They were down 15 with 4:05 to go. Some fans headed for the exits. Then the game turned on its head. The Buffalo Bills ripped off 16 points in the final minutes and beat the Baltimore Ravens 41-40 in a Sunday Night Football opener that felt like a playoff script. Josh Allen posted 394 passing yards and four total touchdowns, and new kicker Matt Prater — signed just three days ago — nailed a 32-yard field goal as time expired to cap a nine-play, 66-yard march in the final 86 seconds.
It was a comeback built on pace, poise, and a quarterback who refused to blink. Allen completed 33 of 46 throws, tossed two touchdowns, and ran in two more. In the fourth quarter alone he threw for 251 yards, tallied three total scores, and finished with a 131.3 passer rating in the frame. The Bills needed every bit of it to overcome a Ravens team that had controlled the line of scrimmage most of the night behind Derrick Henry’s bruising 169 rushing yards and two touchdowns and Lamar Jackson’s efficient dual-threat performance.
The ending was as cold-blooded as it gets. With one timeout, Allen worked the sideline, scrambled when pockets collapsed, and nudged the offense into safe field-goal range. The snap was clean, the hold steady, and Prater drove the winner right down the middle. Not bad for a veteran who was learning names at practice on Thursday after being rushed in to replace injured starter Tyler Bass.
Allen’s message for those who missed the twist ending was pointed: “Our team didn’t quit. I think there’s people who left the stadium. That’s OK. We’ll be fine. But have some faith next time.” Head coach Sean McDermott praised his quarterback’s stubborn streak and command in chaos: “He wants the ball in key moments of the game. He’s never out of it in his mind.”
How the comeback unfolded
Baltimore led 40-25 in the fourth, a margin built the old-fashioned way: heavy personnel, efficient throws, and a star back battering a defense into submission. Henry had 123 yards by halftime, flashed his one-cut burst on a 49-yard gash, and brought the stiff-arm out of the holster on a signature touchdown. Jackson missed little downfield (14-of-19, 210 yards, two passing TDs) and added 70 rushing yards with another score, stressing the edges and punishing overaggressive contain.
Then came the break Buffalo needed. With 3:06 left, Ed Oliver jarred the ball loose from Henry on a run designed to hammer the interior. The Bills pounced on it. That takeaway didn’t just keep hope alive — it fed the tempo game Brian Daboll helped build and Ken Dorsey popularized and that Buffalo still trusts in big spots. Allen went into fast-forward, mixing quick game throws with seam shots and designed keepers to compress Baltimore’s cushion.
The rally had three pillars: two touchdowns and a final kick. Allen shouldered the load, plowing in for one score, rifling a dart for another, and keeping the Ravens backpedaling with no-huddle looks that prevented Baltimore from substituting or disguising pressure. One of the night’s lasting images was Keon Coleman wrestling a tipped ball in the end zone for a touchdown — the kind of scramble-drill play the Bills practice and the kind defenses hate to defend at the end of long, emotional drives.
Even after the defense had been softened by Henry’s body blows, Buffalo found juice at the right moments. Edge pressure finally arrived, lanes tightened, and linebackers triggered downhill instead of catching contact. The Ravens still had chances to salt it away, but the fumble flipped the calculus and forced Baltimore into reactive football. Once the game went to Allen-versus-the-clock, the crowd sensed it too.
The last drive was clinical. Allen hit two sideline outs to stop the clock, found a soft pocket in zone for a chunk gain, and picked up a first down with his legs when coverage carried routes downfield. The Bills didn’t get greedy near the fringe; they protected the ball and the middle of the field, set the spot, and trusted a 39-year-old kicker who had been on the roster for less than 72 hours. Prater delivered like he’d been in Buffalo for years.
Across the sideline, Baltimore will replay the final minutes and grimace. The Ravens had the matchup working their way: Henry’s success kept the Bills’ front honest, Jackson was rhythm-throwing, and the defense had forced Buffalo into patient drives. A turnover against a quarterback like Allen is gasoline, and it ignited everything Buffalo wanted to be.
