The Buffalo Bills went literally all in on stopping the Baltimore Ravens for their divisional round game on Sunday. Back in Week 4, the Ravens thrashed the Bills 35-10, giving Buffalo their most lopsided loss since Nov. 2021. In that early season contest, the Ravens outplayed the Bills in every facet of the game, led by the team's 271-yard rushing performance that Sean McDermott's defensive unit could not stop.
Heading into the divisional round matchup, McDermott left no stone unturned when it came to preparing for the game. After the Bills' 27-25 win over the Ravens on Sunday, McDermott told Albert Breer that his staff, led by defensive coordinator Bobby Babich, went back and watched every play from the Ravens this season.
“I don’t think a full staff that I’ve been around has ever done this,” McDermott said, leaning on a table in the Bills’ training room. “I did it for the Super Bowl, for myself, as a play-caller [with the Carolina Panthers] years ago, looked at every play from their whole season. … Late, late nights. But you got to do what you got to do in order to try and figure out a plan that would at least manage them.”
The Bills' coaching staff took note of every game, play, and detail of the Ravens' season leading up to the game. It worked. The Bills secured a drastically different outcome and the win, bringing them to the AFC championship game for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
During the game, the Bills forced three turnovers and two failed two-point conversions from the Ravens. Though the Ravens managed to produce over 400 yards of offense, the Bills were able to bend not break, and keep Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry from taking over the game like they did in Week 4. McDermott's strategy proved successful, and could be one they implement this week, or if they do advance to the Super Bowl.
More of the Latest Around the NFL
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bills' Plan to Beat Ravens Involved Ambitious Cataloging of Baltimore's Entire Season.
