Orchard Park, N.Y. — After Lamar Jackson torched the Tennessee Titans for 136 yards - including a scintillating 48-yard touchdown run - in an AFC Wild Card game, the talking heads figured the Baltimore Ravens were primed to run the ball down the throat of the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills had allowed 160 or more yards in seven games this season and were coming off a close 27-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts where they gave up 165 yards on the ground.
Buffalo hasn’t been great against the run all season, but a closer look revealed improvement over their seven-game win streak. In four of those games the Bills held their opponent under 100 yards rushing and had already proven a year ago when they faced Jackson the first time that they could limit him as a runner.
The Ravens ran for 150 yards as a team but Jackson was held to just 34 of those yards on nine carries. Buffalo’s staple bend but don’t break defense gave up a few long runs but clamped down in their own end, holding Baltimore to just 3 points to secure their spot in the AFC title game with a 17-3 victory.
How did the Bills do it?
Defensive end Jerry Hughes, who finished the game with two sacks, credited this week’s scout team quarterback: Bills wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie.
“All throughout the week we had Isaiah run as our scout team quarterback. I think that gave us an excellent look,” said Hughes, who tied Bruce Smith, Daryl Talley and Jeff Wright as the fourth Bills player since 1982 to surpass five career playoff sacks. “Somebody with the right amount of speed, because he’s probably just as fast, if not faster than Lamar.
“Throughout the week of practice it allowed us to really gauge our sights on how fast this quarterback will be and what he can do with his arm. I think Isaiah did a fantastic job of doing what he does best, just being fast, quick and agile, and allowing us to get that speed. I think that helped tonight.”
Jackson was under pressure all game long. According to ESPN’s NextGen stats, the Bills generated pressure on nearly 37% of Jackson’s drop backs. Hughes led the way with seven of his own. When the Bills sent six or more pass rushers, they generated QB pressure on nearly 56% of those plays.
It wasn’t just Hughes who was able to cause havoc on the defensive line. Defensive end Trent Murphy was activated for just the second time since the Bills’ bye week in the middle of November because of an injury to second-year DE Darryl Johnson. Murphy helped set the edge and contain Jackson for all three quarters before he left with a concussion on the final play of the third quarter. Murphy had a tackle for a loss where he read Jackson’s fake on a zone read keeper and take him down. Murphy also put the hit on Jackson that ended his night after a bad snap.
Buffalo heard all the noise this week about how well the Ravens were playing and all the experts picking them to win. But the Bills were riding a seven-game win streak of their own and took it as a challenge.
“A lot of us, just because we had this late-night game, we sat around, we watched TV, we enjoy football. It’s our job. It’s our passion. So when we see the guys on TV talking about how they don’t play defense in Buffalo, we’re going to give up 30 points. That’s a challenge that we all see.,” Hughes said. “We went out there and we played like we had something to prove, and that’s how you’re supposed to play football at your house, especially in the playoffs.”
Bills coach Sean McDermott credited defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and the rest of the team’s defensive assistants for did a nice job of practicing a specific game plan they thought might work against Jackson.
“We just wanted to get up the field early on those tackles. We just knew that those were some very big, strong guys. We wanted to get on the edge early, show them that open B gap, and then counter late,” Hughes explained. “That’s something we worked on all week with (defensive line) coach (Eric) Washington, is turning that corner and being able to counter late because you know he’s going to climb up in the pocket and take off and run.”
Jackson made one of those runs on a 3rd and long in the third quarter as the Ravens were driving to try and tie the game after the Bills opened the 3rd quarter with a touchdown drive. But on a 3rd and 9 near the goal line, Jackson threw an interception and Bills cornerback Taron Johnson returned it for a touchdown to put the game out of reach.
“I think everyone on our defense, we knew the kind of runs we were going to get,” Hughes said. “So it just came down to us being disciplined with our eyes. I think that showed as everybody flew around to the ball. We had population. We had guys putting body shots on ball carriers, and that’s what we want.”
Bills safety Micah Hyde said Buffalo knew the challenge it faced. All week the players focused their scheme on the Baltimore offense and the way they like to attack. That preparation paid off.
“No one was really talking about our defense going into this game. It was all about our offense versus their defense, and not much was said about our defense,” Hyde said. “We knew that we’re trending in the right direction. We’re continuing to play better.”
“We feel like we gave up some things in this game that we shouldn’t have, but at the end of the day, we gave up three points.”
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