Wallace saw it too, and his eyes lit up.
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“I learned a ton from there”, Ryan said. The Bills had no downfield passing game.
Two silver linings for the offense were a leaping 35-yard catch from receiver Breshad Perriman, playing in his first National Football League game after missing his entire rookie season with knee problems, and a fall-down, 27-yard grab from tight end Dennis Pitta, playing in his first game in 721 days after hip surgery and a broken finger. “At other times, I thought they had outstanding push against us”.
Much of the problem stemmed from a rash of injuries, but most of the those players are back, including Flacco, Suggs, running back Justin Forsett and receiver Steve Smith. We just have to do a good job on defense of doing what we’re supposed to do – having good eyes and doing our technique, following our assignments and being where we’re supposed to be.
Without question, the Buffalo Bills were a possible sleeper last season under Rex Ryan. That is it for wide receivers with catches. “Instead we doubled somebody else”.
The Ravens won their first season opener since 2012.
It appeared the Ravens were on the verge of getting in the end zone and putting the game away after Flacco hit Dennis Pitta for 23 yards deep in Bills’ territory.
That near-miracle set up Buffalo’s only score, a one-yard McCoy touchdown blast behind left guard Richie Incognito, on a fourth-and-goal.
“I think we did lead the league in vertical passes a year ago, so we’re trying to do that, but you’ve got to have protection”. He still has the speed to beat defenders, and Flacco has the arm to take advantage. But Baltimore’s quarterback has often said it’s hard to consistently march down the field without big gains. The latter is the worst single-game total for the franchise in 10 years.
LeSean McCoy rushed 16 times for 58 yards and one touchdown in the Bills’ Week 1 loss to the Ravens. Both players were active for the game. “If we can play like that in the back end, we’re going to have a chance to win some games”. And he likes to play certain things sometimes It kept them on their heels and not knowing what we were going to do.. Flacco is not a huge numbers guy, but he manages the game well and the Ravens have a history of winning with him under center. It was an opening season loss for the Bills, falling to the Ravens 13-7. “It was really an easy throw; nobody was back there”, Flacco said. “You can see what Mike can do”. Perriman missed his entire rookie year due to a training camp knee injury. Smith caught five passes for 19 yards and stands 53 yards short of passing James Lofton for 10th place on the career list.
Perriman said it was “a dream come true” to suit up with his teammates and make a play in his first regular-season game.
The rest of the article will look at keys to the game.
So, who is interested in seeing some of the highlights from the game?
“I haven’t had a 50-yard-plus touchdown in three years”, Wallace said. “A lot of people wrote me off”.
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“I stayed healthy, which is important”, he said.
