The Buffalo Bills dispatched of the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs on Sunday afternoon, shrugging off an early Broncos score to secure a dominant 31-7 win. The victory over the upstart Broncos sets up a matchup that can easily be considered the main event of Divisional Round Weekend… a Sunday evening showdown pitting Josh Allen and the Bills against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
Though the result of this game will have no bearing on the 2024 NFL MVP vote, the matchup between Allen and Jackson is as highly anticipated as you could imagine, with both quarterbacks looking to earn the opportunity to have the chance to do something only Joe Burrow and Tom Brady have done… beat Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the Playoffs.
With that said, CJ Stroud and the Houston Texas could spoil that party, but ultimately, a Super Bowl is what the Bills and Ravens have their sights set on. And for Josh Allen in particular, bringing a Super Bowl to championship-starved Buffalo would make him without question one of the most iconic players in recent NFL history. But before he can do that, he needs to lead the Bills past a Ravens team that is favored on the road this Sunday. Let's get to our Josh Allen related bold predictions for Bills vs. Ravens.
Josh Allen & James Cook will outrush Lamar Jackson & Derrick Henry
The first bold prediction here is the boldest of all four predictions I'll be making. Not only do the Ravens boast the NFL's most prolific rushing attack, they also out-rushed Buffalo by a significant margin in their Week 4 meeting in Baltimore. Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson rushed for a combined 253 yards against Buffalo, while Josh Allen and James Cook were limited to just 60 yards on a combined 14 carries.
The trajectory of the game had a lot to do with Baltimore's 193 yard edge on the ground, as did Henry's 87 yard touchdown run less than five minutes into the game. If Buffalo gets a more favorable game script — i.e. if they're playing with a lead or if they don't immediately find themselves in a two score hole — it could open the door for Allen and Cook to cook, as the kids say. In the Wild Card Round, the Bills gashed a top three Denver run defense for 210 yards, which was the most they allowed all season.
Josh Allen will deliver another memorable play to his career highlight reel

Admittedly, I'm not exactly sure what this play will look like, because in reality, when we're talking about a player like Josh Allen, it could be anything. This year alone, we've seen Allen deliver a game-winning 4th down touchdown scramble against the Chiefs, connect on an impromptu wide receiver to quarterback hook-and-ladder, and make lord knows how many incredible throws rolling to his right just as he's about to be knocked out of bounds.
Use your imagination and try conceive of something you've never seen on a football field before, and Josh Allen is probably going to pull it off on Sunday night.
Amari Cooper will prove to be Josh Allen's favorite target
The Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders and Denver Broncos are the only three teams that Amari Cooper has faced more times in his career than the Ravens, and while Cooper has by no means lit it up against Baltimore throughout his ten year career — 32 receptions, 454 yards, 2 touchdowns in eight games — a game like this one is exactly why Buffalo traded for Amari Cooper back in October.
As you'll note, my opening prediction indicated that I do believe that Buffalo will have success running the ball against the Ravens, but there's going to come a point where Allen and the Bills need to convert on a couple of crucial third and longs, and that's where Cooper can make his impact felt.
Josh Allen won't win MVP, but the Bills will win the game

For the record, Josh Allen does receive my non-existent vote for the NFL MVP, but based on the results of the voting for the NFL All-Pro teams, it looks like Lamar Jackson is set to edge out Allen for the distinction. Now in a razor thin MVP race like this one, it's possible that Allen could be named 2nd Team All-Pro but still win the vote for MVP. But the last time something like this happened was in 1987, when Joe Montana was a 1st Team All-Pro selection, but John Elway was named the league's MVP.
Working in Elway's favor that year was the fact that Montana's 49ers teammate Jerry Rice actually finished 2nd in the MVP vote, surely stealing some of the shine from Montana, who finished 3rd. For as good of a season as Derrick Henry had, it's unlikely that Lamar's MVP chances will be negatively impacted by his presence, though, if we're nitpicking both players candidacy, you could point to Henry's arrival in Baltimore as a knock on Lamar's perceived value.
Anyway, you'll notice that the second part of this prediction notes that I have Buffalo defeating Baltimore and advancing to the AFC Championship Game, where they'll either host Houston, or they'll head to Kansas City to face Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs for the fourth time in the last five postseasons, which would surely be a ratings bonanza for the NFL and CBS.