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'One game to go out there and prove it' | How the Bills are preparing for their Divisional Round game against the Ravens

Jan 15, 2025 at 05:56 PM

Dorian Alerte

Contributing Correspondent

The stage has been set for Sunday night's Divisional Round matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Baltimore Ravens for a chance to advance to the AFC Championship game.

"It's the battle of two heavyweights," DE Von Miller said. "This is why the NFL is the greatest league in the world, because you get match ups like this, and you get quarterbacks like this going against each other."

Ahead of Sunday's contest, the Bills returned to a walkthrough practice on Wednesday.

Blue on white this Sunday night. 😍#BALvsBUF | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/OWnvMtIPOt
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 15, 2025

This is not the first time that the Bills will face the Ravens this season. The two teams squared off against one another in Week 4 on Sunday Night Football in a game that the Ravens won 35-10. QB Josh Allen and head coach Sean McDermott both said that they felt the team has grown since that game.

"Learned a lot from those moments," Allen said. "Going back and watching it obviously wasn't our best effort. Felt like we didn't play our best football. But, they got a really good team too. They're playing this week for a reason."

The Ravens defense held the Bills offense to only 10 points and they have won five straight games, including their Wild Card win over the Steelers.

"Their defense, the last really 10 weeks has been superb," Allen said. "Their offense is fantastic as well. They got a lot of studs over there, led by Lamar and it's a tough team to play regardless."

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Allen said that the losses that this team had throughout the year have helped them learn a lot about this Bills team.

"Throughout the year, having the losses that we've had and even some of the wins, we've learned a lot throughout the year," Allen said. "Just trusting the guys that we have in this building, in this locker room, and all we're trying to do is play for each other, put our best foot forward, and score one more point than them."

Just as the Ravens are not the same team as they were when they faced each other in Week 4, the Bills are also a different team. When they played in Week 4, the Bills had not yet traded for WR Amari Cooper who McDermott said is a key part for this offense.

"Amari's a good player, he was a good addition for us," McDermott said. "Our offense goes kind of sum of the parts, so he's one of the pieces for us, and he's done a nice job since we were able to add him."

In addition to Cooper, the Bills were without LB Terrel Bernard, LB Matt Milano and CB Taron Johnson on defense due to injuries. This time they are ready to go.

"You can never replace your key guys and all those guys are key guys and just having them back is going to make a huge difference for us," DT DaQuan Jones said. "I truly believe that… The guys that stepped up and played did a heck of a job, just didn't go our way, but having them back will be huge for us."

In addition to a stout Ravens defense, the Bills will once again have the challenge of trying to slow down RB Derrick Henry and QB Lamar Jackson. McDermott said that tackling is important every week, but when facing the weapons that the Ravens have it is even more important.

"Tackling is big every week and for sure this week," McDermott said. "You add (Justice) Hill to that equation in terms of the backfield weaponry and just what they're able to do in space and power, very talented team," McDermott said.

He added that the Ravens do an excellent job of moving people off the line of scrimmage and that is one of the many things that makes their running scheme difficult to defend.

"I think coach (Todd) Monken is one of the best out there in what they do in their offense, in the run game in particular, and then you've got to be able to tackle Derrick Henry," McDermott said.

LB Terrel Bernard said that it will come down to their fundamentals to try and slow down these dynamic players.

"22 (Henry) is big, runs hard, he's super-fast and then you got Lamar, who's a great athlete as well, makes a lot of guys miss, can run away from guys," Bernard said. "So, I think that goes back to just the fundamentals of what we want to do. Things we've worked on since training camp. That's the main emphasis, is getting back to doing what we do and sticking to our fundamentals and going out there and playing our best ball."

One key difference in this game is that the Bills will be playing at home as opposed to being on the road and Allen is hoping that Bills Mafia is loud.

"Hopefully very loud when they're on offense and second and third down, and making it hard for them," Allen said. "Just the energy, the juice, the vibes. Our goal is to get to the fourth quarter and have 'Mr. Brightside' playing. I know the fans love that but that gives us such a little shot of energy that we're gonna need going into this game."

RT Spencer Brown echoed what Allen said, adding how important home field is in the playoffs.

"Home advantage in the playoffs is massive," Brown said. "Playing here in our stadium, it's one of the hardest environments to play in, especially the playoffs… Bills Mafia will show out. There's no doubt about that."

Just as the fans are excited to watch this game, the players are just as excited to play in it on Sunday.

"You get one game to go out there and prove it," Miller said. "It's one game, 6:30 here in Buffalo, 60 minutes to go out there and prove it… I get excited for games like this, and it's an honor and a privilege to be back in the playoffs in the divisional round."

Injury Report

Full: CB Christian Benford (Back), KR Brandon Codrington (Hamstring), WR Amari Cooper (Back), CB Taron Johnson (Neck), TE Dalton Kincaid (Knee), DB Cam Lewis (Shoulder/Neck), LB Matt Milano (Biceps), TE Quintin Morris (Groin), DE Greg Rousseau (Finger), LB Dorian Williams (Elbow)
Limited: OL Alec Anderson (Calf), RB Ray Davis (Concussion)