Bills get unbelievable bulletin board material from Ravens star linebacker Roquan Smith days before Divisional Round matchup
Bills vs Ravens is being discussed as an unbelievable matchup, and rightly so. It features the two MVP frontrunners in Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, both teams are coming off dominant Wild Card victories, and they're both playing at unbelievably high levels. According to Baltimore's star linebacker Roquan Smith, speaking on NFL Network, he doesn't think […]
Bills vs Ravens is being discussed as an unbelievable matchup, and rightly so. It features the two MVP frontrunners in Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, both teams are coming off dominant Wild Card victories, and they're both playing at unbelievably high levels.
According to Baltimore's star linebacker Roquan Smith, speaking on NFL Network, he doesn't think it's going to be much of a challenge, which I'm sure the Bills will take personally — and they should.
"Very excited about this matchup with the Bills knowing that they're a really good team led by Josh Allen. And then their O-line is playing some really good ball as well. And then the running back, Cook, [I've] been on him for very long time, and then guys on the outside who can make a lot of plays, but I think it's going to be very simple for us. We've just got to stick to who we are as a group, stopping the run and making those guys one dimensional and once you do that, it can create a long day for those guys."
His follow up answer provided some more insight.
"We're not the same team that we were back in Week 4. I looked at the film and I'm like, man, we was playing like this? And I'm sure those guys feel the same way for themselves. So it's about coming out and imposing our will on those guys from the first snap to the last snap. It's very simple making them one dimensional, and that's what the run game is about — testing a guy's manhood. Those guys pride themselves on running the ball, and it opened up everything else for Josh Allen, so we stopped that, and it can be a long day for those guys, so that's our primary focus, and once we do that, it's going to be a long day.
Smith said multiple times that it's easy to stop the Bills and it's easy to make them one dimensional. That hasn't been the case for Bills' opponents over the second half of this season. James Cook has rushed for 100+ yards in four of the team's last six games, excluding Week 18. The offense as a whole, from Week 7 on, has averaged over 405 yards per game of total offense — about 100 yards more per game than they averaged Weeks 1-6.
Smith is right about one thing — the run game is a mentality and a battle of will. As the season has gone on, the Bills' offensive line has become one of the most dominant units in the league. I have a feeling the Ravens will find it a little harder to make the Bills one dimensional this time around.
Follow along all year for more Buffalo Bills coverage on A to Z Sports. You can find me on Bluesky @jonhelmkamp.bsky.social, and make sure to follow our main page @AtoZSports.bsky.social for all the latest news.
