USA TODAY Sports Weekly

Ravens (10-2) at Bills (9-3)

- Nick Wojton

Bills schedule

W ..... at N.Y. Jets ..... 17-16 W ...atN.Y.Giants ...28-14 W ...... Cincinnati ...... 21-17 L .... New England .... 16-10 W .... atTennesse­e .... 14-7

BYE

W .......... Miami .......... 31-21 L ..... Philadelph­ia ..... 31-13 W ...... Washington ...... 24-9 L ..... at Cleveland ..... 19-16 W ........ at Miami ........ 37-20 W .......... Denver .......... 20-3 W ........ at Dallas ........ 26-15 Dec. 8 ....... Baltimore ....... 1 Dec. 15 at Pittsburgh 8:20 Dec. 21 . at New Eng. . 4:30 Dec. 29 ...... N.Y. Jets ....... 1

Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, New Era Field, Orchard Park, New York TV: CBS

Danny Sheridan’s line: Ravens by 5 ⁄2

1

Ravens’ keys to victory: Bills QB Josh Allen fits the same descriptio­n as Ravens QB Lamar Jackson – a second-year pro who can run. But Allen has used his arm the last two games to defeat the Denver Broncos and Dallas Cowboys, two defenses that ranked in the top six in the league at the time. A lot of Allen’s recent success has to do with staying upright. Offensively, Jackson’s playmaking skills have to show up early and often.

Bills’ keys to victory: It’s easier said than done, but the Bills’ defense has to keep the offense within striking distance over the course of the game. The Ravens have scored at least 30 points in five of their last six games, and the Buffalo offense has scored 30 only twice, both times against the Miami Dolphins. By comparison, the Ravens ran up 59 points on the Dolphins. The Bills showed a national television audience on Thanksgivi­ng that QB Josh Allen, WR Cole Beasley, WR John Brown and RB Devin Singletary can make plays.

Matchup to watch: Ravens QB Lamar Jackson vs. Bills LB Tremaine Edmunds. Edmunds has been rock solid in his second season leading the Bills’ defense. His pre-snap recognitio­n will be a major key in helping keep Buffalo in this game against the current MVP front-runner. But as the Bills have seen with Allen, sometimes a mobile quarterbac­k can do things with the ball that you can’t prepare for.

Who wins? The Bills are riding high and have an all-around defense to keep things closer than some might think. But the Ravens have enough to escape with a win.

Ravens, 28-20

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