The Baltimore Ravens ended their 2024 season with a heartbreaking loss to the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. After the Bills took an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Ravens rallied and looked poised to tie. However, they missed on their second two-point conversion try in a game they ultimately lost 27-25.
Hope springs anew in the first game of the season, and with it comes time for discussing the opposing squad. Baltimore has a fantastic roster, a great offensive
line, some excellent linebackers, and a strong defensive front that can make any opponent’s life miserable.
Our list of five Ravens to watch doesn’t include players from those positional groups, however. With a team this good, it’s hard to pick just five players. Our list is below, but be sure to share yours in the comments!
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QB Lamar Jackson
After finishing second in MVP voting to Josh Allen, Jackson will look to start the year off by avenging another loss to the Bills in the playoffs. Jackson has played very well against Buffalo in four regular season contests, completing 66% of his passes and throwing six touchdowns against just three interceptions for a quarterback rating of 92.3. He’s rushed for 206 yards and a score, as well, in those games. The two playoff games have another story entirely, however, as Jackson has thrown two touchdowns and two interceptions. The key difference has been that the Bills have done a better job containing him as a runner in the postseason, as he has totaled 73 rushing yards on 15 carries. Jackson has only rushed for less than 54 yards twice in the playoffs, and both times have come against the Bills. Will the Bills bring their playoff-caliber containment this week, or will the 2023 NFL MVP run wild? Forcing him to beat them from the pocket is the better bet—not because Jackson isn’t capable of doing it (he most certainly is), but similar to Allen, he’s just that much deadlier when he escapes contain.
RB Derrick Henry
Look, it’s inevitable. Henry is going to break a big gain at some point, and he’s going to churn through some defenders to pick up tough yardage. What can’t happen is what happened in Week 4 last season, when Buffalo allowed Henry to run 24 times for 199 yards and a score. Henry’s playoff numbers were still solid—he carried 16 times for 84 yards and a score—but those are manageable numbers. If the Ravens can turn around and hand it to Henry at an eight yards per carry clip, Buffalo has no chance. Jackson’s ability as a runner makes Henry that much better, and vice versa. Stopping the run on early downs and putting the Ravens behind the chains will be a big part of slowing Henry down, but the biggest part might have nothing at all to do with the defense. If Buffalo’s offense can score points and put the Ravens in a negative game script, then they’ll have to go away from Henry. Committing plenty of players to the box early can only help the cause.
TE Mark Andrews
When Baltimore last played, their former All-Pro tight end had one of the worst games of his career. No, it’s not because of his receiving line, as that was fairly solid. Andrews caught five passes for 61 yards on the evening. It was the fumble he lost at midfield when Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard stripped him of the ball coupled with the wide-open dropped pass on a two-point try that would have tied the game that sealed that Divisional Round loss as a game Andrews would like to forget. As fate would have it, he has the chance to atone for his mistakes immediately on Sunday night, and don’t be surprised when the Ravens try to feed it to him to give him the chance to do so. With Isaiah Likely out for the game, Andrews will see more targets and more snaps than he otherwise might have seen. Keeping him contained is a must for a Buffalo defense that has some inexperienced players in the defensive secondary this week.
CB Jaire Alexander
After the way the Bills and Alexander seemed to beef the last time we saw him as a member of the Green Bay Packers, I am really intrigued to see what happens in this matchup. Alexander is listed as a backup behind Marlon Humphrey, but I have to imagine that he’ll at least play in nickel situations over Chidobe Awuzie. Alexander intercepted Allen once and had four pass breakups in Green Bay’s 27-17 loss at Buffalo back in 2022. During that game, it almost looked Buffalo was trying to prove that they could beat Alexander, only to be rebuffed each time they made the effort. They can’t fall into any mind-game spats this week, and a more mature Allen will be able to avoid doing so (especially without the influence of the 2022 vintage’s No. 14).
S Malaki Starks
The rookie safety was a trendy player to mock to the Bills in last April’s NFL Draft, but he ended up in Baltimore, joining Kyle Hamilton in what could be one of the strongest safety rooms in the NFL. Add in the corners we discussed above, and the Ravens have a secondary capable of slowing great passing offenses, which is clearly a plan given that they play in the same conference as Buffalo and the Kansas City Chiefs. How will Starks react to all the eye candy thrown at him by Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady? The Bills use presnap motion effectively to isolate players and create chaos in opposing coverage schemes. Add in some play-action passing concepts, and the Bills could look to catch the rookie dreaming about big plays only to beat him over the top or on some wheel routes, as well. If Allen can hold Starks in place using his eyes, there could be come big plays to be had.
