November 1, 2026, 7:47 p.m. ET
ORCHARD PARK – Feel free to put an asterisk next to the dominant performance of the much-maligned Buffalo Bills defense, but don’t expect it to apologize for the misfortune suffered by the Baltimore Ravens Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium.
The Ravens lost star quarterback Lamar Jackson to a potentially season-ending thumb injury on their first offensive play of the day, then his replacement, Tyler Huntley, injured his toe early in the second quarter.
This left the Ravens in the untenable situation of playing emergency quarterback Joe Fagnano for the rest of the game and it created a feeding frenzy for a Buffalo defense that was desperately hungry. And yes, it was obviously easier for the Bills defense to eat, but plays still needed to be made and Jim Leonhard’s guys made them as Buffalo cruised to a 36-10 victory.
“I don’t want to take away from what the defense did,” linebacker Terrel Bernard said. “They have playmakers on offense, so I feel like we did a good job. Jim called a great game, we had some things that we knew we needed to clean up, and I feel like we did that this week. We communicated well, we did our job and we played four quarters of good football. So I’m excited for the guys.”
The soundtrack to this Buffalo season through six games has been the groans of fans and media over the ineptitude of a defense that began the day ranked 30th in points allowed per game and 31st in yards allowed. They had been torched every week, but with Josh Allen and the offense being nearly unstoppable, the Bills rose to the top of the AFC.
On Sunday, the script flipped as while the offense scored 36, it was a struggle midway through the third quarter and the Bills maintained a slim lead thanks to their defense.
“I think our defense should look today and understand that this is what we expect,” coach Joe Brady said of a unit that held Baltimore’s crippled offense to 10 points, 10 first downs, 144 total yards, forced three turnovers and six drives where the Ravens didn’t get a first down.
“I’m not talking about production,” Brady continued, “I’m not talking about takeaways and sacks. I’m talking about the style they played, the way they flew. I think the mute bunch is going to speak loud tomorrow in terms of the way they played for each other, the way they ran, the communication. We challenged them coming out of the bye, I thought they responded to it and, and they kept going.”
Here are my main observations:
The bills plunged Baltimore into oblivion
One of the keys to the defensive performance was the Bills’ huge increase in blitzes, although much of that was due to the mobile Jackson and Huntley being absent and the more stationary Fagnano trying to play from the pocket.
Additionally, the Bills knew the Ravens offensive line was compromised due to injuries, so they blitzed on 66.7% of the Ravens’ dropbacks, more than double their normal rate in a single game this season. That helped lead to four sacks, including a big one by Cole Bishop that knocked Huntley out of the game and forced a fumble that rookie Kaleb Elarms-Orr recovered.
“It’s good for us to be able to do our part,” Bishop said. “I feel like we need to keep doing that. I feel like everyone was just doing their job. Kaleb and I go through that B gap, and then it’s 2-on-1 against the running back.”
Greg Rousseau led the way with six pressures and a sack while possessing Ravens right tackle Roger Rosengarten, and he was likely helped by the return of Ed Oliver helping push the middle pocket in his return after missing the last two games.
“I think it was just a matter of adjustment,” linebacker Bradley Chubb said of the blitz tactics. “You have a quarterback that wasn’t really expecting to play or anything. You have to kind of send him home and make him think a little more.”
Two DBs stepped up considerably
The Bills played without suspended safety CJ Gardner-Johnson and injured nickel corner Dee Alford, and neither player was missed as Damar Hamlin and Te’Cory Couch took their places and probably played better than the starters all year.
Gardner-Johnson and Alford both disappointed after signing as free agents, and after how this game went, one has to wonder if Hamlin and Couch will continue to start.
“T. Couch, he was injured, now he’s back and the Dee Alford situation so we need him to be up and about and for him to be able to play football on critical tackles and special teams, it’s going to be like that going forward,” Brady said.
Again, not having Jackson was catastrophic for the Ravens, but that doesn’t completely explain how the Bills shut out Zay Flowers, who had no catches on five targets. He entered the game as one of only two WRs averaging at least 100 yards per game.
According to Sumer Sports charts, Couch covered Flowers seven times and allowed no targets, Christian Benford had him five times with two targets and Hamlin had him five times with one target. Again, no catch.
“It’s really just doing my job,” said Couch, who had been on the practice squad but was placed on the 53-man roster Saturday. “Whatever Coach Jim calls, I’m just going to execute to the best of my ability. And you know, for me, it’s always about winning, winning my one-on-one match, and that was just my plan.”
Not to be forgotten, rookie corner Davison Igbinosun – who clearly took over from Max Hairston – made the first interception of his career on a ball that was deflected by Bishop, calling the moment “euphoric.”
Tylan Grable held his own in place of Spencer Brown
The Bills had to play without their right tackle who didn’t practice all week due to a back injury that has plagued him for several years. So Grable made the first start of his career in a game that really mattered. His other two came in Week 18 games, when the Bills were starters on rest.
Grable has seen a steady diet of Mike Green and in 14 matchups, he has allowed just one pressure, one of only two pressures on 42 snap pass blocks.
“For him to go in there and feel like I don’t have to call it much different, the confidence that I have in him,” Brady said. “There’s a reason he’s our third blocker who can play both positions. I thought he was outstanding. It’s tough in the league to win football games and play backup offensive linemen. Grabes, there was no hesitation or blinking.”
DJ Moore was back, for now
After missing two games and parts of two more, Moore returned and the offense immediately benefited as he caught four passes for 82 yards, including an 11-yarder for a touchdown and a nice contested 49-yard catch on a post that set up a James Cook TD.
However, on his final catch, which converted a fourth down, he suffered what he called a “hyperextension” in his knee. He said after the game everything would be fine, but he also said that after first injuring his shoulder.
“I wanted to say everything,” he said of his return. “I had stage fright when I first got on the field, and then I got even more nervous when I fumbled, and I was like, ‘All right, now it’s time to really lock in and get going.’ So I was nervous at first, and then I went there and I was like, “Alright, this is the game I like,” and it was good.
Allen was delighted to get his best weapon back.
“The big post is an incredible catch,” Allen said. “That’s the kind of spark he gives us, where we don’t have to do these long sustained drives. He gives us that presence on the field, the run after the catch, and obviously we have to clean up ball security (Moore lost a fumble). He’s an absolute stud and the more we can give him the ball, the better we are.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades, including 37 years as a full-time writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books on the team’s history and is also co-host of the podcast/YouTube show BLEAV in Bills. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
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