Both rosters are different from Week 4, so how have the Buffalo Bills changed since their previous meeting with the Ravens?
The Baltimore Ravens blew out the Buffalo Bills in Week 4, excelling on both sides of the ball to shut down the Josh Allen-led offense as well as shred the suspect run defense of head coach Sean McDermott. But September was a long time ago for both teams.
Since the first meeting, the Ravens defense has improved considerably (something that should terrify the Bills), but Buffalo has also changed. Their offense was scored 30+ point in more games than any other team while their defense has added several players back into the mix.
So how has the Bills roster changed since Week 4?
Buffalo Bills get linebacker reinforcements
At the beginning of the season, the Bills lost perhaps their best defensive player during training camp. Former All-Pro linebacker Matt Milano missed the first game (and the first three months of the season) but has rounded back to form after tearing his biceps. To compound the problem at linebacker, their defensive playcaller and leading tackler in 2023 — Terrel Bernard — was out with a pec injury.
Backup Dorian William made his sixth career start, playing 86% of the snaps. Reserve Baylon Spector made just his second career start and played 100% of the snaps and was terrible, particularly against the run. Even Nick Morrow, released later in the season, took defensive snaps.
Milano and Bernard are back, which should help shore up their run defense at least a little bit. And if they need to go to him, Williams is a much better option as the third linebacker than he was as the top starter.
All-Pro defensive back is in the lineup
In 2023, slot cornerback Taron Johnson was named to the All-Pro team. He missed Week 4 with a forearm fracture. Johnson acts as the de facto third linebacker as Buffalo’s base defense is a nickel. So the Bills were missing all three members of the middle of their defense in the game.
Johnson left Sunday’s Wild Card game with a neck injury but ultimately returned. He’s expected to play against Baltimore.
Bills safety position was very frazzled in Week 4
The Bills lost starting safety Taylor Rapp to a concussion after a hard tackle 16 plays into the game. He’s since worn a Guardian Cap while playing. Filling in was rookie Cole Bishop seeing his first NFL action. The veteran Rapp has been cooked on one play in each of the last two games, but his floor is higher than Bishop. The rookie has gained valuable experience during the season and could be used from time to time as he has a higher ceiling than Rapp.
Defensive tackle room looks different
After watching Derrick Henry run roughshod over their defensive line, the Bills made it a point to go add veteran depth at DT. They aren’t world-beaters, but Jordan Phillips and Quinton Jefferson have been upgrades for Buffalo’s depth at tackle, and they both have playoff experience.
Von Miller is closer to Von Miller now
Miller played in the first game but only logged nine snaps, 16% of Buffalo’s total. As he’s continued to recover from his 2022 and 2023 injuries, the Bills have leaned more heavily on the veteran. Despite having a considerable lead in the fourth quarter, Miller played 50% of Buffalo’s total defensive snaps in the Wild Card round. He only logged one QB hit on the stat sheet, but he impacted Bo Nix on several plays and he has considerable big-game experience.
Bills receivers should give some help to Josh Allen this time
Ravens fans have been keen to remind Bills fans that Josh Allen was benched in the previous game after going 16/29 for 180 yards with three sacks and a lost fumble (on an ill-advised trick play).
Those same fans should know the Bills’ wide receiver room will look very different in the playoffs. The big news item, at least nationally, was Buffalo trading for Amari Cooper. But Cooper hasn’t made a huge impact on Buffalo’s offense, playing in fewer than 25% of the regular season snaps and had just two catches for eight yards in the Wild Card.
The bigger issue for Buffalo’s passing offense was the loss of Khalil Shakir, who left the Week 4 contest during the second half and missed both of the Bills two early season losses where Allen struggled. Shakir is not only an excellent route runner, he has the most chemistry with Allen and led the team in catches and yards in 2024.
Josh Allen’s hand is (mostly) healed
The last thing we’re going to mention is Josh Allen’s left hand. In Week 1, Allen hurdled a Cardinals defender into the end zone, landing with his weight on his right elbow. The point of that elbow landed on Allen’s outstretched left hand, fracturing it. Allen played through the injury wearing a padded glove on his hand, and appeared on the injury report weekly, but it clearly impacted the QB for several weeks. Allen’s left hand should be good to go at the start of the game.
Again, we know the Ravens aren’t the same team anymore, too. Their defense was struggling under new DC Zach Orr but has really found their footing since tinkering with their safety rotation among other changes and adding former Bills All-Pro CB Tre’Davious White via trade.
On Sunday night, we’ll cap off the Divisional Round with a great matchup between potentially the two best teams left in the whole darn thing. One thing is for sure, it won’t be a snap-for-snap replay of Week 4.