed to make plays throughout the day, not picking up a first down until the second half. A quarterback change helped energize the offense a bit in the second half, but the talented Baltimore defense was able to keep Buffalo to three points.
The explosive Ravens offense put points up early and often on Sunday, entering halftime with a 26-point lead. Baltimore added to their lead in the second half, ultimately winning the contest by a score of 47-3.
With the loss, the Bills fell to 0-1 on the season.
How it went down:
- The Ravens were able to find the end zone on their first possession, finishing off a 10-play, 80-yard drive with an Alex Collins touchdown. Tight end Nate Boyle caught three passes for 40 yards on Baltimore’s opening drive.
- Baltimore orchestrated another long scoring drive late in the first quarter, capping off a 10-play, 66-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown toss to John Brown. The Bills gave up a big chunk of yardage early in the drive when rookie Taron Johnson was flagged for defensive pass interference, a 28-yard penalty that put the Ravens in Buffalo territory. Baltimore capitalized, getting into the end zone and increasing their lead to double digits (14-0).
- A 51-yard punt return by rookie Janarion Grant put Baltimore in excellent field position early in the second quarter, as they set up shop at the Bills’ 20-yard-line. Buffalo’s defense stood strong, however, preventing the Ravens from picking up any yardage. Baltimore had to settle for a 41-yard John Tucker field goal, increasing their lead by 3 (17-0).
- With just over five minutes remaining in the first half, a Nathan Peterman pass sailed over the head of Kelvin Benjamin and into the hands of Ravens’ defensive back Tony Jefferson. Baltimore started the drive at the Buffalo 29-yard-line. The Bills’ defense was able to protect their end zone yet again, forcing another field goal try. Tucker delivered, putting the ball through the uprights from 39 yards out and increasing Baltimore’s lead to 20.
- The Ravens added to their lead before the end of the half. Flacco led his offense 85 yards down the field with less than three minutes remaining on the clock, completing nine consecutive passes. Baltimore found the end-zone with 17 seconds left in the half when Flacco connected with Michael Crabtree. The Ravens attempted a two point conversion, but were stopped. Baltimore entered the break with a 26-point lead.
- Baltimore’s first possession of the second half started deep in Buffalo territory after Bills’ punter Corey Bojorquez fumbled the ball on what would have been his sixth punt of the day. On the fourth play of the drive, Flacco found Willie Snead in the end zone. The receiver’s first touchdown as a Raven increased Baltimore’s lead to 33 after Tucker added the extra point.
- Less than one minute after Baltimore added another score to their lead, cornerback Brandon Carr intercepted a Peterman pass and returned it to the one-yard line. Javorius Allen took it in from the fullback position to add six to the Ravens’ lead. Tucker’s extra point made it a 40-0 ball game.
- The Bills entered the red zone with roughly five minutes remaining in the third quarter. The series was led by Josh Allen, who replaced Peterman early on in the second half. Buffalo failed to find the end zone on a drive that was littered with penalties. Four flags were thrown on the 12 play drive. Stephen Hauschka was able to connect from 35 yards out to give the Bills their first points of the day (40-3).
- Baltimore took eight minutes off of the clock in the fourth quarter with an exhausting 13 play drive. Lamar Jackson, who replaced Flacco in the third quarter, handed the ball off to Kenneth Dixon on the two-yard line, who bulldozed into the end zone to pad the Ravens’ lead (47-3).
Subplots:
- QB Josh Allen saw time in the second half of the game. He found Andre Holmes in the third quarter for his first career completion.
- Rookie Tremaine Edmunds got the start for the Bills at middle linebacker on Sunday. With the start, Edmunds, who is just 20 years old, became the youngest starting linebacker of the Super Bowl era.
- Edmunds made quite an impact in his NFL debut. He recorded his first career sack early in the second quarter, becoming the first Bills’ rookie to record a sack in their first professional game since defensive end Grant Irons did so on Sept. 8, 2002. Later on the same drive, Edmunds forced a fumble.
- LB Matt Milano and S Jordan Poyer finished the game as the Bills’ leading tacklers, both recording eight.
- DE Trent Murphy recorded half a sack in his Bills’ debut.
- QB Josh Allen, P Corey Bojorquez, LB Tremaine Edmunds, WR Robert Foster, CB Taron Johnson, S Siran Neal, DT Harrison Phillips, and TE Jason Croom made their NFL debuts on Sunday.
- C Russell Bodine, OT Marshall Newhouse, WR Jeremy Kerley, DE Trent Murphy, DT Star Lotulelei, S Rafael Bush, and CB Phillip Gaines made their Bills debuts on Sunday.
- Inactive for the game were WR Ray-Ray McCloud, CB Vontae Davis, CB Ryan Lewis,LB Julian Stanford, OT Conor McDermott, OG Wyatt Teller, and TE Khari Lee.
