By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun Senior Sports Columnist
How’s this for irony?
A week after the Buffalo sports media had formulated its list of all-time games in the 53-year history of Highmark Stadium, that order was altered.
Oh, that famed comeback 41-38 overtime comeback playoff win from 35 points down to the Houston Oilers in 1994, will always be No. 1.
But Sunday night that No. 2 spot was usurped by the way the Bills’ 41-40 victory over Baltimore unfolded after trailing by 15 with barely 12 minutes to play thanks to one killer fumble by the Ravens elite running back, Derrick Henry.
In a duel between the two latest NFL MVP-winning quarterbacks — Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson 2023 and Buffalo’s Josh Allen last season — the latter made his case for a repeat.
Allen finished 33-of-46 passing for 394 yards with touchdown throws of 15 yards to tight end Dalton Kincaid and a 10-yard deflection to wideout Keon Coleman.
In addition, he rushed 14 times for 30 yards, but two of those carries were TDs of 1- and 2 yards.
Jackson’s numbers weren’t bad either, going 14-of-19 passing for 209 yards with a 23-yard TD pass to Zay Flowers and a spectacular, one-handed 46-yarder to veteran DeAndre Hopkins. Then there was Henry whose spectacular night — 18 carries for 169 yards with touchdown runs of 30 and 46 yards — was foiled by his killer fumble with just over three minutes to play, letting Buffalo make it a two-point game.
And the difference-maker was Ed Oliver, the seventh-year defensive tackle who, besides causing Henry’s game changing fumble, also logged the only sack of Jackson, had three tackles for loss and all of his six tackles were solos.
Of course, the other “hero” was veteran placekicker Matt Prater. The 41-year-old was signed in the middle of last week off the street while coaching youth football when regular kicker Tyler Bass went on injured reserve for at least a month due to hip/groin issues. In his absence, Prater merely went out and kicked the 32-yard game-winner as time expired.
AT HIS POST-GAME press conference, Bills coach Sean McDermott made it clear he was well aware of the significance of his team’s extraordinary victory.
He thought back to January of 1994 when he was an underclassman at William & Mary.
“I remember hearing about that (“Comeback”) game and how people had left, then climbed fences to get back in before they reopened the gates,” he said. “This was one of those games that people will talk about for years to come.”
And, no this wasn’t a comeback from 35 points down in the third quarter as that win over the Oilers was.
However, there’s one big difference. The “Comeback” game continued Buffalo’s season but ended Houston’s.
Sunday night’s embarrassing loss will stick with Baltimore for the remaining 16 games. It’s a head-to-head loss for two teams likely to battle for a spot in the AFC semifinals. Buffalo is the only team in its division to win the opener and the Ravens figure to be a team playing uphill in chase of the Bills. In short, blowing that lead made Baltimore’s season that much more difficult and a defeat the Ravens won’t soon forget.
NOTES from the Bills 41-40 comeback victory over Baltimore Sunday night at Highmark Stadium:
— The win was Buffalo’s 12th straight at home in the regular season and second-longest to the 15 in a row the Bills won between 1990-91.
— Quarterback Josh Allen’s 2-yard fourth quarter touchdown run gave him 66 rushing scores, a franchise record eclipsing Thurman Thomas’ 65. He later tallied his 67th and Allen and Carolina’s Cam Newton are the only two quarterbacks to lead their franchises in rushing scores.
— Buffalo’s first sack of Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson was recorded by defensive tackle Ed Oliver. Later Oliver forced the fourth-quarter fumble by Derrick Henry that gave the Bills a chance to close within two points. The recovery was made by linebacker Terrell Bernard. The other sack of Jackson was logged by linebacker Matt Milano.
— The Ravens lone sack of Allen was made by tackle Nnamdi Madubuikie.
— Baltimore linebacker Roquan Smith had game-highs in tackles (10) and solos (8) while Buffalo cornerback Christian Benford topped the team in tackles (7).
— Inactive for the Bills were cornerback Tre’Davious White, wide receicere Curtis Samuel, safety Jordan Hancock and offensive linemen Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (calf) and Chris Lundt and defensive tackle Landon Jackson.
— Among the Ravens inactives were No. 2 tight end Isaiah Likely and fullback Patrick Ricard.
— The crowd count was 70,745.
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
