Bills elusive weapons hard for Ravens to replicate

But that was all the Bills’ offense could muster on a frustrating afternoon. It was just the type of game Baltimore would have struggled to win previous year. It reminded me of the days of Trent Edwards and/or JP Losman.

“I think it starts with protection”.

“He seemed panicked, often rushing his throws, definitely didn’t seem to see the field and often when he got passes off, they were overthrown”, said Sabuda, who didn’t place all blame upon Taylor. Where were the deep downfield throws?

-Ravens offensive coordinator Marc Trestman said establishing an effective ground attack will be vital this season. “We would have had him a few more times, but he made plays with his feet”. Watkins was practically invisible during the first half, making only two short receptions for a total of 13 yards.

Baltimore was ravaged by injuries past year as QB Joe Flacco, RB Justin Forsett, LB Terrell Suggs and WR Steve Smith Sr. were lost to season-ending injuries.

While the re-tooled offense struggled to make big plays, the Ravens defense took over and shut down the Buffalo Bills in a 13-7 victory in the season opener.

Still, no one on the Bills excused Taylors play.

This year, there were no such heroics from Taylor and the offense.

ROOKIE BLUNDER & THUNDER: In his first National Football League game, Ravens top draft pick left tackle Ronnie Stanley jumped offside on third-and-1 early in the first quarter.

“We were both able to go out there and make some good runs, be consistent out there and help our team win”, Forsett said. “If we can play like that in the back end, we’re going to have a chance to win some games”.

The catch set the Ravens up for a 50-yard field goal to give Baltimore the first points of the game.

Flacco will return to action almost one year after he last played in a regular-season game.

Buffalo did a pretty good job stopping the run throughout the preseason. They pressured Joe Flacco all game and ended up with four sacks.

While the game went in the Ravens favor, they were far from looking like they are the playoff contenders they have been for so many years. It was lame to hear Taylor use the “we were taking what they gave us” excuse after the game, too. Jerry Hughes had a strong opener and looked like he will return to his Bills form from 2013 and 2014.

Allowing two sacks and six quarterback hits, the offensive line needs to get better if the Buffalo Bills are to be contenders. “It’s been nearly a year”, Flacco said.

The one mistake the defense made was asking Duke Williams to cover speedster Mike Wallace one on one. The veteran, who finished Sunday’s game with a team-high 91 receiving yards on three catches, said the touchdown was “extremely big” for him. Only one game into a 16 game season and the Bills have already sucked the life out of me.

Baltimore’s secondary hasn’t earned much respect in recent years. Thank goodness the Bills are playing on Thursday.