Up next: The Bills will host the Los Angeles Chargers in their home opener on Sunday, Sept. 16. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 pm.
Top 3 things we learned from Bills-Ravens
Sunday, Sep 09, 2018 06:00 PM
1 – McDermott to review game before deciding on Week 2 QB
Nathan Peterman provided an answer for head coach Sean McDermott going into the season as to who the starting quarterback would be for Week 1. Unfortunately, his performance in Sunday’s season opener led to him getting lifted from the game just four minutes into the third quarter as Josh Allen finished what wound up being a lopsided defeat.
It’s left McDermott in a position to consider both as options going forward.
“I’m going to look at everything. It’s too early to go one way or the other,” he said after the loss to the Ravens. “I’m going to look at everything and be objective and make sure we put ourselves in position to win games.”
Peterman was pulled from the game with just over 11 minutes left in the third quarter. He went 5-18 passing for 24 yards with a pair of interceptions. He was sacked three times.
“Obviously, it wasn’t a good showing. We’ve got to do a lot of things better, starting with me,” Peterman said. “There were a lot of plays I wish I could have back, but that’s football. It’s about going back tonight and tomorrow and this whole week is moving on and learning. Taking a hard look at yourself and learning from these mistakes and then moving on and trying to go win another game.”
Josh Allen, seeing his first regular season action, did not fare much better when he entered the game. He too was sacked three times as he went 6-15 passing for 64 yards.
“It was a situation where it wasn’t the most desirable situation, but I was going in just trying to make plays and help this offense move the ball,” said Allen. “We didn’t put many points on the board. It was a tough game to start out with. Fortunately, in the NFL it’s just one game and one loss. We have 15 more opportunities to play well.”
When asked whether he was concerned about not getting the opportunity to start in Week 2, Peterman offered the following.
“I’m going to take the same approach I have been all camp and all offseason and my whole life, which is controlling what I can control,” said Peterman. “Stay in my lane and try to be my best for this team wherever that is and just going and working hard again.”
Allen echoed Peterman’s comments on the decision making to be done at the QB position.
“That’s not my call. That’s the coach’s call,” said Allen. “We’re trying to learn from this game and try to focus on the next one. That’s all I’m really worried about.”
2 - Offense needs work
It was a widely known fact that the Baltimore Ravens had a formidable defense. Coming off a season in which they led the league in takeaways and were second in passer rating allowed, the Bills were going to have a challenging matchup. Seeing the offense struggle to the degree that they did was still surprising.
“I thought the game got away from us really early, just from a series of plays,” said McDermott. “Give credit to the Ravens and coach Harbaugh, but the game got away from us from a series of plays early in the game. The first and second quarter and right before half as well.”
Though the Bills defense had trouble holding Baltimore off the board early, with the Ravens scoring on three of their first four possessions, Buffalo’s offense had little success with anything they called.
They could not get a running game established with the team managing just 20 rushing yards in the first half. Nathan Peterman appeared as though he wasn’t trusting what he was seeing and hesitated at times to deliver the football.
There were also three holding penalties and a false start up front that put the offense in unfavorable down and distance situations in the first half.
“Penalties – you can’t have penalties,” said McDermott. “I thought offensively that was hurting us, lack of first down success, and then when we did have success we had penalties. You can’t do that and play winning football.”
Buffalo failed to register a first down on offense until the start of the third quarter. The only time they were in Baltimore’s half of the field in the first half was off a fumble recovery at the Ravens 35-yard line. The offense however, could only gain a yard on the drive and then Stephen Hauschka was short on a 52-yard field goal attempt.
The Bills would not reach the Ravens territory again until Josh Allen was in the game late in the third quarter. They moved the ball as far as the Baltimore 17, but Allen was sacked on third-and-goal forcing Buffalo to settle for a field goal for what proved to be their only points of the game.
The day finished with just 153 total net yards for the Bills on offense. Bills return man Marcus Murphy had more yards on five kick returns (165) than Buffalo’s attack.
3 – Edmunds flashes
Buffalo’s performance on defense wasn’t all that much better, but there was a bright spot on that side of the ball for the Bills.
Rookie MLB Tremaine Edmunds flashed in the first half when on one series, he registered a sack, a tackle and a pass breakup to force a punt. After an offsides penalty gave the Ravens a fresh set of downs, Edmunds came back on the field with the defense and forced a fumble that was recovered by Matt Milano.
“He looked like he was flying around. He made some plays,” said McDermott. “He got us in and out of the huddle on defense. They went no huddle some and he looked like he managed that and communicated well. We’ve got some young players out there playing and this is their first taste of a regular season NFL game, so there’s a lot to learn from the film and improve and get back to work as soon as we leave the locker room.”
In the early stages of the fourth quarter, Edmunds also had a near interception when he dropped into coverage.
He finished the game with seven tackles and a quarterback hit as well.
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