Matt Prater kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired and the Buffalo Bills scored 16 unanswered points in the final 3:56 to register a dramatic 41-40 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in a season-opening AFC showdown on Sunday night at Orchard Park, N.Y.
Reigning MVP Josh Allen completed 33 of 46 passes for 394 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for two scores for the Bills.
Buffalo started from its own 20-yard line with 1:26 left. During the drive, Allen hit Joshua Palmer for 32 yards and Keon Coleman for 25 on consecutive plays to move the ball to the Ravens’ 9 with 38 seconds left.
After three Allen kneel-downs, the special teams unit ran out on the field and Prater booted the winner in his first game with the club.
Derrick Henry rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns and quarterback Lamar Jackson accounted for three scores for the Ravens in the rematch of last season’s AFC Divisional playoff round when host Buffalo edged the Ravens 27-25.
Henry ranks sixth all-time with 108 rushing touchdowns. He entered the game in a tie with legendary Hall of Famer Jim Brown.
Jackson was 14-of-19 passing for 209 yards and two touchdowns and added 70 yards and one score on the ground for the Ravens. Zay Flowers caught seven passes for 143 yards and one touchdown, and DeAndre Hopkins added a stellar touchdown catch.
James Cook rushed for a touchdown and Coleman caught eight passes for 112 yards and a touchdown for the Bills. Dalton Kincaid added a scoring grab.
Buffalo trailed by 15 before Allen hit Coleman on a 10-yard scoring with 3:56 left to bring the Bills within 40-32. Ed Oliver then forced Henry to fumble and Terrel Bernard recovered at the Baltimore 30 with 3:06 to play.
Four plays later, Allen leaped in from the 1 with 1:58 to go, but his two-point conversion throw to Coleman was incomplete to leave Buffalo down two. It was the Bills’ third failed two-point conversion of the game.
The Ravens took over with 1:51 left and were forced to punt before Buffalo’s decisive drive.
Baltimore controlled play most of the night and added to a 20-13 halftime lead when it began the third quarter with Jackson’s 23-yard scoring pass to Flowers.
Cook scored on a 2-yard run to bring Buffalo within 27-19 with 7:47 remaining but a two-point conversion failed.
Baltimore increased its lead to 34-19 with 1:09 left in the third when Hopkins made a one-handed, 29-yard scoring grab of Jackson’s throw down the right sideline.
Cook took a swing pass 51 yards to the Ravens’ 2 to set up a Buffalo score. Two plays later, Allen scored on a 2-yard run with 12:51 left in the contest. The Bills came up empty on another two-point conversion when Allen was intercepted by Kyle Hamilton.
The rushing score was the 66th of Allen’s career, surpassing Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas for the franchise record.
The Ravens answered with a four-play, 65-yard drive. Henry took a handoff up the middle and exploded to the left and went down the sideline for a 46-yard scoring run to make it 40-25.
Henry had 123 rushing yards on nine carries in the first half.
Buffalo scored on its first possession as Allen hit Kincaid for a 15-yard touchdown before the Ravens scored the next 17 points.
Rookie Tyler Loop kicked a 52-yard field goal and Henry scampered 30 yards for a touchdown to give the Ravens a 10-7 lead with 13:35 left in the first half. Henry exploded for a 49-yard run on Baltimore’s next possession, and Jackson finished off the drive with a 10-yard scoring run with 9:47 remaining.
Prater kicked a 25-yard field goal for the Bills with 2:50 left, and Loop answered with a 49-yard field goal with 31 seconds left before Prater was good from 43 yards as time expired in the first half.
–Field Level Media
