If the No. 1 seeded Baltimore Ravens aren’t careful, they may be on upset alert. Which AFC Wild Card team poses the most significant threat to their season?
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Buffalo Bills | QB Josh Allen
The Buffalo Bills overcame some early season woes and finished the season on a five game winning-streak. The Bills will host the Pittsburgh Steelers as the No. 2 seed in the AFC Wild Card, a have a huge opportunity to regain some momentum in front of their home crowd.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen poses as a dual-threat on offense both as a runner and passer. If the Bills play the Ravens, defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald will need to account for this dynamic by placing his all-pro linebackers Roquan Smith or Patrick Queen, as a QB spy on Allen. This sort of adjustment would force the Ravens to play more man coverage and lessens their zone blitz allowances.
Sure the Ravens led the NFL in total sacks but if you look closely at their season schedule, you will see that they have not played a quarterback with the mobility that Allen possesses. Like it or not, the Bills pose as a threat to upset the Ravens in the playoffs because their offense is very powerful when Allen isn’t throwing interceptions.
Houston Texans | HC DeMeco Ryans
When the Ravens had an unseemly first-half struggle versus the Houston Texans in week 1, it left many scratching their heads. Having now won the AFC South, the Texans have an identity and a quarterback named C.J Stroud who threw for 4,108 yards in just 15 games played.
The team has thrived under the leadership of first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans who spent several seasons molding the linebacker play of the No. 1 NFC Seed San Francisco 49ers.
Ryans has the wisdom needed to lead the Texans in the playoffs. The Texans are allowing opponents just 20.8 points per game
They held the Browns to just 14 points in Saturdays’s AFC Wild Card victory. The Ravens will face them in the Divisional round next week if the Bills lose to Pittsburgh.
