Six days after carving up the Jacksonville Jaguars’ man-to-man defense, the Buffalo Bills were smothered by the Baltimore Ravens.
Considering Allen threw for 175 yards and ran for 33 more against Jacksonville’s man coverage, it was a surprise that the Ravens played man on 17 of Buffalo’s 34 called passing plays, especially since they have played zone roughly 30% of the time this season. But it proved fruitful, as Baltimore locked up the Bills receivers and didn’t give Allen room to scramble at the same time in a 35-10 win Sunday.
Allen went 8 of 17 for 50 yards — with one scramble for 3 yards — and a sack against man coverage, while having little time to throw. When he did have time, his receivers struggled to get open and Allen had to make difficult throws to fit the ball into tight windows.
Perhaps more troubling is who Allen targeted most often against man coverage. Mack Hollins had a team-high five targets against man, catching one of those passes for 5 yards.
Tight end Dalton Kincaid had four targets, with three receptions for 15 yards. Khalil Shakir had just two targets — although he was hampered by an ankle injury — while rookie Keon Coleman also had two targets, making one catch for 21 yards.
Hollins, who has played for five teams in five seasons with one season of more than 300 yards, leads all Bills receivers with 150 snaps, one more than Coleman and eight more than Kincaid. Curtis Samuel, who signed a three-year, $24 million contract, ranks last among Bills receivers with 68 snaps.
Moving forward, the Bills are going to need more out of their top draft picks and top-paid receivers like Coleman, Samuel, Kincaid and tight end Dawson Knox, otherwise it’s going to be a struggle against man coverage all season.
“Some of that was just a product of not having to do much after the first half (in Week 2 and Week 3),” Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady said. “… But Curtis has to play more. I have to find ways to get the ball in his hands, keep good things happening.”
Communication mishaps create chaos
It was also a rough day for the offensive line, as Allen was pressured a season-high 15 times after facing 20 pressures in the first three games combined. But after allowing the fewest sacks in the NFL since the start of 2023, the struggles seemed more communicative than physical.
Allen has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league facing a blitz, ranking first with 6,192 yards, while his 52 touchdowns are two fewer than Patrick Mahomes since 2020. Entering the game, Allen was 14 of 20 for 206 yards and five touchdowns when an opponent sent more than four rushers, but Baltimore was a different story.
The Ravens blitzed eight times, with Allen going 2 of 5 for 15 yards, while being sacked three times, including the sack-fumble on the dreadful trick play in the third quarter. Ravens star cornerback Marlon Humphrey was terrific in timing his blitzes most of the night and he helped create two sacks.
In the second quarter, Humphrey came on a delayed blitz and the Buffalo offensive line had communication issues on who was going to pick him up. As a result, edge rusher Kyle Van Noy was able to drop Allen.
On a third and 4 play to end the third quarter, Humphrey was in the slot and noticed Allen was adjusting protection on the opposite side. He inched his way toward the end of the line of scrimmage and came off the edge freely, with Allen and right tackle Spencer Brown failing to see him.
Samuel was the running back on the play and ran right past Humphrey to get into his route. A regular running back — Ty Johnson was split wide — might have at least chipped Humphrey on his way out of the backfield and the result was a 16-yard loss that set up a missed Tyler Bass field goal with the score 28-10.
It also didn’t help that the Bills were one-dimensional at that point in the game, trying to make a comeback. Baltimore was able to send blitzers and get off the ball without a threat of a run play.
In the third quarter, though, there was enough time to run the ball more. The Bills called 11 running plays in the second half, but five came from Ray Davis to run out the clock on the last possession of the game.
Baltimore came into the game with the No. 31 passing defense in the NFL, but added a wrinkle by playing dime (six defensive backs) on early downs. The Ravens used the package 12 times on first or second down, but the Bills never called a running play and were often in an empty backfield, playing right into their hands.
“Not that I was ever looking at the scoreboard, but just know how many drives you’ve got back,” Brady said. “It doesn’t have to be a pass fest and know how the defense is being played and giving you opportunities to run the ball if you have to.”