Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills pulled off a historic comeback on Sunday night, beating the Baltimore Ravens 41-40 in an improbable victory. Trailing 40-25 deep into the fourth quarter, a combination of tremendous performances led the Bills back from almost certain defeat.
In any game where the impossible becomes reality, there are moments strewn throughout it that lead to the finish. While we’re going to discuss the five players we had in our spotlight entering the weekend, there were so many other performances that were huge in victory. Some performances were also a main part of the reason the Bills found themselves in such adverse conditions in the first place.
Here’s how our five Bills players to watch fared vs. the Ravens.
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QB Josh Allen
Yeah, I think we know why this guy was the MVP last year, and if anyone wants to keep up that “participation trophy” garbage, it will be a hint to me that they’re delusional. Once again, Allen put on the cape late in the contest and led the Bills back from the brink of certain defeat.
He threw for 251 yards and completed 16-of-21 passes for a touchdown… in the fourth quarter alone. That yardage total is greater than Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson had in the entire contest (Jackson was 14-for-19 for 209 yards and two scores, adding 70 rushing yards and a score on six carries in a phenomenal showing of his own).
Allen never blinked in the face of adversity, and his final drive was a thing of beauty, leading the Bills into field goal range in under two minutes without any timeouts. He finished 33-of-46 for 394 yards with two passing touchdowns, adding 30 rushing yards and two more scores on 14 carries. He’s an MVP candidate every year.
WR Joshua Palmer
Palmer saved his most explosive play for last, and boy did it come at a big time. Overall, he had a modest line — five catches for 61 yards on nine targets — and he gave up on one play that almost ended Buffalo’s comeback before it began.
On the game-winning drive, though, Palmer torched Jaire Alexander on a corner route, and Allen put the ball right on him for a 32-yard gain. That play put the Bills in Matt Prater’s field goal range, but another big play to Keon Coleman — who also torched Alexander, one our Ravens to watch this week — moved the kick to “gimme” territory. Palmer and Allen have some chemistry to build to avoid further miscommunication, but it was an encouraging debut for the team’s free-agent acquisition.
DT Deone Walker
On defense, Walker played just 13 snaps, fewer than all of Buffalo’s other defensive linemen. He did not register a statistic. He was erroneously assigned responsibility for the near-block by safety Kyle Hamilton of the Bills’ game-winning field goal try. Retired Bills offensive lineman John Fina took to social media to set the record straight:
CB Dorian Strong
Look, it wasn’t a good day for...
