And then there were three.
After previously undefeated Buffalo never led Sunday night in its prime-time loss at Baltimore, only Kansas City, Minnesota and Seattle remain unbeaten one month into the NFL season.
Kansas City moved to 4-0 by rallying from 10 points down to beat the Chargers in Los Angeles. Minnesota (4-0) jumped out to a 28-0 lead, then barely hung on to outlast Green Bay. Seattle (3-0) plays Monday against the Detroit Lions.
Under the primetime spotlight Sunday night, Buffalo lost 35-10 in Baltimore in a game in which the Bills (3-1) were uncomfortable from the very first play from scrimmage, when Ravens running back Derrick Henry burst through the offensive line’s right side, untouched, for an 87-yard touchdown run.
The Ravens improved to 2-2 by surviving a 19-minute scoreless stretch between the second and third quarters by creating big plays with perfect timing, starting with Henry’s tone-setting opening touchdown. When Buffalo cut its deficit to 21-10 early in the third quarter, Baltimore’s Kyle Van Noy wasn’t fooled by a trick play and forced a fumble by Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen. Baltimore scored on the ensuing drive, pushing its lead to 18, and the game was never in doubt again.
Henry finished with 199 rushing yards, his second game of 100-plus yards on the ground this season after doing that just four times all of last year.
Relive the game through our live updates below:
No history for Derrick Henry, after all
Baltimore’s running back was so close to setting NFL history. Specifically, three feet.
Henry finished with 199 rushing yards in Baltimore’s win, on 24 carries. Had he gained just one more yard, he would have produced his seventh career 200-plus yard game on the ground and broken his tie with O.J. Simpson and Chris Johnson.
Overall, Baltimore averaged 8.0 yards per carry, finishing with 271 yards between Henry, Jackson and Justice Hill.
Ravens follow suit
As soon as Buffalo removed Josh Allen, Baltimore did the same with Jackson, its two-time league MVP. Jackson finished with 156 yards passing and connected with seven different receivers while completing 13 of his 18 passes, with two touchdowns. Jackson added six carries for 54 yards, with a lost fumble.
Bills wave the white flag
Midway through the fourth quarter, Buffalo removed multiple starters including quarterback Josh Allen, effectively conceding its undefeated start to the season had ended. Buffalo had a sliver of an opportunity to apply pressure to Baltimore in the third quarter when it scored to trim its deficit to 21-10, but never capitalized again.
Allen finishes with 16-of-29 passing for 180 yards, without a touchdown or interception. He was also sacked three times, and one, a 16-yard loss, backed up the Bills before a missed field goal. Allen produced what is perhaps the night’s biggest highlight, a 52-yard bomb to Khalil Shakir while falling out of bounds. Yet Allen couldn’t put together enough consistency to keep up with Baltimore.
Derrick Henry on the verge of NFL history
The big night of Baltimore’s running back didn’t end with his first carry.
With nearly nine minutes to play in the fourth quarter, and with 196 yards on the ground so far, Henry needs just four more yards to cross the 200-yard threshold and break the NFL record for most career games with 200-plus yards rushing. Henry currently has six, which ties Adrian Peterson and O.J. Simpson in the record book.
Touchdown or touchback?
On a goal-line run early in the fourth quarter, Derrick Henry lost control of the ball a yard before the end zone.
It squirted into the end zone — and right into a pile of Bills and Ravens. Officially, it was scored as a touchdown recovered by Baltimore fullback Patrick Ricard, who wrestled for the ball underneath a mound of bodies.
And officially, the touchdown that capped a six-play, 62-yard drive puts Buffalo’s opportunity to remain undefeated on life support, with the Ravens now leading 35-10 with 11:23 to play.
Opportunity lost for Buffalo
Buffalo’s Tyler Bass pushes his 48-yard field goal attempt wide left. The Bills can’t cut into Baltimore’s 28-10 lead.
Third quarter: Baltimore 28, Buffalo 10
The Ravens needed only 3:35 to score off of Buffalo’s trick-play turnover. Perfect downfield blocking out of the backfield allowed Lamar Jackson to jog into the end zone from nine yards out.
More than half of Buffalo’s offensive plays tonight have been passes. With rain increasingly coming down in Baltimore as the night has gone on, these aren’t ideal conditions to keep passing the ball. But Buffalo really has no choice at this point, given its 18-point deficit with only 17 minutes left.
Buffalo gets too tricky
Just when Buffalo was beginning to dictate the play in the second half, it tried a trick play that blew up in its face spectacularly.
A wildcat snap that became a reverse to Josh Allen was blown up into a turnover when Allen’s arm was hit and he fumbled before he could throw downfield. The damage wasn’t only the turnover but that Allen was leveled as he was hit. Credit to Baltimore’s Kyle Van Noy for breaking up the play, creating the fumble and allowing the Ravens the chance to regain control.
When will Baltimore’s key receivers get more involved?
After Baltimore opened with touchdowns on its first three drives, it hasn’t scored on its last four since.
It raises the question of when Zay Flowers and Isaiah Likely, two of Lamar Jackson’s preferred targets in the passing game, will be a bigger part of the game plan. Likely has been targeted just once, a 26-yard gain. Flowers has caught one pass for 10 yards, on two targets.
Start of a Buffalo comeback?
In a play few quarterbacks not named Josh Allen could pull off, Allen heaved it 52 yards while falling out of bounds on third and long to Khalil Shakir to keep Buffalo’s opening drive of the second half alive, improbably. It was a truly absurd throw, one Allen’s combination of footwork and arm strength created.
When Ty Johnson ran in a touchdown from three yards out, it gave Buffalo more life than it has had all night.