Bills' first loss of the season exposes some of their deficiencies that an unbeaten start covered up

BALTIMORE (AP) — Josh Allen scrambled around looking for someone — anyone — who might be open. Once, it turned into a huge gain, but more often than not it ended with the Buffalo quarterback on the ground.

Many of the Bills' deficiencies that were covered up by an unbeaten start bubbled to the surface in a 35-10 loss at the Baltimore Ravens. A lack of playmakers and depth and injuries that piled up, especially on defense, took a toll for a team that looked like one of the NFL's best through the first three weeks of the season.

“I think the guys that make up this locker room understand who we are, what we are,” said Allen, who fumbled on one of the three sacks he took. “We’re not going to let this avalanche. The guys that we have in this building are smart. The guys have played a lot of football in their careers, so they understand the ebbs and flows of an NFL season. This is going to happen time to time.”

It's the first time the Bills lost a game by more than six points since 2021. And this was a major departure from outscoring their first three opponents 112-48.

Coach Sean McDermott said he wished the plane ride of an hour was five times longer to dissect everything his team needs to work on after getting blown out on the road.

“It just wasn’t up to our standard,” McDermott said. “I say that in the way of we have to do things better fundamentally — execution wise. It’s not just one position. We as a team have to fundamentally do a better job physically. We have to find the problems from tonight and make the adjustments.”

Buffalo's defense was outmuscled by Derrick Henry, who ran for 199 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown on the Ravens' first play from scrimmage. Already missing linebacker Terrel Bernard and cornerback Taron Johnson because of injury, safety Taylor Rapp was knocked out of the game in the first half with a concussion from trying to tackle Henry.

The Bills fell behind early, and Allen — dealing with an injury to his left, nonthrowing hand — was not able to muster up enough magic to keep things competitive. He finished 16 of 29 for 180 yards passing and also ran five times for 21 yards.

“I thought Josh was moving off the spot quite a bit,” McDermott said. “Made some great plays doing that, but then it’s just not the healthiest way to live back there. We’ll make the adjustments we need to make.”

Allen's streak of throwing to Khalil Shakir for a successful completion reached 30 before ending on a pass breakup late in the first half. He did find Shakir on a 52-yard throw and catch that set up Ty Johnson's touchdown run in the third quarter.

Mitch Trubisky replaced Allen, who had become the favorite to win league MVP honors after the 3-0 start, to quarterback the final couple of drives. Allen was not despondent afterward, figuring out a way to turn the big loss into a chance to learn.

“Not everything was bad in this game,” he said. “I don’t want us to come away from this thinking we’re the worst. Lot to learn from. I’m glad this happened early in the season so we can correct things.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press