Bills-Ravens Showdown Renews Playoff Rivalry as Allen and Jackson Chase Elusive Super Bowl Berth

Here we go again. Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills and Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens collide once more, a meeting of the NFL’s nearly men whose generational talent has repeatedly seen Super Bowl dreams blunted by Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs dynasty. That assumes Jackson returns from the ankle injury that has sidelined him for three weeks; regardless, the narrative remains defined by parallels and a shared nemesis in Arrowhead.

One might cite Kansas City’s recent decline, but were it not for the Chiefs’ decade-long AFC stranglehold, either Allen or Jackson—perhaps both—would already own a championship ring to complement their MVP honors.

Since 2020, Buffalo has fallen twice in the AFC Championship Game and four times in the Divisional Round, with four of those defeats coming against Kansas City. In the same span, Baltimore has lost twice to the Bills in the Divisional Round and fell to the Chiefs in the 2023 AFC Championship Game. The Bills (5-1) host the Ravens (4-3) this weekend, live on Sky Sports, in the latest collision of two perennial contenders all too familiar with final-hurdle heartbreak.

The Bills have toppled the Ravens on three straight occasions at home, the latest being last season’s Week One thriller as Buffalo scored 16 unanswered points in the final four minutes to overturn a 15-point deficit in a 41-40 victory—a game befitting the Super Bowl stage itself. Before that, the two met in the AFC Divisional Round in January 2025, when the Bills escaped with a 27-25 win following Mark Andrews’ infamous end-zone drop on a game-tying two-point conversion. Powerhouse offenses are piloted by Hall of Fame-destined quarterbacks, yet their wait for a shot at the big dance continues.

There is an argument that no two players in the league are better at masking their team’s weaknesses or dictating their team’s success than Allen or Jackson; they are unrivaled equalizers, game-tilting decision-makers.

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Allen has been electric through seven weeks, throwing for 1,504 yards and nine touchdowns against four interceptions with a 102.1 passer rating while ranking second in EPA/play and fifth in success rate. He also leads all quarterbacks with 240 rushing yards, eight rushing touchdowns, and 23 first-down runs. Nobody is better at strapping an entire organization to their back.

This Bills offense has a case for being the best Allen has ever commanded, ranking third in total yards, 12th in passing, second in rushing, first in scoring, first in EPA/play, third in success rate, first in dropback EPA, and third in rush EPA under Joe Brady, who replaced Sean McDermott as offensive coordinator in January. It isn’t all Allen, either. James Cook remains the perfect backfield partner as Brady’s trusted jab to set up his play-action haymaker, amassing a third-most 627 yards and six touchdowns at 104.5 yards per game on 117 carries.

But we have been here before. A bully offense stomping the regular season while harboring a defense prone to playoff disappointment. Allen could be near-flawless all year, yet knows come January that one turnover might prove fatal, such is the lack of trust in the unit on the other side of the ball.

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Buffalo sought to address that vulnerability this offseason by hiring Jim Leonard as defensive coordinator, but the immediate results have been ugly. The Bills currently sit second-worst in total yards allowed, passing yards allowed, EPA/play allowed, and pressure rate, while ranking 15th against the run and second-to-last in scoring defense.

For the Ravens, the availability of their star player remains the leading hindrance after Jackson missed the last three games with an ankle injury. Caution with his return is crucial as they weigh the bigger picture of a playoff push, particularly for a quarterback who not only feasts from the pocket but functions heavily on his ground threat and off-platform creativity.

Sure, it is an injury some might play through. But not everybody plays like Lamar Jackson, who has every right to remain on the sideline until comfortable he can protect himself. There seems to be a bizarre conspiracy theory among certain media corners regarding Jackson’s injury layoffs, and an over-eagerness to see him rushed back even to his detriment. Still, Jackson has missed 17 games through injury since becoming a full-time starter in 2019, the impact of which is evidenced by the Ravens failing to reach the playoffs in two of the three seasons in which he missed four or more games, per ESPN stats.

“He’s been one of the best if not the best quarterback. And what he’s consistently done when he’s on the field is unbelievable,” said Allen of Jackson. “He’s a very special player and I’ve got so much respect for him. That’s why you play this game—to have matchups like this.”

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He is set to return to the lineup in place of Tyler Huntley this weekend after producing a flying start to the season, completing 68 of 96 passes (70.8 percent) for 967 yards and six touchdowns against just one interception. He still ranks first in EPA/play and second in success rate. It was MVP-caliber Lamar, only to be slowed by injury. When he suffers, the Ravens suffer.

“Oh, man, you know Lamar, Lamar wants to play. He wants to play when he is fully healthy,” said wide receiver Zay Flowers. “And seeing him out there today (Thursday), obviously it gave everybody a smile on their face.”

Baltimore arrives on the back of a 35-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, during which Jesse Minter’s defense blew a 13-point halftime lead. It marked the first time in NFL history a team lost by 20 points after leading by 13 at the break, while also becoming the 17th game since 2020 they have lost after holding a double-digit lead. They have a Jekyll-and-Hyde problem on defense, their secondary in particular warranting criticism and lacking the talent required to combat the elite quarterbacks that would await in the playoffs.

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Jackson’s absence has also contributed to a disappointing stretch for Derrick Henry, who has managed just 103 rushing yards over the past two games and is averaging a career-low 3.9 yards per carry. Bizarrely, he also ranks among the league’s worst in short-yardage situations.

Two teams with sledgehammers at quarterback. Two teams with lingering questions when it comes to Super Bowl credentials.

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Flowers’ impact

The Ravens gave Zay Flowers a four-year, $140 million contract extension in the offseason, and in return he is delivering a breakout campaign as a field-flipping focal point in Declan Doyle’s offense. Flowers has been a menace with the ball in hand, his 321 yards after the catch bettered only by Jaylen Warren’s 350.

The 2023 first-round pick has caught 40 of his 53 targets for a fourth-most 608 yards and three touchdowns while averaging a second-most 101.3 yards per game, trailing only reigning Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He managed eight catches for 137 yards and a touchdown in last weekend’s defeat to the Bengals, his rise to a place among the NFL’s elite wide receivers crucial to Baltimore’s playoff charge.

Reigniting the running game to control the clock and the line of scrimmage through Henry, and the return of Lamar Jackson, is what the Ravens need to continue feeding Flowers out of play-action.

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