When was the last time the Buffalo Bills were eliminated?

The Buffalo Bills were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night. It’s the first time since 2021 that the Bills lost by more than a touchdown.

The Bills started this game in a big hole and couldn’t get out of it. After a punt on the first possession, the Baltimore Ravens had a 1-play, 87-yard touchdown by Derrick Henry. Buffalo managed a field goal on its second drive, but a 55-yard drive by the Ravens gave them a 14-3 lead. The Bills wouldn’t get closer than 11 points down the stretch.

The Ravens made the score 21-3 in the second quarter before the Bills closed the score to 21-10 in the third quarter after a heroic pass between Josh Allen and Khalis Shakir. A botched trick play led to a Bills turnover, and the Ravens scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive to tie the game 28-10.

The Bills missed a field goal early in the fourth quarter, and the Ravens kept going and won 35-10.

It has been 43 consecutive games since the Bills lost by more than 6 points – the longest streak in NFL history. (It was the fourth-longest streak without a loss by more than a point in NFL history.) The last time Buffalo lost so badly was Week 11 in 2021, when the Indianapolis Colts ran all over the Bills, 264 in a game Rushing yards scored in 41-14 loss. In that game, the Bills trailed 38-7 at one point in the third quarter.

There is a similarity here in these two games, as the Ravens outscored the Bills on the ground by nearly 200 yards on Sunday night.

The biggest difference in these games, however, is the turnovers. Against Indy, Buffalo had four turnovers. In the game against Baltimore, the Bills only lost one fumble and the game was well under control for the Ravens.

In that game, Buffalo’s third-down efficiency against Baltimore was abysmal at just 16% before the 3:18 mark and rose to 23% by the end of the game. The Bills managed just 236 total yards and had a 200-yard lead. It was a failure on both sides of the ball, not a handful of plays.

The Bills followed up their previous road win with a big win when they beat the New Orleans Saints 31-6 in a Thanksgiving game a few days later.

Prior to this November 2021 game, Buffalo last lost by more than a point in October 2020, when it lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 26-17 after defeating the Tennessee Titans 42-16. These games were not a habit under head coach Sean McDermott.