Practice made perfect for Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills as they launched a rousing comeback to see off the Baltimore Ravens in a wild season-opener in New Jersey.
The Ravens had looked to have put down an early-season marker as, led by Lamar Jackson, they established a 15-point lead with four minutes to go.
But Josh Allen conjured up a remarkable escape act before Matt Prater kicked the winning 32-yard field goal as time expired as the Bills edged it 41-40.
Buffalo had five possessions in the final quarter and scored on four of them – a feat that was no coincidence according to coach Sean McDermott.
“We start every practice, at least two of the three practices that we get during the week, with two-minute [drills],” McDermott said.
“And [Allen’s] extremely comfortable in those situations. When you practice it over and over and over again, you try and hit as many of those situations with different time on the clock, different amount of time to put our guys at practice under some stress. They don’t like it sometimes. They get a little bit mad at me. But it’s for a good reason. So, I’ll take that.”
Outstanding Allen sees Bills home
Having a plan is one thing, being able to execute it quite another. It helps if you have someone as brilliant as Allen, who had 394 passing yards on the night.
He said: “It took everybody there. I’m just proud of our team for staying in it. No one on the sideline blinked. I mean, down 15 points, whatever we were with five, six minutes left. Staying with it, fans leaving the stadium, you got to play this game for 60 minutes.
“And that’s a really good outfit that we just played, and God willing, we take care of business how we’re supposed to and how we think we will.”
Defensive end Joey Bosa admitted the team’s defensive performance, including his own, was not perfect but the dramatic ending made up for it.
“I’m like, in a dream right now. That was unbelievable,” Bosa said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been this happy after a win. It’s obviously, it’s just the first game of the year and we gave up a lot of points, and I could be better in a lot of ways. But we got the win, and we gave our offense a chance.
“And I guess when you have Josh Allen, you just have to give him a chance, and anything’s possible.”
Henry blames himself as Ravens fail to get job done
The Bills’ delight was in stark contrast to the frustration felt by the Ravens.
Derrick Henry blamed himself for a fourth-quarter fumble that gifted possession back to the Bills with the Ravens leading 40-32.
But Jackson was quick to stick up for the veteran running back who scored two touchdowns.
“I told [Henry], ‘Let that go, man,’ He’s [already] did enough for us,” Jackson said. “Things happen. Unfortunately, it just happened at the wrong time. I’m not going to knock him for that. Shoot, I fumbled in the playoffs. It is what it is.”
Jackson will learn from fan altercation
Jackson, who had 209 passing yards and two touchdowns, was also involved in an altercation with a home fan as he and DeAndre Hopkins celebrated after combining on a 29-yard touchdown pass.
The fan slapped both Hopkins and Jackson on the helmets with the latter retaliating with a two-handed push to the chest.
“He slapped me, and he was talking s*** so, I just forgot where I was for a little bit,” Jackson said. “You have to think in those situations. You have security out there; let security handle it. But I just let my emotions get the best of me.
“Hopefully, it doesn’t happen again. I learned from that.”
