The Baltimore Ravens opened their season in heartbreaking fashion, falling 41-40 to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football. What looked like a statement victory to the NFL world turned into a stunning collapse in the final minutes, as Buffalo erased a 15-point deficit in less than four minutes to steal the win.
The defeat left Ravens frustrated and disappointed, with late-game execution and John Harbaugh’s game management again under scrutiny. Yet even in the chaos, one thing remains clear: Baltimore still has the one-two punch of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. That alone should keep them on top of the AFC conversation despite the loss.
Lamar Jackson: MVP form from the start
Jackson wasted no time reminding the league why he’s considered a top 3 QB in the NFL. He completed 14 of 19 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns, adding 70 rushing yards and another score. His perfect passer rating(144.4) showed how just sharp he was throughout the night. Jackson showed the poise and determination to bring this team to victory and even played a clean game with no turnovers where in his last matchup vs Buffalo, he had 2 turnovers. Despite the clean game, it wasn’t enough.
Even as the defense faltered late, Jackson’s ability to contour the game through both the air and ground showed the Ravens offense is as dangerous as ever. Hs highlight reel throws and dynamic scrambles left the Bills reeling for most of the contest.
Derrick Henry: vintage dominace
If Jackson was the spark, Derrick Henry was the hammer. Henry bulldozed Buffalo’s defense with 169 yards on just 18 carries— an eye-popping 9.4 yards per rush— along with two touchdowns. At times, he looked unstoppable, stiff arming defenders to the ground, bouncing off tacklers and ripping off chunk gains to keep the Ravens in control.
Yes, Henry’s late fumble played a role in Buffalo’s comeback, but focusing only on that moment overlooks just how dominate Henry was throughout the game. His physicality changes the entire complexion of Baltimore’s offense, forcing defenses to pick their poison between stacking the box or bracketing Jackson’s receivers.
The collapse can’t erase the ceiling
The Ravens unraveling was painful to watch. Missed tackles, clock mismanagement, John Harbaugh not going for it on 4th and 3 when you have Lamar Jackson and King Henry, and then a defense that suddenly couldn’t stop the reigning MVP in Josh Allen, this turned into what should have been a signature road win into a bitter defeat.
Still the bigger picture hasn’t changed however. The Jackson-Henry duo is still one of the top duos in the AFC. Jackson’s versatility and Henry’s power gives Baltimore the chance to put up high scoring games especially when you have a healthy Zay Flowers as your WR1 and a good tight end cast in Isiah Likely and Mark Andrews. Together, they combined for 378 total yards of offense as a duo and five touchdowns in Week 1 alone.
Harbaugh summed it up after the game: “We are just going to have to regroup and get ready to go play a long season. We've got 16 games in front of us. (The Buffalo Bills are a) good football team. (It was a) tough environment. Obviously, we did many good things, but we didn't play well at the end," Harbaugh said.
And with two MVP-caliber players leading the charge, Baltimore has the firepower to do just that.
Final snap:
The Ravens may have blown their opener in dramatic fashion, but their place near the top of the AFC standings isn’t in jeopardy. First off, it’s not about how you start in football, it’s about how you finish and as long as Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are healthy and producing at this level, Baltimore will remain one of the top contenders in the AFC.
The collapse stings— but it is all about how this team and duo will respond the next few games and the rest of the season. Jackson and Henry are the one keeping the Ravens atop the AFC.