Baltimore Ravens vs. Buffalo Bills: 3 early thoughts

The Baltimore Ravens take on the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round of the playoffs. Here is what we should be thinking about heading into Saturday:

1. The Ravens arguably get the toughest draw:

The Baltimore Ravens may be taking on the most complete team in the AFC, if not the NFL. The Buffalo Bills have had an incredible season. While the Ravens have a track record of losing against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, you could make the argument that going up to Buffalo is a harder challenge.

The Bills won the AFC East with a 13-3 record. The Bills’ offense is playing out of their minds well and they’re hard to get off the field. Buffalo picked a first down up on almost half of their third-down attempts. With Josh Allen looking like an MVP candidate, and Stefon Diggs having a career year, Buffalo is on a roll offensively.

Allen had 4,544 passing yards. He had 37 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions and completed almost 70 percent of his passes. Allen has plenty of help around him. While it starts with Diggs, there’s also Cole Beasley, John Brown (former Raven), and Gabriel Davis at wide receiver. Dawson Knox is a capable tight end.

While the Bills are far from a ground and pound offense, they are quite capable of running the football. Devin Singletary and Zack Moss are dangerous running backs with a healthy average per rushing attempt. He doesn’t do it quite like Lamar Jackson, but Allen is always a threat to pick up yards with his legs.

The defense of the Bills is capable of making big plays. Tre’Davious White is a top-tier cornerback in the league. The Bills have 15 interceptions this year which is the seventh most picked off passes in the NFL. The Bills don’t have a dominant defense, though it’s not one to take lightly. There’s a lot of talent on the unit.

Overall the Ravens are playing one of the most complete teams in the league. The Bills’ offense is great. This is going to be a challenge and 20 points probably won’t win this one.