Josh Allen engineers stunning comeback over Ravens, Lamar Jackson in 41-40 win: Key takeaways

By Jenna West, Joe Buscaglia, Tim Graham and Jeff Zrebiec

The rematch of last season’s AFC divisional-round game between the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills did not disappoint Sunday night, as quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills erased a fourth-quarter 15-point deficit to win 41-40.

The game shifted in Buffalo’s favor when Ravens running back Derrick Henry fumbled on Baltimore’s 38-yard line with 3:10 left in the game, and Buffalo recovered the ball. Allen got the Bills down the field in a four-play drive, capped off by the quarterback running in a touchdown with 1:58 remaining. However, Allen failed to connect with wide receiver Keon Coleman on the two-point conversion attempt, leaving Buffalo behind 40-38.

The Ravens didn’t score on their next possession, giving the Bills a chance to complete their comeback. Veteran kicker Matt Prater delivered with a 32-yard game-winning field goal, stunning the Ravens.

Prater’s heroics come after the Bills signed the 41-year-old to their practice squad Thursday amid injury concerns over Tyler Bass, whom they placed on injured reserve with a hip/groin injury a day later. Buffalo elevated Prater to the active roster Saturday.

Allen, the reigning NFL MVP, went 33 of 46 with 394 passing yards and two touchdowns, while adding 30 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who finished second behind Allen in MVP voting last season, was 14 of 19 with 209 passing yards and two touchdowns. He added 70 rushing yards and a score on the ground.

Here are some key takeaways from the game.

Allen leads Bills’ furious comeback

After a fast start, the Bills’ offense had extreme difficulty getting things going downfield. The Ravens’ defense had them frustrated throughout the first half. However, once the Ravens were seemingly pulling away — or so they thought — the floodgates opened for the team’s passing attack. The Bills went with effectively the same five players, save a sub or two when someone needed a rest, in their furious comeback.

Allen was simply magnificent, engineering one of the most memorable comebacks in recent history, and starting the Bills’ season at 1-0. Along with a breakout game from Coleman, the Bills picked up one of the marquee victories of the 2025 NFL season in Week 1. — Joe Buscaglia, Bills beat writer

Still, an underwhelming first impression

Buffalo’s mission all offseason — in free agency, in the draft, over the summer — was to escalate its defense to championship proportions. First impressions were severely underwhelming.

Almost until the very end, Baltimore’s offense dominated however, whenever, wherever. Henry rushed for well over 100 yards on his first-down carries alone, and Jackson chopped Buffalo with his arm and legs.

The Bills’ pass rush rarely closed. Coverage was spotty. Tackling was sloppy.

Defensive tackle Ed Oliver gave them late hope when he forced the Henry fumble that linebacker Terrel Bernard recovered, setting up Allen to pull off the miracle victory, but giving up 40 points is unacceptable.

Henry ran 18 times for 167 yards and two touchdowns, including paydirt sprints of 30 yards (he stiff-armed safety Cole Bishop in comical fashion) and 46 yards. Henry had three runs of at least 30 yards for the first time in his career.

Jackson humiliated the Bills’ defense on a fourth-quarter scramble that should have been a 20-yard sack on third-and-10, but he slithered into the open field and somehow gained 19 yards.

The Bills’ overmatched secondary was shorthanded. Veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White couldn’t play because of a groin injury, and first-round pick Max Hairston is on IR. That made sixth-round rookie Dorian Strong the next man up. Safeties Taylor Rapp and Bishop are supposed to be leaders back there, and, aside from being 1-0 in the win column part, each suffered nights to forget. — Tim Graham, Buffalo senior writer

Ravens haven’t learned from self-inflicted mistakes

Ravens players and coaches talked for months about how they needed to learn their lesson from their playoff loss to the Bills in January. That lesson? Stop turning the ball over and shooting themselves in the foot with mistakes. Yet, they lost another game that they had no business losing.

The Ravens coughed up a 40-25 fourth-quarter lead. The biggest miscue was Henry’s fourth-quarter fumble, but it was just one of several mistakes the Ravens made that prevented them from putting the Bills away. Kicker Tyler Loop missed an extra point. A Jaire Alexander pass interference call on fourth down led to a Bills touchdown. And the Ravens completely botched a late second-quarter sequence that resulted in the Bills making a late field goal.

It was another complete meltdown, and it’s going to be tough to take the Ravens seriously until games like this stop happening with relative frequency. — Jeff Zrebiec, Ravens beat writer

Baltimore’s issues getting to QB

One of the defensive questions coming into the season was whether the Ravens had enough of a pass rush to consistently impact a quarterback. On Sunday, that answer was no.

Allen consistently had time to scan the field and go through his progressions. And when the Ravens did get pressure, Allen had a pretty easy time avoiding it and getting out of the pocket. The Ravens’ first sack didn’t come until there were under 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

As good as Baltimore’s offense was, Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr will have some things to fix this week. The team wants to be a swarming and turnover-forcing defense, and it had just one sack Sunday and no forced turnovers. — Zrebiec

Ravens still going to run the football

With the Bills coming into the game with a banged-up secondary and the Ravens missing Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard and No. 2 tight end Isaiah Likely, there was plenty of talk that Baltimore would attack Buffalo through the air. However, Sunday night again proved that it is not what the Ravens do best.

Baltimore ran off 17 unanswered points spanning the first and second quarters by leaning heavily on its running game. The Ravens rushed for 160 yards on 17 carries in the first half alone, and Henry broke the 100-yard mark well before halftime. — Zrebiec

(Photo: Mark Konezny / Imagn Images)

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