Top 5 storylines to follow for Bills at Ravens | Sunday Night Football

The Bills are facing their second short week of the season as they prepare for Sunday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens.

Here are five storylines to get you ready for Week 4.

1. Josh Allen is 6-1 on SNF

QB Josh Allen shines on Sunday Night Football. Allen is 6-1 on SNF since coming into the league.

Allen has thrown for 1,696 passing yards and 13 passing touchdowns on Sunday night. The QB also averages 2.3 total touchdowns per game when he plays on SNF.

Buffalo's last game on Sunday night happened last season in Week 18 with the AFC East title on the line. The Bills beat Miami 21-14 that night. Allen threw for 359 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. He averaged 9.4 yards per pass attempt, completed 78.9% of his passes and finished with a 101.6 passer rating.

In Week 4, the Bills offense will be tasked with a defense who has been great in one area and not so great in another. The Ravens have the best run defense through three games as they allow an average of 50 rushing yards per game (2.8 rushing yards per attempt). When it comes to defending the pass, Baltimore has struggled. They're allowing an average of 291.7 passing yards per game, which is the most in the NFL.

The Ravens are without two of their star linebackers from last season in Patrick Queen and Jadeveon Clowney. The defense also has a new defensive coordinator in Zachary Orr who spent the last two seasons as Baltimore's inside linebackers coach.

ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky thinks one way the Bills can beat the Ravens defense is by utilizing the tight ends.

"Baltimore's defense is not what it was last year," Orlovsky told One Bills Live. "The secondary is not playing at the same level. I also don't believe that the linebackers are at the same level. I think the best way you get after them is your tight ends own the middle of the field."

Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson had 95 receiving yards against the Ravens last week, and Raiders tight end Brock Bowers had 98 receiving yards against Baltimore in Week 2.

2. Buffalo's defense vs. Lamar Jackson

As a starter, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is 1-2 against the Bills in his career, including the playoffs. In those victories, Buffalo has found a way to put pressure on Jackson and limit the MVP.

Buffalo's last win against the Ravens came in Week 4, 2022. The Bills won 23-20. In that game, Jackson threw two interceptions, was sacked twice, held to 144 passing yards and finished with a 63 passer rating.

In the matchup before that, the Bills beat Baltimore in the divisional round during the 2020 season. Buffalo limited the Ravens to just three points as the Bills won 17-3. Jackson was held to just 34 rushing yards, was sacked three times, threw an interception and completed only 58.3% of his passes.

When it comes to how Buffalo's defense might matchup against Jackson this season, ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky said you have to be ready for Baltimore's ability to win in multiple ways.

"I still believe there's a little bit of you got to kind of guess a little bit who they're going to be identity wise," Orlovsky told One Bills Live. "You're going to get a combination of the spread out, motion, zone reads, and quarterback run or the Derrick Henry stuff. And I think part of it is Baltimore's trying to get a feel for the game, feel for how defenses are going to play against them."

As defensive coordinator Bobby Babich begins to prepare for his first game against the mobile QB as Buffalo's DC, Babich said he has nothing but respect for Jackson.

"I've got a lot of respect for Lamar Jackson. I do," Babich said. "I have for a long time. I think he plays the game the right way…he's extremely talented. He can do a lot with his legs and his arm. It's going to be a long week for us."

3. Limiting Derrick Henry

It's not easy limiting someone who's led the league twice in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. That's what Buffalo's defense is preparing for as they're set to face All-Pro running back Derrick Henry on Sunday night.

"He's been one of the faces of offensive NFL football for a long time, and I got the utmost respect for him," defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said of Henry.

The RB has 281 rushing yards (5^th) and four rushing touchdowns (tied for 1^st) to start the 2024 season. Henry is coming off a big game against the Cowboys where he had 25 attempts for 151 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.

"I don't know that anybody's ever stopped him," head coach Sean McDermott said. "It's an all-day affair when you have the weapons that they have on offense… they were in full effect against Dallas, and that's a good team Dallas is. So, we're going to have our work cut out for us."

Since 2019, Henry has played in four games against the Bills and has a 2-2 record. The RB has averaged 75.8 rushing yards per game and has scored seven rushing touchdowns in those contests.