For all the late drama, both stars were terrific. Jackson’s ball placement was sharp, he created clean windows with eye manipulation, and he picked his spots as a runner. Henry was, for three quarters, everything Baltimore signed him to be — a finisher who turns four-yard gains into mood-setters. The one mistake will stick, but it came at the tail end of a night where he had carried the load.
What it means for both teams
For Buffalo, this wasn’t just a win. It was a tone-setter in the final season at Highmark Stadium before the franchise moves next door. Prime time, a heavyweight opponent, and a late, impossible math problem solved by the player who defines the team. Allen’s control of the offense looked advanced: he punished soft cushions, worked the middle when the Ravens sat in two-high shells, and used speed at the line to keep Baltimore static.
New faces mattered, too. Joey Bosa, in his first game as a Bill, felt the moment afterward: “I’m like, in a dream right now. That was unbelievable. I don’t know if I’ve ever been this happy after a win.” He wasn’t a headliner in the box score, but his presence changed how Baltimore slid protection late, giving Buffalo just enough juice to heat up Jackson in the final series. And Prater, the emergency signing, became an overnight cult figure with a steady approach on the kick that decided it.
The Bills didn’t get everything right. For long stretches they were light in the box against Henry, and Baltimore used that leverage. Tackling angles were loose in the second quarter. The run fits cleaned up late, but that’s a film-room focus this week. The staff will like the red-zone finishing on the comeback series and how the protection held up when Baltimore sent five. They’ll worry about the middle quarters where possessions felt scarce and inefficient.
Baltimore will kick themselves for letting the tempo tilt. The defense lost contain on Allen’s scrambles, ceded easy outs to the boundary that preserved clock, and couldn’t turn a couple of pressures into drive-killing sacks. That’s the hardest part of defending Allen: win the rep, stretch it to five seconds, and he still beats you off script. The Ravens also had game control and bled it away with a turnover. That’s nitty-gritty, four-minute offense stuff — where hands, pad level, and two hands on the ball trump everything.
Zooming out, the game matched the billing: the past two MVPs on one field, trading answers in a Week 1 showcase. Jackson was efficient as a passer, dangerous as a runner, and in command of a balanced plan. He didn’t lose this; Buffalo wrested it away. Henry’s 169 rushing yards and two scores reinforce that Baltimore’s identity with him is real — downhill, body blows, and tempo control. The Ravens can win a lot playing that way, but the end-game execution must be airtight against top quarterbacks.
Context matters, too. Allen told his team in action what he’s said for years: they’re never out of it. McDermott leaned into that identity with aggressive play-calling in the final minutes — trusting Allen’s legs on designed carries, trusting his eyes to find space outside the numbers, and trusting a kicker who had barely found his locker. That take-the-ball mindset won them a game most teams quietly concede.
While no major injuries were announced immediately after the game, the Bills will monitor workload after a high-snap opener and the toll Henry’s runs took on the front. Baltimore will evaluate ball-security details and how to close games when the opponent speeds up. None of that changes the bigger picture: both teams looked like January threats, and both left a lot on tape that coordinators will pick at.
The final twist is what fans will remember. A game that felt settled turned into a sprint. A new kicker became the calmest person in the stadium. A tipped pass turned into a touchdown that kept the door open. And a 15-point deficit vanished under a prime-time glare in Orchard Park.
Game notes:
- Josh Allen: 33-of-46, 394 yards, 2 passing TDs; 2 rushing TDs. Fourth quarter: 251 passing yards, 3 total TDs, 131.3 passer rating.
- Lamar Jackson: 14-of-19, 210 yards, 2 passing TDs; 70 rushing yards and a rushing TD.
- Derrick Henry: 169 rushing yards, 2 TDs; lost a fumble at 3:06 of the fourth quarter.
- Keon Coleman hauled in a tipped ball for a key touchdown during the comeback.
- Matt Prater: signed three days earlier; hit the 32-yard winner as time expired to finish a nine-play, 66-yard drive over the final 86 seconds.
It wasn’t pretty. It was audacious, a little desperate, and completely gripping. Week 1 shouldn’t come with this kind of adrenaline, but Buffalo and Baltimore gave the league a reminder: in this era, with these quarterbacks, no margin is safe and no ending is guaranteed.
