3 Bills to blame for no-showing in primetime against Ravens

The Buffalo Bills have looked like one of the more dominant teams in the NFL through the first two weeks of the season. It was truly impressive, since the team lost a bunch of players in the offseason and seemingly had a weakness at wide receiver. Yet, quarterback Josh Allen looked like a legitimate NFL MVP favorite even without star power at wide receiver, and they were 3-0 entering Sunday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens.

The thing is, the Ravens might have been 1-2, but they still had all of the talent in the world to be playoff contenders. That showed on Sunday night, as the Ravens bulldozed their way to a 35-10 win over the Bills.

There were flashes of the Bills potentially making a comeback in the second half, but mistakes burned any chances of that happening, and the Ravens capitalized.

When it comes to pointing fingers, these three Bills are the most to blame for their Week 4 loss.

3 Bills to blame for Week 4 loss vs. Ravens

3. Bobby Babich, DC

The Bills defense has been playing well this season, and credit can be given to coordinator Bobby Babich. Entering Week 4, they've allowed just 286.7 yards and 16.0 points per game. That's pretty good, considering the amount of injuries they have on that side of the line of scrimmage.

But Babich's team couldn't stop anything from the Ravens.

Running back Derrick Henry ran for 199 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. In fact, Henry scored on Baltimore's first play on offense, and he ran for 87 yards up the middle of the line of scrimmage untouched.

Then there was Jackson, who as usual is a pain to stop if you are a defender due to his dual-threat abilities. Jackson threw for 156 yards and two touchdowns while completing 13-of-18 pass attempts, and ran for 54 yards and a touchdown on six carries.

Overall, Baltimore was able to put up 427 yards of offense on 54 plays.

This is a game that Babich and the defense will want to burn film after watching and ensure they never have a showing like this again. For an undefeated team, the Bills defense looked more like a subway turnstile than a brick wall.

2. Joe Brady, OC

The Bills had issues at offensive coordinator ever since Brian Daboll departed to become the head coach of the New York Giants. Ken Dorsey didn't pan out like many had expected, and he was replaced in the middle of last season by Joe Brady.

Brady, who notably coached the dominant 2019 LSU Tigers National Championship team, didn't pan out during his stint as offensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers (2020-21). Yet, so far, he was everything the Bills could have asked for, and more, as they were 9-1 since he took over.

But on Sunday, Brady made one play call that really killed any momentum of the Bills winning. In the third quarter, with Buffalo moving downfield, decided to call for a trick play. The trick play in question was wide receiver Curtis Samuel taking a direct snap from the center, with Allen lined up on the outside. Allen ran towards Samuel, who pitched it to him, and the quarterback looked downfield for a pass. Allen didn't spot linebacker Kyle Van Noy running to his side, who swiped the football out of his hands, allowing safety Kyle Hamilton to recover the fumble.

We get it, the Bills were trying to catch the Ravens defense off guard. Yet Baltimore saw it coming, and they were able to regain possession and increased their lead to 28-10 six plays later, highlighted by a nine-yard touchdown run by Jackson.

1. Sean McDermott, HC

A loss like this falls on the head coach. Yes, Babich and Brady played significant roles in the team losing, given their squads' performances, but it all falls on McDermott.

The Bills looked lost as soon as they punted away on their opening drive and Henry ran for an 87-yard touchdown. Allen tried his darnedest to bring the Bills back into the game. Sure, he had a fumble and he could only manage to lead the team to 10 points, but there was only so much he could do. The defense looked lost. The offensive line gave up a lot of pressure. The running game was virtually non-existent.

McDermott has to sit with this loss, and know that it was his worst in the. last three seasons. A wild stat that The Ringer's Sheil Kapadia brings up is that this is the first time in three seasons in which the Bills lost a game by more than six points. That's an impressive statistic, showcasing how well the Bills have played under McDermott, playoff results be damned.

Plus, McDermott's decision-making on fourth down plays are...head-scratching, to say the least, as Warren Sharp points out. Especially when the team is losing and their defense can't stop anything from Baltimore.

The Bills looked ill-prepared and couldn't do anything to stop the Ravens offense. If anything, the Ravens looked more like the 3-0 team entering the game than the 1-2 team.

McDermott needs to ensure that the Bills don't have a repeat showing next week against another one of the top teams in the AFC in the Houston Texans.