3 Takeaways From Bills' Week 4 Win vs. Ravens

The second quarter was almost over, and the Buffalo Bills faced a 17-point deficit against the Baltimore Ravens, another one of the AFC's top teams. It wasn't a great position for the Bills to be in, especially on the road in a hostile environment at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday.

But Buffalo is a strong squad. And that's why it got out of that hole and ended up on top.

The Bills scored 20 unanswered points over the final 30 minutes and 9 seconds to edge the Ravens 23-20. Tyler Bass kicked a game-winning 21-yard field goal as time expired to help Buffalo improve to 3-1.

Josh Allen's 11-yard touchdown run tied the game at 20 with 3:26 to go. On the other side, the Ravens' offense was shut down late, as they finished with only 296 total yards despite possessing the ball for a whopping 38:10.

Here are three takeaways from the Bills' Week 4 win.

Jordan Poyer was back in the Bills' secondary this week after missing their Week 3 loss to the Miami Dolphins due to an ankle injury. And the 31-year-old safety made sure his presence was felt, especially late in the game.

Baltimore's final two possessions ended the same way: with quarterback Lamar Jackson getting intercepted by Poyer. Both picks came with the score tied at 20, and Poyer's second interception set up Buffalo for its 12-play, 77-yard drive that ended with Bass' winning field goal.

"Once that ball is tipped in the air, if it's anywhere in his area and he has a chance to make that play, he's going to make it, and he did that," Bills defensive tackle DaQuan Jones said of Poyer, per Chris Brown of the team's official site. "So having him on the field is actually a huge, huge, huge difference-maker for us, and we love having him out there."

It was an impressive effort by all of Buffalo's defense in the second half. Baltimore's four possessions after halftime resulted in two punts and a pair of turnovers.

But it was Poyer's big plays that put the Bills in a position to notch a huge win.

On the Bills' third offensive play of the game, Allen threw an interception. It was a sign of how things were mostly going to go for Buffalo during the opening two quarters, as its first five drives resulted in two turnovers, two punts and a field goal.

Even though the Bills trailed 20-3 and weren't doing much on offense, they kept their composure. That's easier to do when a team has a quarterback like Allen at the helm.

Allen connected with Isaiah McKenzie on a 4-yard touchdown pass 9 seconds before halftime. His lone TD run tied things up late in the third quarter. And he led Buffalo on its game-winning drive, all while showing his typical exceptional leadership.

“There’s a reason he gets paid what he gets paid, and he should probably get paid more, honestly," Bills tight end Dawson Knox said of Allen, per The Athletic's Tim Graham. “There’s a reason he’s the greatest quarterback in the league. We know that. We love that dude.”

And as long as Buffalo has Allen, it's going to be capable of overcoming almost any deficit, because he can put up points in a hurry.

If the Bills had lost and fallen to 2-2, the season wouldn't have been over. NFL teams play 17 games for a reason, and Buffalo would have lost to a pair of quality teams in Miami and Baltimore. There's no shame in that.

But the Bills also have some challenging games ahead, with matchups against the Kansas City Chiefs (Week 6), Green Bay Packers (Week 8) and Minnesota Vikings (Week 10) not too far down the line. So it sure helped that Buffalo got back on track Sunday and instead improved to 3-1.

The way the Bills pulled out the victory could help them in future games, too.

“Those are games that you love winning,” Allen said, per Noah Trister of the Associated Press. “It’s a hard-fought battle both ways. Winning on the last play of the game is always fun.”

Buffalo should win plenty more games this year, and many likely won't be this close. It has a talented team, something that was further made clear by Sunday's performance.