Led by a suffocating defense, the Buffalo Bills defeated the Baltimore Ravens 17-3 on Saturday to advance to the AFC Championship Game. Both teams came in with powerful offenses, but equally powerful winds prevented any chance of high scores and big offensive plays. More about how each rookie performed against the Ravens below.
DE A.J. Epenesa
It’s not easy holding the edge against a team like the Ravens and a mobile quarterback like Lamar Jackson, but the rookie “did his job” as it were, more often than not. Chasing down run plays from the backside, dipping under Orlando Brown to flush Jackson and staying home on read-option plays, Epenesa was asked to wear several different hats against Baltimore and performed well, even if he didn’t have any big plays or stops.
RB Zack Moss
Moss’s season is over after he suffered an ankle injury against the Colts in the Wild Card round last week. The rookie was placed on injured reserve.
WR Gabriel Davis
An uncharacteristically unproductive day at the office for Davis, who was held to zero catches for the game. He seemed to struggle against the Ravens tight, physical man-coverage scheme for most of the night. The rookie receiver dropped a perfectly thrown would-be touchdown pass from Allen in the first quarter, and appeared to fall hard enough to cause him to limp, which perhaps explains his struggles throughout the rest of the game. Most of his other targets from Allen were deep misses, with the quarterback and/or the wind more to blame than the receiver, including a mistimed back shoulder throw early in the second quarter.
QB Jake Fromm
As was the case during the entire regular season, Fromm was a healthy scratch against the Ravens.
K Tyler Bass
Given the challenging conditions it’s not surprising that Bass’s struggles from earlier in the season returned. The rookie kicker missed two of his three attempts, with misses coming from 43 yards and 44 yards out. (Veteran All-Pro Justin Tucker missed two kicks, too.)
WR Isaiah Hodgins
Hodgins remains on Injured Reserve after having surgery on his injured shoulder.
CB Dane Jackson
Although he was pulled up from the practice squad for the game, Jackson did not end up seeing the field against the Ravens.
TE/FB Reggie Gilliam
With the Bills looking to run out the clock, Gilliam was asked to play the role of an actual fullback a few times, to mixed results. As usual, he did see quite a few special teams snaps and very nearly blocked a punt late in the second quarter.