For the second season in a row, the Ravens will open their season on the road against the team that eliminated them in the postseason the year prior. The Ravens travel to Buffalo for a Sunday night matchup against the Bills. Similar to last year, an opening-season victory wouldn’t necessarily erase the demons from last year, but it would set them up well for this season, both for home-field advantage and the mental hurdle.
Let’s talk about the four focuses for walking out 1-0 Sunday night.
1) Stay Calm!
This is going
to be a theme all year long. This is the best roster in the NFL this season. They have unlimited talent. There are maybe one or two teams across the entire NFL that can truly outplay the Ravens and win if the Ravens are mistake-free. The goal of the 2025 season should be to gain that calm-killer mentality for the playoffs. Being able to play through chaos and play a clean four quarters every game is what this team needs to do week in and week out in order to become the Super Bowl champs they can’t.
The Ravens committed multiple turnovers and mistakes in the playoff match just a few months ago and still barely lost. If the Ravens don’t make mistakes, they could control this game from start to finish.
2) Attack the Bills’ secondary
When the Ravens beat the Bills in Week 4 of 2024, they ran the ball down their throat. However, Buffalo was also light in their front seven due to injuries. Then the Ravens struggled to be physical at the line of scrimmage in the playoff match and couldn’t get the run game going. Now, heading into this matchup, the Ravens themselves will be without key players, with fullback Pat Ricard and tight end Isaiah Likely ruled out for the game. Both of those guys play roles in the blocking scheme, especiaslly Ricard who allows the run game to have so much diversity.
So intead, the Ravens should focus on the core of Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman and Mark Andrews through the air. Add in DeAndre Hopkins and Charlie Kolar and the Ravens should be able to take advantage of weaker Bills secondary. Their starting unit is massively injured, missing their first round rookie Maxwell Hairston and former Raven Tre White, leaving little depth behind the remaining starters of Christian Benford and Taron Johnson. Lamar Jackson and coordinator Todd Monken should have their secondary in a blender the entire game considering the prep time.
3) Shut down the run
A lot of Josh Allen and the Bills’ success in their offense from last year came from the addition of a stabilizing run game. The Bills no longer had to only lean on Josh Allen being Superman to Stephon Diggs. Instead, James Cook, Ray Davis, and Ty Johnson formed a good running back room for them, allowing them to have something else to lean on, whether it was the actual ground game or using the backs as pass catchers. While Josh Allen is still the main cog in what Buffalo does, one of the few ways to limit them is to stuff the run game and make them one dimensional.
When the Ravens won in 2024, the Bills had 81 total rushing yards. The Ravens got ahead by multiple scores quick, put the Bills in chase mode and didn’t let their run game get steam. When they lost in the playoffs, James Cook alone had 67 yards and the Bills had a near 150-yard game on the ground. The Ravens need to shut down the run game early, not let the Bills build momentum and get ahead fast, forcing Allen and the offense to chase points. That will allow the Ravens defense to shine, letting the pass rush get after Allen and the secondary be the strength.
4) Handle the pass rush
One of the few concerns on the Ravens roster is their guard play. Just how good Andrew Vorhees could be is still a question mark, after only playing part of the season last year and winning the left guard job again this year. Daniel Faalele is the weakest part of this offensive line and offense in general, making him a target for defensive coordinators to target. Those two guys working with Tyler Linderbaum on the interior to stymie a good pass rush is just the first of many tests. The interior offensive line is going to have to prove all season long that just because they are the weakest part of the offense, doesn’t mean they are a weak part.
Keeping Lamar Jackson clean and allowing him to work with the receivers could be the biggest difference in this game. If Jackson has time to hit his targets and work his reads, the Ravens offense could dominate this game, forcing Allen and the Bills to chase against what should be one of the best defenses in the league for Baltimore.
