Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football in a rematch of their 2024 AFC Divisional Round playoff game, which Buffalo won 27-25 en route to an appearance in the AFC Championship game.
This year’s season opener will pit the last two NFL MVPs — Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson — just the fifth time that the last two league MVP’s have squared off in Week 1 of the NFL season.
Today’s edition of Buffalo Rumblinks leads off by examining the key matchups to watch and positional analysis as the Bills look to begin the season with a huge primetime win over a fellow Super Bowl contender.
The Buffalo Bills will most likely be without two key pieces of their team when they face the Ravens — kicker Tyler Bass was placed on Injured Reserve (IR) with a left hip and groin injury while veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White is considered doubtful with a groin injury — which presents an opportunity for youngsters in the secondary like cornerbacks Dorian Strong and Ja’Marcus Ingram to step up in White’s absence.
Among some of the other positional battles to watch Sunday night: how well rookie defensive linemen T.J. Sanders and Deone Walker fare trying to tackle Lamar Jackson; how offensive coordinator Joe Brady is preparing to attack a Ravens defense that has historically fared well containing Josh Allen; can Buffalo’s “everybody eats” passing attack find success against a good Baltimore secondary?; how Christian Benford has developed into a shutdown cornerback; what the absence of tight end Isaiah Likely and fullback Patrick Ricard will mean for Baltimore’s offense; and more!
