{"id":140979,"date":"2025-09-08T05:23:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T05:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/140979\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T05:23:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T05:23:06","slug":"bills-41-40-ravens-sep-7-2025-game-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/140979\/","title":{"rendered":"Bills 41-40 Ravens (Sep 7, 2025) Game Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. &#8212; \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/17102\/josh-allen\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Josh Allen<\/a> led Buffalo to three scores in the final four minutes, the last <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NFL\/status\/1964896050432590263\" rel=\"nofollow\">a 32-yard field goal by <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/11122\/matt-prater\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Matt Prater<\/a> as time expired, and the Bills rallied from 15 points down to stun the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/team\/_\/name\/bal\/baltimore-ravens\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Baltimore Ravens<\/a> 41-40 in a season-opening Sunday night thriller.<\/p>\n<p>              Buffalo scored 16 points in the last 3:56, with Prater&#8217;s kick capping a nine-play, 66-yard drive over the final 1:26.<\/p>\n<p>              Allen went 33 of 46 for 394 yards with two touchdowns and scored two more rushing in a matchup of the NFL\u2019s past two MVPs.<\/p>\n<p>              He spoiled a strong performance by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/3916387\/lamar-jackson\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lamar Jackson<\/a>, the 2023 MVP who went 14 of 19 for 210 yards and two scores while adding 70 yards rushing and another TD. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/3043078\/derrick-henry\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Derrick Henry<\/a> rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns for Baltimore but also <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NFL\/status\/1964891538628231364\" rel=\"nofollow\">contributed to the loss by fumbling<\/a> with 3:06 left.<\/p>\n<p>              \u201cThe biggest thing I saw when we got down early, no one blinked,\u201d Prater said.<\/p>\n<p>              The Bills got within 40-32 when <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NFL\/status\/1964890766662361514\" rel=\"nofollow\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/4635008\/keon-coleman\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Keon Coleman<\/a> caught a deflected pass from Allen for a 10-yard TD on fourth-and-2. After Henry coughed up the ball, the Bills capitalized, with <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NFL\/status\/1964892444488823120\" rel=\"nofollow\">Allen scoring on a 1-yard run<\/a>. The 2-point conversion attempt failed.<\/p>\n<p>              The Ravens went three-and-out on their next possession, leaving plenty of time for Allen and the Bills to break their hearts. Baltimore became the first team in NFL history to lose while scoring 40 or more points and rushing for 235 yards or more.<\/p>\n<p>              \u201cYou just got to finish the game,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cIt\u2019s not over until there is zero, zero, zero on the clock. And we found that out tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>              This prime-time matchup lived up to the preseason hype as a rematch of Buffalo&#8217;s 27-25 win over Baltimore the divisional round of last season&#8217;s AFC playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>              The Ravens scored on seven of their first eight possessions and went ahead 40-25 on Henry&#8217;s 46-yard run with 11:42 left.<\/p>\n<p>              The fans even got involved, with Jackson shoving back at a man in the end zone while celebrating <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/15795\/deandre-hopkins\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DeAndre Hopkins<\/a>&#8216; 29-yard touchdown catch late in the third quarter. The man struck Hopkins in the helmet, and attempted to do so to Jackson, who responded by shoving the man back into his seat.<\/p>\n<p>              The Bills bent but did not break before a raucous crowd celebrating the team\u2019s 53rd and final home opener at Highmark Stadium, affectionally called \u201cThe Ralph.\u201d Next season, the team is set to move into a $2.1 billion facility being constructed across the street.<\/p>\n<p>              Allen oversaw last-minute scoring drives to close each half, with Prater hitting a 43-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter.<\/p>\n<p>              The 41-year Prater made his Bills debut, replacing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/3917232\/tyler-bass\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tyler Bass<\/a>, who&#8217;s on injured reserve with hip and groin issues.<\/p>\n<p>              Ravens rookie <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/4697745\/tyler-loop\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tyler Loop<\/a> made two field goals in his debut but missed an extra point that proved costly. Loop was a sixth-round draft pick and replaced <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/15683\/justin-tucker\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Justin Tucker<\/a>, who was released in the offseason after he was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior by massage therapists. <\/p>\n<p>              The Bills are coming off a season in which Allen earned MVP honors \u2014 ahead of Jackson \u2014 while overseeing an offense that finished second in the NFL in scoring.<\/p>\n<p>              The Ravens&#8217; offense, meantime, picked up where it left off last season, when it became the first to surpass 4,000 yards passing and 3,000 yards rushing.<\/p>\n<p>              Baltimore&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/4429615\/zay-flowers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zay Flowers<\/a> had seven catches for a career-high 143 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n<p>              Henry passed Jim Brown to move into sixth on the career rushing TD list with 108. And he matched Brown\u2019s record by posting his 13th game with at least 150 yards rushing and two scores.<\/p>\n<p>              His fumble, however, was the only turnover in the game. On first-and-10 from Baltimore\u2019s 41, Henry took a handoff and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/4039303\/ed-oliver\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ed Oliver<\/a> punched the ball out of his arms. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/4259166\/terrel-bernard\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Terrel Bernard<\/a> recovered at the Baltimore 30.<\/p>\n<p>              Bernard played a key role in the playoff win in January by punching the ball out of tight end <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/3116365\/mark-andrews\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mark Andrews<\/a>&#8216; hands.<\/p>\n<p>              Buffalo finished with 497 yards of offense. The teams combined for 929.<\/p>\n<p>              Injuries&#13;<\/p>\n<p>              Ravens: S <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/4575517\/kyle-hamilton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kyle Hamilton<\/a> returned after getting two fingers wrapped on his right hand.<\/p>\n<p>              Bills: Kick returner <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/player\/_\/id\/4576069\/brandon-codrington\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Brandon Codrington<\/a> got his knee examined and re-entered the game.<\/p>\n<p>              Up next&#13;<\/p>\n<p>              Ravens: Host AFC North rival Cleveland next Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>              Bills: At the AFC East rival <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/team\/_\/name\/nyj\/new-york-jets\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York Jets<\/a> next Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>              &#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>              AP NFL: <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nfl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nfl<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. &#8212; \u2014 Josh Allen led Buffalo to three scores in the final four minutes, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140980,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-140979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}