ORCHARD PARK - If there has been one constant in the first one-third of the Buffalo Bills season, it’s that every week they seem to be playing a team that is either desperate for a victory or coming into the game in an ornery mood after a humbling loss.
It’s happening again Sunday at Highmark Stadium because the Bills return from their bye week for a showdown against the Baltimore Ravens, who are fresh off blowing a 13-0 halftime lead and playing a simply horrendous second half in their 35-13 loss to AFC North rival Cincinnati.
Oh, it was ugly in Baltimore as Cincinnati scored touchdowns on five straight possessions in the second half while the Tyler Huntley-led offense had zero response, netting just 87 yards after the intermission.
“In every
game, we’ve proven that we’re good enough to be the type of team that we want to be, and we’ve proven that we’re bad enough to be a not very good team as well,” Ravens coach Jesse Minter said. “There’s a consistency level that we need to find, where it’s less riding the wave of momentum and more about staying even-keeled and finding a way to have each other’s back and finding a way to pick each other up. You can look at really all three phases in the second half of completely momentum-losing type of plays. That is what it is.”
Yeah, the Ravens are going to be a mad bunch Sunday, but this is nothing new for Buffalo in 2026.
Before their season went swirling down the toilet and there was still hope of turning things around, the Chargers were 0-2 when they came to Buffalo in Week 3 and gave the Bills all they could handle before falling 24-16. The Patriots came in for a Week 4 showdown with a 1-2 record following a miserable 35-6 loss in Jacksonville and staring at a possible three-game deficit in the AFC East, but the Bills did not take care of business and suffered their only loss of the season.
And then it was Las Vegas hosting Buffalo in Week 6 after a brutal 45-17 loss to the Patriots, and the Bills managed to avoid a big upset to get to 5-1 heading into their bye week.
While Buffalo is now tied atop the AFC with the 5-1 Chiefs, Joe Brady is not satisfied because he knows his defense is awful and his offense, while dynamic, would be even better minus the turnovers and penalties.
“I'm not happy with how the team's playing right now,” Brady said. “You guys know me, right? I'm never happy, it's part of who I am. Offense, defense, special teams, there's things we're leaving out there, and there's a standard that I need us to think differently and not be okay with what the results and what the scoreboard showed. If we just sit there and say, ‘Well, we're 5-1’ then we're going to fool ourselves into thinking that all is right in the world.”
It’s better in Buffalo’s world than it is Baltimore’s right now, but that could change in a hurry.
Buffalo Bills key to victory
It’s all about the defense for the Bills. It simply can’t continue to be as awful as it has been, especially in a game where the Ravens might be getting star QB Lamar Jackson back. With Jackson handing off to Derrick Henry or running himself, and then throwing to Zay Flowers who is as dangerous and dynamic as any WR in the NFL, the Ravens have the potential for big plays and the Bills’ defense that allows 28.5 points per game is scarily susceptible to those types of game-altering plays.
Baltimore Ravens key to victory
If Jackson returns to action after missing the last three games, he’s going to need to knock the rust off in a hurry because the Ravens are currently sitting in last place in the ultra-competitive AFC North despite a 4-3 record. He was off to a great start completing 70.8% of his passes for 967 yards, six TDs and just one interception and a league-best passing success rate of 57.3%. Huntley has been fine, but he’s not Jackson and the Ravens have now dropped back-to-back division games to the Browns and Bengals.
Bills vs Ravens matchup to watch
Henry has been a nightmare for the Bills throughout his career, be it with the Titans or the Ravens. He has played Buffalo eight times counting the postseason and he has averaged 102rushing yards with 11 touchdowns. But Henry has been ineffective the last two weeks as he has rushed for just 103 yards and an average of 3.02 yards per carry in the losses to Cleveland and Cincinnati. The Bills have been a little better against the run this season - mainly because teams spend all day passing - but this will be the biggest test for Jim Leonhard’s run defense since Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs in Week 2.
