The Buffalo Bills pulled off a historic comeback on Sunday night, beating the Baltimore Ravens 41-40 in an improbable victory. Trailing 40-25 deep into the fourth quarter, a combination of tremendous performances led the Bills back from almost certain defeat.<\/p>\n
In any game where the impossible becomes reality, there are moments strewn throughout it that lead to the finish. While we\u2019re going to discuss the five players we had in our spotlight entering the weekend, there were so many other performances that were huge in victory. Some performances were also a main part of the reason the Bills found themselves in such adverse conditions in the first place.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how our five Bills players to watch fared vs. the Ravens.<\/p>\n
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Yeah, I think we know why this guy was the MVP last year, and if anyone wants to keep up that \u201cparticipation trophy\u201d garbage, it will be a hint to me that they\u2019re delusional. Once again, Allen put on the cape late in the contest and led the Bills back from the brink of certain defeat.<\/p>\n
He threw for 251 yards and completed 16-of-21 passes for a touchdown\u2026 in the fourth quarter alone. That yardage total is greater than Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson had in the entire contest (Jackson was 14-for-19 for 209 yards and two scores, adding 70 rushing yards and a score on six carries in a phenomenal showing of his own).<\/p>\n
Allen never blinked in the face of adversity, and his final drive was a thing of beauty, leading the Bills into field goal range in under two minutes without any timeouts. He finished 33-of-46 for 394 yards with two passing touchdowns, adding 30 rushing yards and two more scores on 14 carries. He\u2019s an MVP candidate every year.<\/p>\n
Palmer saved his most explosive play for last, and boy did it come at a big time. Overall, he had a modest line \u2014 five catches for 61 yards on nine targets \u2014 and he gave up on one play that almost ended Buffalo\u2019s comeback before it began.<\/p>\n
On the game-winning drive, though, Palmer torched Jaire Alexander on a corner route, and Allen put the ball right on him for a 32-yard gain. That play put the Bills in Matt Prater\u2019s field goal range, but another big play to Keon Coleman \u2014 who also torched Alexander, one our Ravens to watch this week \u2014 moved the kick to \u201cgimme\u201d territory. Palmer and Allen have some chemistry to build to avoid further miscommunication, but it was an encouraging debut for the team\u2019s free-agent acquisition.<\/p>\n
On defense, Walker played just 13 snaps, fewer than all of Buffalo\u2019s other defensive linemen. He did not register a statistic. He was erroneously assigned responsibility for the near-block by safety Kyle Hamilton of the Bills\u2019 game-winning field goal try. Retired Bills offensive lineman John Fina took to social media to set the record straight:<\/p>\n
Look, it wasn\u2019t a good day for the Bills\u2019 defense. even the players who had banner nights (looking at you, Ed Oliver) would tell you that performance wasn\u2019t good enough. But I can\u2019t say that I\u2019m upset with Strong\u2019s performance, as the sixth-round draft choice played his first NFL game, made his first NFL start, and handled a difficult assignment about as well as he could have.<\/p>\n
Strong was called for a holding penalty early, but he looked to be assignment-sound across from Christian Benford. I\u2019m not saying that he should start every game, but if the Bills find themselves in a situation later in the year where they need him to play significant snaps on defense, this experience is only going to help him grow. Strong had two tackles on the night.<\/p>\n
Yikes. Bishop isn\u2019t beating the allegations of being unable to pick up the defense, as he found himself out of position and late to react on multiple occasions throughout the night. While he didn\u2019t quite receive the Josh Norman posterization-style stiff-arm from Derrick Henry, it was close, as Henry swatted Bishop like I would a fly on his way to his first long-distance score of the evening.<\/p>\n
Bishop also timed a blitz horrendously in the second half, essentially coming from his deep-safety spot as the Ravens caught him and the Bills off guard with a quick count on a crucial third and long. Bishop is still learning, he\u2019s still raw, and the team hopes that his athletic traits will eventually lead him to becoming a quality starter. However, he just isn\u2019t one right now. He had four tackles on the night.<\/p>\n