Ravens vs. Bills final: MVP, Winners & Losers

A defensive slug fest in the first half and a bit of offense in the second before both teams bared down and hung in ends this game in favor of the good guys yet again. The Baltimore Ravens leave the Bills searching for their 10-win season of their own with a final score of 24-17.

MVP: Matt Judon

He notched a strip sack early and continuously created pressure which allowed the Ravens to suffocate the Bills offense. He’s now up to a career-high nine sacks in his contract year, too. Dude’s going to get paid.

Winners

CB Marlon Humphrey — Great defense today and the physicality he plays with is always a delight. Every week he’s making plays and he’s deserving of the All-Pro buzz.

CB Jimmy Smith — Multiple pass breakups today and all-around solid defense.

CB Marcus Peters — The Juiceman closes out the game with a beautiful swatted pass, sending the Bills out of their stadium with heads hung low.

LB L.J. Fort — A great game today by Fort, including the fourth-quarter sack on Allen.

LB Josh Bynes — Great play by the middle linebacker today. He notched a sack and a couple tackles for loss, if I’m not mistaken. What a signing by DeCosta and what great play by Bynes this season.

FS Earl Thomas — Officially notched his first full sack of his career. Also added seven tackles. He was called on today and he responded.

P Sam Koch — He got a workout in today. He also finished with two punts inside the 20 and took care of business.

TE Hayden Hurst — How did I get so far down this list without mentioning Hurst? This man answered the call with Mark Andrews sidelined. He caught all three targets thrown his way (unsurprising, given his hands are glue), including a 61-yard touchdown.

QB Lamar Jackson — Been awhile since Jackson hasn’t been in the MVP column. . . He’s still a surefire winner here with three touchdown passes and a QB Rating of 102.5 today.

DC Don ‘Wink’ Martindale — His defensive playcalling and confidence in his guys to make the plays when called upon feels second to none in this league. What a game.

Offensive Line — Great blocking allowed Jackson only one sack today. He’s not taking the big hits and they’re a big reason why. This is also something that’s bugging me a lot. Josh Allen is quite the mobile quarterback and he took serious hits today. Why is nobody talking about his lack of throwing the ball away or sliding? Hmmmm. . .

Losers*

*These players had a bad game. This shouldn’t be taken too literally. This is a critique article of the game today.

LB Jaylon Ferguson — A free 15 yards in a one-score game in the fourth quarter is a dastardly penalty to take. I didn’t get to see what caused the flag, so maybe it was complete garbage, but this is a bad penalty. Otherwise, Ferguson played great. Multiple pressures and a seven-yard sack on Allen.

DT Michael Pierce — While the 49ers didn’t get called last week for a suplex tackle, Pierce was called this week on it. It’s always called and you can’t do that.

Greg Roman — Not a fan of his playcalling in this game. Got a bit too creative. The Bills defense gave the offense fits and I understand the need to get creative and throw them off-balance but I think it was a bit much today. Hats off to the Bills for their defense.