Who wins? Bills 28, Ravens 24
The Bills have had the Ravens’ number in their recent meetings, last year’s incredible 41-40 season-opening comeback victory, on the heels of their 27-25 divisional round playoff victory in 2024. Having had a week to rest and reset, particularly on defense, the Bills should be ready to come out rolling, and Josh Allen has never lost after a bye, 7-0 in his career.
The key to this game is going to be whether the Bills’ defensive coaching staff learned a few things in their self-scouting the past week and can start finding answers to the myriad problems that confront this group. At some point, Allen won’t be able to bail them out of a bad performance, and the Ravens defense - with defensive-minded Minter at the helm - will be looking to make amends after its meltdown against the Bengals.
There are still plenty of proud star players on that side of the ball, led by S Kyle Hamilton, DT Nnamdi Madubuike, DE Trey Hendrickson, LB Roquan Smith and CB Marlon Humphrey who could cause trouble for Buffalo’s offense, even if it gets WR DJ Moore back as expected.
What time does the Bills vs Ravens game start?
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Highmark Stadium.
Who is favored to win Bills vs Ravens?
The Bills have opened as a 3.5-point favorite for the game. The money line is Bills minus-190 (bet $190 to win $100) and Ravens plus-155 (bet $100 to win $155). The over-under is 53.5.
What channel is Bills vs Ravens game?
Cable/Network TV: CBS. The game will be available locally via the following stations: WROC channel 8 (Rochester area), WIVB channel 4 (Buffalo area), WTVH channel 5 (Syracuse area), WKTV channel 2 (Utica area), WENY channel 36 (Elmira area), WRGB channel 6 (Albany area), and WBNG channel 12 (Binghamton area).
How can you stream Bills vs. Ravens game?
Online streaming services: You can watch games on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app, and you can subscribe to NFL+, the league’s own streaming service, though you can’t cast the games to your TV - you must watch on your phone or tablet.
TV streaming: You can also stream games if you have subscriptions to Spectrum, DirecTV Choice, Fubo Sports, Sling, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV, YouTubeTV + NFL Sunday Ticket, and Paramount+.
On the radio: How to listen to the Bills vs Ravens game
You can listen on SiriusXM satellite radio on channel 195 (Bills feed) and channel 264 (Ravens feed), and on traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations all across the state. Chris Brown has the play-by-play, Eric Wood is the analyst, and Steve Tasker is the sideline reporter. The network includes:
- Rochester (WAIO 95.1 FM);
- Buffalo (WGRF 96.9 FM);
- Syracuse (WSKO 1260 AM);
- Albany (WOFX 92.5 FM);
- Utica (WKLL 94.9 FM);
- Dunkirk (WDOE 1410 AM);
- Hornell (WKPQ 105.3 FM);
- Elmira (WMTT 94.7 FM);
- Jamestown (WWSE 93.3 FM);
- Olean (WPIG 95.7 FM);
- Ogdensburg (WQTK 92.7 FM);
- Watertown (WOTT 94.1 FM);
- Bradford, Pa. (WBRR 100.1 FM);
- Cortland/Ithaca (WIII 99.9 FM);
- Auburn (WAUB 1590 AM);
- Geneva (WGVA 1240 AM);
- Binghamton (WENE 1430 AM);
- Newark (WACK 1420 AM);
- Cobleskill/Schoharie (WSDE 1190 AM);
- Williamsport, PA (WRAK 1400 AM);
- Erie, Pa. (WRKT 104.9 FM);
- New York City (WEPN 1050 AM);
- West Palm Beach, Fla. (WESP 106.3 FM);
- Montreal, Canada (CKGM 690 AM);
- Ottawa, Canada (CFGO 1200 AM);
- Toronto, Canada (CHUM 1050 AM).
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, he has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills had a week to fix their biggest weakness. Lamar Jackson may test it
