The Ravens and Bills played in September, with the Ravens winning 35-10.
https://www.espn.com...83/bills-ravens
DVOA Rankings:
Baltimore – 1st overall, 1st rated offense, 6th rated defense, 23rd rated special teams
Buffalo – 4th overall, 2nd offense, 11th defense, 28th special teams
The Bills finished the year 13-4, and won the AFC East.
A popular narrative to prop up Allen’s MVP candidacy is that there isn’t a ton of surrounding offensive talent.
That seems odd to me as James Cook and Ray Davis is a strong duo at RB, and Amari Cooper, Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir, and Dalton Kincaid is a quality group of pass catchers.
Seems clear that Allen was more comfortable this year not having to look for Diggs on every possession.
Defensively the Bills recently got back LB Matt Milano.
That certainly helps a run defense which has struggled this year.
Greg Rousseau, Ed Oliver, and AJ Epenesa are other quality defensive pieces.
In addition to Allen, the Bills sent OT Dion Dawkins to the Pro Bowl.
Buffalo was 8-0 at home in the regular season, and beat Denver today in the Wild Card.
The Bills outscored their regular season opponents by 157 points (525-368).
The Ravens outscored their regular season opponents by 157 points (518-361).
In the regular season:
The Ravens were 5-2 against the other AFC Playoff teams, with wins against everyone (Buffalo, Houston, LA, Pittsburgh, Denver) but Kansas City.
The Ravens were 2-1 against the NFC Playoff teams (wins vs. Tampa Bay, and Washington, a loss vs. Philadelphia).
Buffalo was 2-3 against other playoff teams.
Buffalo opened as a 1 point favorite, the Ravens are currently (9:30AM, Monday Jan. 13th) a 1 point favorite.
ESPN's Match-up Predictor gives both teams an equal 50% chance of winning.