ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 19: Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills steps back to pass against the Baltimore Ravens in the third quarter during the AFC Divisional Playoff at Highmark Stadium on January 19, 2025 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
On the 216th birthday of writer Edgar Allan Poe, whose work the Baltimore Ravens are named after, the team poetically fell to another Allen as the Buffalo Bills beat them 27-25.
It was the latest instance of exceeding expectations for the Bills, written off by many as a rebuild project before the season even began and an underdog at home for the first time in franchise history.
“We don’t listen to the outside noise, but everyone was saying this and that about us and that we didn’t have enough talent, weren’t good enough to be in these positions and, our guys just continue to work hard and we’re internally driven,” Allen said to the press postgame. “We love each other, and I think you saw how much we played for each other there.”
The Bills ran a clean and conservative offense that leaned on the run game in the snowy conditions of Orchard Park Sunday night.
Allen went 16 of 22 for 127 yards passing with two rushing touchdowns, guiding the team to touchdowns on three of their first four drives of the game.
Buffalo would take a 14-7 lead by the second quarter and keep the lead the rest of the way.
Much like the outside noise about the team, their head coach had a similar perspective about their fans.
“Our guys heard it all — they heard it all week long. We’re not big enough, we’re not strong enough. Not talented enough. Whatever it is, they heard it,” Sean McDermott said.
The Bills had a win by way of complimentary football, with their defensive unit playing consistently strong while forcing three Ravens turnovers including two from Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson.
“We gave our defense a chance to go make a play,” Allen said of Sunday’s win. “We made a play there at the end. I’m just so proud of our guys.”
With the win, the Bills advanced beyond the divisional round of the playoffs where they’d exited the postseason for three consecutive years.
It will be the second conference title game that McDermott and Allen will have gone to, once more returning to Kansas City for a chance to redeem a 2020 loss in the AFC Championship to the Chiefs.
The Bills have won four regular season head-to-head matchups with the Chiefs with Allen under center and were the only team to beat them this season at home. During that time the Chiefs have beaten Buffalo in all three of their playoff matchups.
The Bills will look to avenge a 2020 AFC Championship loss next Sunday against their AFC rivals to take their place in NFL lore.
But to get there they needed to beat Baltimore first, and they did just that. Quoth the Raven, nevermore.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Bills’ Josh Allen: ‘We don’t listen to outside noise’
