The Buffalo Bills (9-3) host the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens (10-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday at New Era Field in the Bills’ most important December home game in 15 years or more (at least dating back to the 2004 finale when Buffalo had a win-and-in scenario vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers).
Buffalo leads the AFC Wild Card race thanks to a three-game winning streak and is currently in fifth place in the conference with a two-game lead over the sixth-seeded Steelers with four games remaining.
The Ravens, meanwhile, have rattled off eight consecutive wins to move past the New England Patriots (10-2) for first place in the AFC.
Sunday’s game will be the featured national CBS broadcast among the early games for the majority of the country, and CBS’ No. 2 broadcasting team of Ian Eagle (play-by-play) Dan Fouts (analyst) and Evan Washburn (sideline reporter) will handle the Bills/Ravens game.
The areas that can see the game are highlighted in red (map courtesy of 506sports):
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On CBS, besides the Bills/Ravens contest, fans will see the Denver Broncos travel to play the Houston Texans (in blue), the Indianapolis Colts at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (green), Miami Dolphins at New York Jets (yellow), and Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns (orange).
This will be the ninth meeting all-time between the Bills and Ravens.
Baltimore leads the series 5-3, prevailing in the 2018 season opener (47-3) and the 2016 opener (13-7), with both games taking place in Baltimore.
The last time the Bills welcomed the Ravens to Western New York, Buffalo pulled off a 23-20 win over the defending Super Bowl champions on Sept. 29, 2013. Joe Flacco threw a career-high five interceptions (Aaron Williams and Kiko Alonso had two apiece while Jim Leonhard added an INT). Buffalo held Ray Rice and the Ravens’ rushing attack to just 24 yards, while Fred Jackson rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown and C.J. Spiller added 77 rushing yards.
EJ Manuel connected with Robert Woods on a 42-yard touchdown strike and Jackson scored on a 16-yard run as the Bills took a 20-7 lead into halftime. Clinging to a 23-20 lead, Flacco drove Baltimore into Buffalo territory late in the fourth, but Alonso’s second INT sealed the Week 4 victory for the Bills.