NBA star Carmelo Anthony stands with his son Kiyan on the sidelines as the Ravens warm up prior to hosting the Buffalo Bills at M&T Bank Stadium. (Jerry Jackson, Baltimore Sun)
The Ravens blew another big lead at home and lost to the Buffalo Bills, 23-20, on a last-second field goal. Coach John Harbaugh went for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal with the game tied at 20 instead of having Justin Tucker kick an easy go-ahead field goal. Quarterback Lamar Jackson threw an interception on the play, and the Bills marched the other way for the game-winning score.
Players of the Game
RB J.K. Dobbins: Dobbins has yet to regain all of his explosiveness as he works back from a catastrophic knee injury, but he was productive against a rugged Buffalo run defense, with 41 yards and a touchdown on the ground and four catches on four targets for 22 yards and a touchdown as a receiver.
DT Justin Madubuike: Madubuike continued his breakout third season with three tackles, one for a loss, and two pressures. He has been the team’s most consistent interior defender through four games.
LT Daniel Faalele: The rookie might not receive the highest grade for this game, but he held his own against perhaps the league’s top collection of edge rushers and did so in his first start, college or pro, at left tackle. In the postgame locker room, veteran teammate Morgan Moses told him that what he had done was “unheard of.”
Snap-count analysis
Outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul played 86% of the team’s defensive snaps after practicing with the Ravens for just three days. Fellow outside linebacker Odafe Oweh played a career-high 95% of defensive snaps. Rookie defensive tackle Travis Jones played 13 fewer snaps than he did in his debut the week before. Defensive tackle Broderick Washington played 25 defensive snaps, so the Ravens did not replace injured nose tackle Michael Pierce in a one-for-one sense, probably because they did not need as many interior defenders to match up with Buffalo’s offense. They turned to Brandon Stephens as a clear No. 3 option at cornerback, giving rookie Damarion “Pepe” Williams zero defensive snaps. Rookie safety Kyle Hamilton played just 17 defensive snaps despite his strong performance the previous week.
Running back J.K. Dobbins played nine more snaps than he did the previous week, in part because Justice Hill hurt his hamstring in the second half. It will be interesting to see whom the Ravens pair with Dobbins if Hill is out for a significant stretch. Wide receiver Rashod Bateman played a season-low 31 snaps, perhaps because of an injury, though Harbaugh was not clear on that after the game. Both Devin Duvernay and Demarcus Robinson played more than Bateman. Tight end Nick Boyle did not play any offensive snaps and it’s not clear if he has a path to reclaim a more significant role.
Number crunch
53: Rushing yards for Bills quarterback Josh Allen in the second half, the most for any player on either team.
7: Consecutive one-score games the Ravens have lost going back to December.
14: The number of seconds the Ravens have trailed at home this year, yet they’re 0-2 at M&T Bank Stadium.
63: Lamar Jackson’s passer rating against the Bills, his worst of the season by more than 35 points.
Quote of the Day
Harbaugh on Marcus Peters’ late-game sideline outburst: “Emotions run high. We’re on the same page, he and I. We have a great relationship; we have an honest relationship. I love him, I hope he still loves me; we’ll see. I’m a Marcus Peters guy.”
Next up
Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium, Sunday, 8:20 p.m.
The Bengals righted their ship with a 27-15 Thursday night win over the Miami Dolphins that was overshadowed by the frightening head injury to Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The defending AFC champions are 2-2, tied with the Ravens, and star quarterback Joe Burrow has thrown five touchdown passes with no interceptions over their last two games, both double-digit victories.
Offensive snap counts
Ben Powers G 70
Kevin Zeitler G 70
Daniel Faalele T 70
Morgan Moses T 70
Tyler Linderbaum C 70
Lamar Jackson QB 70
Mark Andrews TE 66
Patrick Ricard FB 49
Devin Duvernay WR 45
Demarcus Robinson WR 39
J.K. Dobbins RB 35
Rashod Bateman WR 31
Isaiah Likely TE 26
Justice Hill RB 25
Josh Oliver TE 21
Tylan Wallace WR 6
James Proche WR 5
Mike Davis RB 2
Defensive snap counts
Chuck Clark SS 64
Marlon Humphrey CB 64
Marcus Peters CB 64
Marcus Williams FS 64
Patrick Queen LB 63
Odafe Oweh LB 61
Brandon Stephens CB 57
Jason Pierre-Paul LB 55
Calais Campbell DT 45
Josh Bynes LB 39
Justin Madubuike DT 37
Broderick Washington DT 25
Kyle Hamilton DB 17
Travis Jones DT 16
Malik Harrison LB 15
Brent Urban DE 10
Brandon Copeland LB 7
Geno Stone SS 1
Del’Shawn Phillips LB 1
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Originally published at Tribune News Service