Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
This past week marked the kickoff of the 2025-2026 NFL season for the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens as the teams competed at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park Buffalo in a tense game with an even more nerve wracking ending. The Buffalo Bills were able to get the first touchdown of the game, but the Ravens quickly joined them on the score board with a field goal leaving the score as 7-3. Throughout the game Ravens Running Back Derrick Henry proved quite the challenge for the Bills Defense as he continued breaking through and kept the Bills from knocking the Ravens off the lead they had gained for most of the game. Ravens Quarterback Lamar Jackson and Henry managed to have a combined 461 yards and five total touchdowns. When the game entered halftime, the Ravens were leading 20-13 and Bills fans were starting to get nervous.
The Ravens dominated the field in the second half of the game keeping the Bills at bay and racking up an impressive 40 points while the Bills trailed behind with only 25 points. With four minutes left in the game, Josh Allen marched down to score a touchdown making the score 40-32. Then, after the Ravens regained the ball, Bills tackle Ed Oliver had one play that managed to turn the tables in the Bills’ favor. Oliver forced Derrick Henry to fumble the ball during one of their last drives with the ball. That fumble gave the Bills possession of the ball. That drive resulted in a touchdown making the score 40-38 after a failed two-point conversion. Down two points, and with the ball being in the Ravens hands, Bills Cornerback Christian Benford tackled Ravens wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins after Jackson passed the ball to him on third down short of the first down marker, forcing a punt.
Bills fans suspected a comeback was coming when the time left on the clock was 7:16, which is the Buffalo area code, and those fans were right. The Ravens secured their 40th and final point from a 46 yard rushing touchdown courtesy of Derric Henry but the extra point attempt failed with only 11:42 left in the game. Around the 4 minute mark of the fourth quarter the Bills comeback began. For the Bills Mafia, many fans had left early, thinking there was no way the Bills could gain 15 points in 4 minutes and tie if not win. At 3:56 Josh Allen passed to Dawson Knox who tipped the ball into the hands of Keon Coleman for 10 yards to secure a touchdown. With 1:58 left in the game Josh Allen secured a one-yard rushing touchdown. The Bills decided to go for a two-point attempt, but, like the other two previous attempts, they failed. At this point the Bills were able to make up 13 points out of the 15 point lead the Ravens had over them.
At this point both Ravens and Bills fans were sweating, wondering who would win, because the score was 40-38 and all the Bills needed was a field goal to secure the win. The Bills got into field goal range, and fans were sweating even more. After entering field goal range, the Bills decided to try to run again only for the Ravens to quickly put a stop to it. The Bills ran down the clock, forcing the Ravens to use their remaining timeouts, hoping to get the ball back. After the Ravens used their final timeout, the Bills set up for what could be a game winning field goal. The Bills brought out 41-year-old Matt Prater to attempt the kick and at 0:00 Matt Prater’s field goal attempt was good, giving Buffalo the win with a score of 41-40. The Ravens were certainly a tough team to beat with Derrick Henry getting past the Bills Defense with ease and the Ravens Defense putting a swift stop to the Bills offense consistently. Week 2 against the Browns gives Baltimore a chance at redemption, and Buffalo a chance to keep the win streak going against the Jets.
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