The last time the Baltimore Ravens played the Buffalo Bills, it was a pretty easy win.
Now granted, no win against the Bills is actually all that easy, as when Josh Allen is on the field, they are as good as any other team in the NFL, but by their standards, securing a 25-point win over the top team in the AFC East 35-10 is a pretty easy day at the office, all things considered.
Unfortunately for the Ravens, the Divisional Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs will be a whole different beast, as the Bills have been taking care of business down the stretch to become the second-overall seed on the AFC side of the playoff bracket, as their +38 point differential since the bye clearly proves.
Fortunately, the Ravens know what they are in for in Week 20, as they've learned a lot about what kind of challenge Allen can present in 2024, as Kyle Hamilton explained to reporters during his Wednesday media session.
“Yes, I think a little bit. We are obviously two very different teams than when we were whenever that game was [Week 4]. I think the biggest thing we take away from that is that it can be done, we just have to replicate that success,” Hamilton told reporters. “I know Buffalo has a sour taste in their mouth about that game, so it's going to be a tough one. I think we are prepared for it. We are going to go up there and do what we need to do.”
For Hamilton, this match will present even more of a challenge than it will for most of his teammates, as he's been moved from slot cornerback to strong safety as the Ravens' defense really took off down the stretch.
The man who will likely be taking up much of Hamilton's slack around the line of scrimmage is Marlon Humphrey, who has logged roughly 200 more snaps on the inside than the out in 2024. For Humphrey, the prospect of facing off against Allen is always challenging, as he's one of the best competitors in the NFL.
“[Josh Allen] is definitely a competitor. Me and some of the guys were talking … We were talking about quarterbacks we hate playing the most, based off who would be closest to Lamar [Jackson and] how he's able to keep a play going. The play is really never over, and then, when he runs, he is a big dude,” Humphrey told reporters “He can juke you, but he can run you over and keep running very easily, so [he's] just a super tough quarterback to go against. That's the biggest thing, but if I had to put it on one thing, the play is just never over.”
While the Ravens know as well as anyone that the Bills are a whole lot better than they put on back in September, Buffalo has to be prepared for a very different version of Baltimore, too, as they've changed up their own defense in a way that may catch their opponent by surprise.

Buffalo is playing a different Ravens team in the Divisional Round, too
Turning his attention from how the Bills have improved to the difference his own team has experienced under Orr over the past few months, Hamilton told reporters that, in his mind, Baltimore is a very different defense, too, and they will give Buffalo a challenge they might not be ready for.
“For us and for them, it seems like all their best numbers came after that game, as far as them, offensively. Then, for us, we moved around a lot of pieces, as well, on defense, and that seems so long ago. We had to really look back and see what we did, what they did, but it's definitely different on both sides,” Hamilton told reporters. “We haven't really watched too much – as a team – tape of that game, because they've done so many things differently. They added ‘Coop' [Amari Cooper], got some guys back on the defensive side, so it's just such a different … That was a game, on defense, we were actually able to play decently well, but some of the changes that we made since then – some of the calls we've changed – we feel like we have a different identity ourselves. It kind of seems pretty fresh, being that it was so long ago, so there really isn't much comparison to that Week 4 game.”
After going through some growing pains early on in the 2024 NFL season, from dropping a heartbreaker to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1, to surrendering an average of 25.5 points per game in the next two contests, first-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr really came into his own in Week 4 against the Bills, marking his first game surrendering ten points as a coordinator. While the Ravens continued to work through their growing pains over the next few weeks, after the bye, they really came into their own, allowing an average of 11.4 points per game down the stretch.
Are the Bills the best team the Bills have played since the bye? Yes, they most certainly are, no offense to the Houston Texans, but that doesn't mean the Ravens will suddenly fall back to earth. If anything, they might have the element of surprise on their side, which could prove the difference in Upstate New York.