By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun Senior Sports Columnist
It could be argued that it’s the most compelling matchup on the NFL’s season-opening schedule.
Two of the four teams that are favored to win the AFC and advance to the Super Bowl — Baltimore and Buffalo (Kansas City and Cincinnati are the others) — look to get an early start on their conference championship bids Sunday night (NBC-TV, Prime Video, Bills Radio Network, 8:20) at Highmark Stadium.
When we last saw the Ravens and Bills in January, Baltimore had just scored on a 24-yard touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely to make it 27-25 with barely 90 seconds to play … a two-point conversion away from tying the game and sending it to overtime.
Mark Andrews, one of the most sure-handed tight ends in the NFL, broke free and quarterback Lamar Jackson’s pass was perfect … except it slipped through Andrews hands and fell incomplete, handing the Bills a berth in the AFC title game against the Chiefs … which they lost for the second time. Buffalo has made six straight post-season appearances and been eliminated by Kansas City in four of them including the two that would have sent them to the Super Bowl.
SUNDAY NIGHT’S matchup pairs the two reigning NFL MVPs, Jackson in 2023 and the the Bills Josh Allen last season.
Fittingly, the betting line, which started as a “pick” is now Buffalo by 1, in short still a toss-up but it’s worth noting that the Bills were the only NFL team to be favored in all of their 17 games in the bookmakers preseason odds
When asked about last year’s season-ending loss, Baltimore coach John Harbaugh allowed, “Well, you don’t flush it (from your memory) because there’s a lot to learn … what the schemes were, how they played us, how the game went, what we did well what we didn’t do well, what we could have done better. I’m sure the same is true for them.
“There were a lot of chess moves in that game that will be built on in this game.”
A PERSISTENT question is what will the Bills record will be in 2025?
And I have four concerns.
No. 1 is the mediocre status of the receiving corps, exacerbated by the reality that No. 1 wideout, Kahlil Shakir, is playing through a high-ankle sprain though he will face the Ravens and that tight ends Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox performed at a pedestrian level last season.
No. 2, the injuries at cornerback. Christian Benford has become elite but first-round draft choice Maxwell Hairston is on injured reserve for at least four weeks and the Bills are disinclined to update Tre’ Davious White’s status even as the team’s first-round selection in 2017 was supposedly set to replace Hairston. He was listed as doubtful in Friday’s injury report. Both he and Benford are battling groin problems as is wide receiver Keon Coleman who seems recovered.
It’s entirely possible Buffalo’s starting corners against Baltimore could be JaMarcus Ingram and/or Dorian Strong and Benford.
No. 3 is safety where Taylor Rapp is set at one spot but Cole Bishop, last season’s second-rounder, has battled a calf injury and has hardly been a standout. In reserve are Damar Hamlin, who nearly died of a heart issue on the field two years ago, and fifth-round draft choice Jordan Hancock.
No. 4 is the defensive line.
General manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott have lamented the D line’s substandard play in the past two post seasons and made an upgrade a priority.
The response was signing two players serving six-week suspensions for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs — edge rusher Michael Hoecht and tackle Larry Ogunjobi — plus three draftees, tackles T.J. Sanders (second round) and Deone Walker (fourth) and end Landon Jackson (third).
They then lost promising 2024 third-round pick DeWayne Carter as the defensive tackle tore an Achilles tendon and is out for the season.
Buffalo’s only answer was signing tackle Jordan Phillips for his third stint with the team. In addition, veteran free agent safety Sam Franklin was signed from the practice squad. Veteran kicker Matt Prater was added to the active roster as Tyler Bass (hip/groin) was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least four weeks.
For Baltimore, neither Likely (foot) nor fullback Pat Ricard (calf) have not practiced this week..
Of the game, Allen allowed, “It’s a chance to go out there, and to win, (but) you’ve got to play at your best. “When you’re going against another quarterback that’s great, Lamar is one of the best players to touch the grass.
“You can’t give him more opportunities than he needs. You can’t give him short fields. He’ll take advantage of those. So being on the top of our game on the offensive side of the ball (is critical).”.”
As for the Ravens’ defense, Allen added,“They’re really good. They have a really good front. Best run-stopping front in the league. On the back end, they’ve invested a lot of first-round picks on their DBs and safeties. I think everybody in their back end is a first-round pick. They’ve got some absolute studs over there.”
IT’S NOT an optimistic picture for the Bills which is why my predicted finish for this season is 11-6, though still enough to win a sixth straight AFC East title.
In the Bills eight openers under McDermott, they’re 5-3, 2-2 in the last four.
“I think they’re all different,” he said. “I know this: The season isn’t decided in Week 1, so whether you win those or you come out on the short end, I think it’s how you handle that Week 1 performance, good or bad, and what you do as a team going forward and how the team comes together. That’s, to me, a sign of a good team is a team that gets better through the year – whether you win Week 1 or you don’t.”
McDermott added, “You don’t know every year when you open, the unknowns, what plays they put in and what plays maybe we put in and personnel has changed a little bit, although I would say they’re a strong team. They seem to add every year to their core, which has been very talented and full of playmakers and guys who create issues.”
As for Sunday night:
Ravens 27, Bills 23
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
