Baltimore Ravens: 3 Winners and Losers vs. Buffalo Bills

The Baltimore Ravens picked up a 13-7 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 of the NFL season. Here are three winners and losers from the game.

The 2016 season is off to a better start than last year. The Baltimore Ravens got a win and there were no major injuries to open the new campaign.

The Ravens defense played its heart out, playing with that nasty streak that was missing from a year ago. They seemed to give up every lead in the fourth quarter last year. That was not the case against the Bills. Buffalo was held to 160 total yards. The Ravens were the only defense not allow its opponent to reach double digits.

Jamison Hensley of ESPN pointed out there stats after the win:

“This is the fewest yards allowed by the Ravens since 2011. It’s the fewest points given up by Baltimore in an opener since 2011. It marked the first time the Ravens didn’t allow a first down in the fourth quarter since 2011.

What’s so significant about 2011? It’s the last time the Ravens finished in the top five in both yards and points allowed.”

So far so good for the Ravens.

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It was good to see Joe Flacco out there, and while the offense did not muster up much points, you see the potential is there for this to be an effective offense, like we bold predicted last week. It also was a joy in Baltimore to see Breshad Perriman make a fantastic catch down the sidelines in his first regular season action.

While the score does not indicate it, the Ravens dominated this game. Let’s look at the winners and losers from Week 1:

Winners:

Shareece Wright: I picked on him most of the preseason, so give credit where it’s due. He was all over the field on Sunday. He made a nice play in the backfield on a screen pass and had three tackles for loss. And while it is usually not a good sign to see a cornerback lead the team with 11 tackles, some players in the secondary wouldn’t stuck their nose in the mix on running plays.

Timmy Jernigan: Many felt this would be the year Jernigan breaks out and he’s off to a good start. He had two tackles for a loss, a sack and two hits on Tyrod Taylor. More impressively, he was stout against the run, helping the run defense hold last year’s top rushing team to 65 yards on the ground.

Mike Wallace: Those how doubted that Wallace had anything left in the tank were quickly reminded that his speed is real. He beat Stephon Gilmore for a 66-yard touchdown, his longest touchdown since 2012. That’s also the last time Wallace had had a strong arm quarterback that could get him the ball down the field.

Losers:

Za’Darius Smith: He had an opportunity to carve a bigger role out for himself with Elvis Dumervil out on Sunday, but made little impact. He is a good pass rusher, but is a liability against the run.

Jeremy Zuttah: It was a rough day for the Ravens center, who allowed linebacker Jerry Hughes to get to Flacco basically untouched on one play. Marshal Yanda also uncharacteristically had a few lapses in play, but a few more games like that from Zuttah, and he could be watching from the bench.

Bills: Usually the opposing team would not be in this piece, but we do not know if Buffalo is that bad or the Ravens defense is that good. The 160 yards on offense was the worst in the league. The next worse was the Chicago Bears, who tallied 258 yards on offense.

Next: Ravens Game Day vs. Bills

It is hard to pick out losers in a game that the Ravens win. While it was anything but the most exciting game of the season, Harbaugh’s team didn’t squander a late lead and his guys are healthy.

Next up for the Ravens is a visit to the Dawg Pound to take on the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland lost its first game, 29-10, to the Philadelphia Eagles.

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