The Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens took care of business in their respective wins during Wild Card Weekend, setting up a clash of the titans next week in the Divisional Round at Highmark Stadium.
As two of the more dangerous teams left in the playoffs, the second-seeded Bills and third-seeded Ravens certainly makes this one much-watch TV. But the Josh Allen-Lamar Jackson battle -- and MVP debate -- are a massive part of the appeal, too.
"It's what everybody has been waiting for, right?" Bills head coach Sean McDermott said after Buffalo's 31-7 domination of the Broncos on Sunday.
The Bills will hold homefield advantage next weekend as the higher seed, and Allen is considered one of the MVP front runners. But Jackson has put up better numbers than he did during his MVP season laster year, and the Ravens have been one of the NFL's hottest teams over the past month.
Plus, the Ravens dominated the Bills in Baltimore back in Week 4, winning 35-10 and controlling the game from the start. The Bills haven't forgotten about this fact.
"We've got a really tough matchup coming up," Allen told reporters. "They put a thumping on us earlier in the season."
The Bills fell behind early in that first meeting against the Ravens, just as they did Sunday against the Broncos when Denver scored on its opening drive to take a quick 7-0 lead. Two red-zone stops by the Broncos kept it a 13-7 Buffalo lead late in the third quarter.
That's when the Bills faced a fourth-and-1 at the Denver 24-yard line. Bills coach Sean McDermott faced a key decision. A field goal would have made it a two-score game. A stop could have given the Broncos the ball back with a chance to take the lead going into the fourth quarter.
But McDermott wanted more, and he kept the Bills' offense on the field.
The decision was justified. While the Broncos initally forced Allen to hold the ball without anyone open, the star QB's prayers were answered when Ty Johnson hauled in a circus touchdown catch in the back of the end zone -- while keeping his feet in bounds. The review was upheld, and Buffalo took a commanding 21-7 lead after a two-point converstion.
"Fourth down, just needed to make a play there," Allen said. "Man-to-man (coverage), I thought they played pretty good coverage on some of our underneath routes. I just extended (the play). Ty did what Ty does and made a heck of a play for us."
McDermott admitted to holding his breath a little bit while Allen held the ball, until it ended up in Johnson's hands.
"Probably like you, on Ty's touchdown, I was going, 'Oh, come on, come on, oh, yeah, good, good,' " McDermott said. "So the review was important right there, too, I know.
"Ty, he just makes plays, he makes plays. Josh has a lot of trust in him, as you saw."
McDermott also has a lot of trust in his quarterback.
"Hey, you tell me it's complete, and I'll sign up for it every week," McDermott said of Allen. "Look, I trust Josh, you guys know that. I trust him, and I believe in him. That's where that is."
The Broncos went on to give up 10 more points and turn it over twice on downs in the fourth quarter as Buffalo cruised to a 24-point win.
"That kinda opened the floodgates," Broncos defensive lineman Zach Allen said. "It was still close."
The Bills converted both of their fourth-down tries on Sunday. They were 16-for-22 (72.7%) converting fourth downs during the regular season.
Now they'll turn the page to start preparing for the Ravens. The way things went the first time, it might take the Bills weathering another early storm if they're going to have a chance to exact some revenge.
"They're resilient," McDermott said of his team. "It starts up front."