In Buffalo's last meeting against Henry, the Bills were successful at slowing the All-Pro and beat the Titans 41-7 (Week 2, 2022). Henry had 13 rushes for 25 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. That means he was held to just 1.9 yards per carry.

The Bills have held their opponents to just 10 points in back-to-back games. Orlovsky says the success of this defense that's filled with backups is thanks to the simplicity and players' time on task.

"There's such a simplicity to the defense that everyone knows where they have to be depending on a formation or a motion," Orlovsky said on One Bills Live. "They also know exactly where teams are going to try to attack them, and they play to that."

We will see if the Bills can build off their last matchup against Henry thanks to their simple but effective approach to defense.

4. Where the Bills rank through 3 weeks

The Bills are off to a hot start through three weeks. They've climbed several power rankings to earn one of the top two spots.

Yahoo Sports – 1^st

The Buffalo Bills have been consistently good during the Sean McDermott/Josh Allen era. Five straight playoff appearances, four straight division titles and a pair of 13-win seasons is an impressive run.

And this might be the best Bills team of the era, after an offseason of worry that their Super Bowl window had closed.

The Bills have been dominant through three weeks. They had a slow start in Week 1 before pulling away from the Arizona Cardinals and then blew out the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars. From halftime of Week 1 to halftime of Week 3, the Bills outscored their opponents 89-24. The Jaguars were trailing 34-3 at halftime. In the first half, Allen had 247 yards and four touchdowns and played at a level rarely seen. ... right now, Buffalo deserves to be the No. 1 team in the latest power rankings.

NFL.com – 2^nd

The Bills really could make a case for No. 1 here, but I didn't want to be the guy who dropped the Chiefs from the top spot after the back-to-back Super Bowl champs opened the season with three wins. But the way Buffalo absolutely obliterated Jacksonville served as a firm reminder that this team isn't going anywhere. It was a near-perfect night for the Bills. Josh Allen got cooking early, burgeoning his early MVP candidacy. Dalton Kincaid scored his first touchdown of the season. Khalil Shakir took another step forward. Keon Coleman caught his first NFL TD pass. And in the moment that truly energized the crowd, Damar Hamlin snagged his first career interception. Buffalo has a different level of focus and execution to start this season, one that took way too long to develop a year ago. Guess that Super Bowl window hasn't closed just yet.

ESPN – 2^nd

CBS Sports – 2^nd

Here's where their highest rankings are on offense through 3 games:

1^st – averaging 37 points per game

4^th – averaging 6.1 yards per play, 8.7 yards per pass attempt

2^nd – 76.9% red zone efficiency

Tied for 1^st – 100% 4^th down conversion rate (5/5)

1^st – 9 total touchdowns for Josh Allen

1^st – 133.7 passer rating for Allen

2^nd – 75% completion percentage for Allen

Here's where their highest rankings are on defense through 3 games:

7^th – allow an average of 16 points per game

8^th – allow an average of 286.7 total yards per game

2^nd – allow an average of 4.2 yards per play, 5.1 pass yards per attempt

T-3^rd – 6 takeaways

T-5^th – 5 sacks

4^th – allow an average of a 69.1 passer rating

5. The primetime Bills

They don't call them the primetime Bills for no reason. They Bills are preparing for their third straight primetime game to start the season. Buffalo went from playing on Thursday night in Week 2 to Monday night for Week 3, and they'll wrap up the stretch with a Sunday night game in Week 4.

Head coach Sean McDermott has coached in 25 primetime games since coming to the Bills in 2017. McDermott is 17-8 under the lights and has won six out of the last seven primetime matchups.

The Bills get a short break from night games after Week 4. They'll have a 1:00 PM game against the Texans in Week 5 but will be right back under the lights for a Monday night matchup against the Jets in Week 6.

While the Bills are finishing a primetime stretch, they are beginning a road stretch. Buffalo will have three straight road games beginning in Week 4. It's their longest road stretch of the season. After heading to Baltimore, the Bills will be in Houston to face the Texans in Week 5 and then to MetLife to take on the Jets for Week 6.