It was a comeback for the ages.
Regular season football is back – and in Orchard Park on Sunday night, it was back with a bang. At least, eventually it was.
Buffalo kicked off their season with a Prime Time game against the Baltimore Ravens, the team they narrowly squeaked past in the playoffs just eight months ago.
Much like in January, the Bills edged out the Ravens. But boy, did they leave it late.
Down 40-25 with four minutes on the clock, the unfaithful among us may have wrongly assumed the game was over.
The Bills roared back, cheered on by a raucous Bills Mafia, to score 16 unanswered points, punctuated with a walk-off field goal from newly called up kicker Matt Prater.
No answer for Derrick Henry
Look, the Bills are not the only team in the league who struggles to deal with the future Hall of Fame running back.
But since joining the Baltimore Ravens, Henry has now trampled the Bills to the tune of 452 rushing yards in three games at an average of 7.8 yards per carry.
In 2024 he torched the Bills as the Ravens won the regular season matchup – so at least this time, Henry’s fumble in the dying moments was a defining moment in the Bills winning the 2025 tilt.
Coleman cuts the mustard
Season two for 2024 second round pick Keon Coleman is a pivotal year for him.
His rookie season sputtered as he struggled with a wrist injury – but against a handy looking Ravens secondary, he looked well on track to become the clutch guy that Josh looks for in a pinch.
Eight receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown – a good stat line, but one that does not fully reflect the impact he had in this game.
Needing to march down the field, Allen hit Coleman twice down field to get the yards to put Prater into field goal range for the winner. The 25-yard snag over the middle of the field felt like it clinched the game in its own respect.
Was this an early sign of another MVP race?
The reigning MVP Josh Allen got the win over the two-time MVP Lamar Jackson. Many punters and Ravens fans still believe Jackson was the rightful MVP last year instead of Allen.
It is a valid argument even if it is now moot.
If Sunday night is anything to go by however, we are set for another battle for the MVP title again this year. The rest of the league should be on notice – these two are simply built differently.
The Bills defense is a concern
Baltimore reached the 40-point mark early in the fourth quarter.
I have no doubt the Ravens will put up 40 points on a lot of teams this year, but they seemed to cut through the Bills with efficiency and potency.
They racked up 432 total yards of offense on just 50 plays for 8.6 yards per play. The 238 rushing yards in particular is something head coach Sean McDermott is going to want to resolve before any potential rematch.
The Bills are missing players – Maxwell Hairston is out, Michael Hoecht and Larry Ogunjobi are both suspended – so there is reason for optimism that the defense will improve!
The Bills have an attitude problem – but it is the league’s problem
Down multiple scores with four minutes to go – the Bills had no right to win this game.
With Josh Allen at quarterback, however, the players simply never lose faith.
That includes the defense, who came up big to strip Derrick Henry of the ball when it mattered most.
Ed Oliver had a massive game – an earlier sack on Jackson stalled the Ravens and then the strip fumble recovery of Henry set the Bills on course for the win.
Its performances like that that get the Bills Mafia looking at flights to San Francisco for a Super Bowl berth.
I went for a narrow Ravens victory in my preseason predictions. For the longest time, that looked right – but maybe I should not have doubted the Bills clutch factor. I will happily go to 0-1 in my predictions here for the sake of that rollercoaster victory.
