Allen, Bills host Jackson, Ravens in highly anticipated matchup of AFC division winners

Baltimore (13-5) at Buffalo (14-4)

Sunday, 6:30 p.m. EST, CBS

BetMGM NFL odds: Ravens by 1.

Series record: Ravens lead 7-5.

Against the spread: Ravens 11-6-1, Bills 11-7.

Last meeting: Ravens beat Bills 35-10 on Sept. 29, at Baltimore.

Last week: Ravens beat Steelers 28-14; Bills beat Broncos 31-7.

Ravens offense: overall (1), rush (1), pass (7), scoring (3).

Ravens defense: overall (10), rush (1), pass (31), scoring (9).

Bills offense: overall (10), rush (9), pass (9), scoring (2).

Bills defense: overall (17), rush (12), pass (24), scoring (11t).

Turnover differential: Ravens plus-6; Bills plus-24.

Ravens player to watch

S Ar'Darius Washington. He's been a big part of Baltimore's defensive improvement down the stretch this season, but the secondary did allow a couple of lengthy touchdown throws by the Steelers last weekend and now faces an even bigger challenge against Buffalo's passing game.

Bills player to watch

QB Josh Allen. Though the seventh-year starter is 1-3 in divisional playoff appearances, he’s combined for 975 yards passing and six touchdowns with one interception, and 159 yards rushing and three scores in those outings. With two TDs passing last weekend, Allen increased his postseason total to 23 to break Hall of Famer Jim Kelly’s franchise record (21). In the regular season, Allen topped the 40-TD total for a fifth straight year with 28 touchdowns passing, 12 rushing and one receiving, while throwing a career-low six interceptions.

Key matchup

Ravens running game vs. Bills run defense. The Ravens topped 200 yards rushing eight times this season, including 271 against Buffalo, the most the Bills allowed this season. Buffalo’s defense was missing three starters — linebackers Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard and cornerback Taron Johnson — while starting safety Taylor Rapp played just 16 snaps before being sidelined by a concussion. All four players are scheduled to play Sunday.

Key injuries

Ravens WR Zay Flowers hurt his knee in the regular-season finale, missed last weekend's game against Pittsburgh and missed practice time this week. ... Bills rookie RB Ray Davis (concussion protocol) practiced on a limited basis Wednesday, though it's unclear if he'll be cleared to play. Backup OT Alec Anderson is practicing after he hurt his ankle on Sunday.

Series notes

Ravens RB Derrick Henry had a season-best 199 yards rushing, including an 87 yard touchdown, and also scored a TD receiving in the win over Buffalo in Week 4. ... The Bills are 3-1 at home against the Ravens, including a 17-3 win in a 2020 divisional playoff meeting, which was secured by Johnson returning Lamar Jackson’s interception for an NFL playoff record-tying 101 yards for a touchdown. ... Allen and Jackson, both first-round picks in the 2018 draft, made their NFL debuts in mop-up roles in Baltimore’s 47-3 win over Buffalo to open that season.

Stats and stuff

Buffalo and Baltimore finished the regular season with an AFC-leading plus-157 point differential. ... From Weeks 11-18, the Ravens allowed NFL lows in total yards per game (261.7), net yards passing per game (171.6), yards per play (4.4) and points per game (15.4). In the first round of the playoffs, they allowed 280 yards and 14 points. ... Baltimore has 13 playoff wins in coach John Harbaugh’s 17 seasons at the helm. Only Kansas City and New England (16 each) have more in that time span. ... The Ravens set an NFL record by averaging 5.76 yards per rush attempt this season — then averaged 6.0 last weekend against the Steelers. ... Henry is averaging 114.8 yards rushing per game in his postseason career. Among players with at least 100 carries, only Terrell Davis (142.5) and Arian Foster (128.8) have had higher averages. ... Henry’s four 150-yard rushing games in the playoffs are tied with Davis for the most in league history. ... Baltimore had three touchdown drives of at least 85 yards last week, the most by an NFL team in a postseason game since at least 2000. In the regular season, the Ravens had 10 TD drives of at least 90 yards, also the most since at least 2000. ... The Bills are making their fourth straight appearance in the divisional round after losing the past three — twice to Kansas City and once to Cincinnati — since losing to the Chiefs in the 2020 AFC championship game. Buffalo has a 6-8 record in the divisional round. ... The Bills are 9-0 at home this season, including playoffs, and 41-10 since 2020. They’re 6-2 at home in the playoffs under coach Sean McDermott, and 16-5 overall. ... The Bills, under McDermott, are 14-2 in games when temperatures dip below freezing. Early forecasts for Sunday project a high of 23 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-5 Celsius) and low of 9 (minus-13). ... Not including a regular season-ending game at New England, in which Allen sat after taking the opening snap, the quarterback has combined for 12 touchdowns passing, seven rushing and one receiving in his past six outings. ... With 46 yards rushing against Denver, Allen increased his playoff total to an NFL-record 609 among quarterbacks, 7 ahead of Jackson. ... RB James Cook’s 120 yards rushing against Denver were the most by a Bills player in the postseason since Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas had 158 in a 1995 wild-card playoff win over Miami. ... Buffalo controlled the ball for 41:43 against Denver, which ranks as the 10th most in playoff history. It’s the most since New England finished with 43:59 in a 37-31 OT win over Kansas City in the 2018 AFC championship game, and most in regulation since Baltimore finished with 41:44 in a 30-7 win over Kansas City in a 2010 wild-card playoff.

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