Mike Preston: Ravens vs. Bills. Lamar vs. Allen. There's plenty at stake.
Published in Football
BALTIMORE — The Ravens’ AFC divisional round playoff game against the Bills on Sunday night could be history in the making.
Barring the Texans upsetting the top-seeded Chiefs on Saturday, either Buffalo or Baltimore will get a chance to defeat Kansas City, which is seeking to become the first to win three straight Super Bowl titles.
It would set another dramatic stage. Chiefs coach Andy Reid against one of his two of his former assistants, Buffalo’s Sean McDermott or Baltimore’s John Harbaugh. It might feature another quarterback duel, with Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes taking on either the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson or the Bills’ Josh Allen — the top two candidates for the NFL Most Valuable Player Award.
OK, excuse me for getting a little bit ahead of myself here. But the ramifications might be enormous.
“You kind of feel grateful to be a part of it,” Harbaugh said. “It’s a privilege to be a part of a game like this. These divisional games are really hard to win because you’re playing the best teams. The four best teams in the AFC, the four best teams in the NFC are still alive. To get to the Super Bowl — if you want to take a step out — you have to win two games now. Whoever gets to the Super Bowl has to win two games against the best in their conference.
“That’s tough, really tough. So, to be a part of that just in that sense is really amazing, and then you get a chance to play a team like the Bills who have been perennially in that group. They are just a super talented, well-coached type of a team.”
The Jackson versus Allen matchup adds spice, but not because of their MVP candidacies. Fans from both cities have unfairly criticized the other candidate for various reasons, but it’s great to watch two of the best at their positions compete head to head.
There are only four game-changing quarterbacks in the NFL (with slight apologies to Washington’s Jayden Daniels), and they all play in the AFC, and two are in the same division — Jackson and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow.
And, of course, there is Mahomes, the best ever as far as accuracy, elusiveness and improvisation.
The coaching matchup adds even more intrigue. McDermott has posted an 86-45 record since arriving in Buffalo but lost in the 2020 AFC championship game to Kansas City. The Bills can’t seem to get over the hump, losing in the divisional round to the Chiefs in 2021 and 2023 and to the Bengals in 2022.
The Bills have made it to the postseason six of the past seven years but haven’t played in a Super Bowl since Jim Kelly led Buffalo to four straight in the early 1990s. The Ravens, meanwhile, haven’t played in the big game in a while but at least hoisted a Lombardi Trophy in February 2013.
Like McDermott, Harbaugh, one of the longest-tenured coaches in the NFL who has a 172-104 record, has led his team to the postseason six of the past seven years. Last year was the most disappointing because the Ravens had the best team in the league but laid an egg in a 17-10 loss to the Chiefs in the AFC championship game at M&T Bank Stadium.
You see the common denominator here. It’s Kansas City. These two coaches squaring off Sunday night also have something else in common.
Both were assistants under Reid when he was the coach in Philadelphia from 1999 through 2012. McDermott worked as a scout and later as an assistant for Reid before he was fired as the team’s defensive coordinator in 2010. Harbaugh was Reid’s special teams assistant until the Ravens hired him as coach before the 2008 season.
Harbaugh has a 2-5 record against his former mentor while McDermott is 4-1 versus Reid in the regular season but 0-3 in the playoffs. Both speak very highly of their former boss but they still want the opportunity to beat him.
One will likely get that chance after Sunday night. Both have high powered offenses. The Ravens are ranked No. 1 in total offense (424.9 yards a game) and the Bills are at 10th (359.1). Both are extremely efficient inside the red zone with the Ravens scoring a touchdown 74.3% of the time — best in the NFL — and Buffalo at 68.1% (third best).
The last time the teams played the Ravens defeated the Bills, 35-10, in Week 4 on Sept. 29 in Baltimore as running back Derrick Henry rushed for 199 yards on 24 carries. That’s the biggest question of the matchup: How will the Bills contain the Ravens’ rushing attack?
It might come down to tough guys and star players. The Ravens had nine players named to the Pro Bowl while the Bills had only two. Another factor is that Buffalo is undefeated at home this season and the cold weather and loud crowd might become factors. Regardless, one team has to win and face either the Chiefs or Texans, and Kansas City has a history of beating both the Ravens and Bills when it matters most.
A big game is now bigger.
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