3 Biggest X-Factors For Bills to Defeat Ravens in Week 8

The Buffalo Bills will be taking on the Baltimore Ravens this week, giving the team a big opportunity to take down a rival

Buffalo is coming off a bye week, giving the team more rest for this massive contest at home. The Bills will be coming in with a record of 5-1 on the year, with the group playing at a very high level so far this season.

The Ravens are coming off another poor game against the Cincinnati Bengals, with the team being outscored 35-0 in the second half. Baltimore now sits with a record of 4-3 on the season, and this game against Buffalo could define their year.

Both teams understand the impact of this game, especially for head-to-head tiebreakers down the line. Buffalo and Baltimore have played a lot of big games against one another over the years, and this will be the next installment of the rivalry. 

Here are three of the bigger X-Factors for the Bills to avoid the letdown game against the Ravens at home this week.

1. Limit Derrick Henry

The Ravens' offensive attack, no matter who is under center, is focused on the running game, giving the team a big boost. Much of this relies on the success of running back Derrick Henry, who can be a real problem for any team to deal with each week

For the Bills, making sure to limit the damage that Henry can inflict on the team will be huge, and if they can force him to have another lackluster game, it could lead to a win. Henry has put together two bad games in a row, and the Bills should study how teams have defended him in recent weeks.

2. Limit Turnovers

Both Josh Allen and James Cook have been a little turnover-prone this season, leading to questions around the offense. But against the Ravens, the entire team is going to have to limit the turnovers, not allowing Baltimore to get extra offensive possessions.

This Buffalo offense can be one of the more explosive units in all of football, but sometimes they have beaten themselves in games. Against a team like the Ravens, the Bills can't afford to have this happen; otherwise, Buffalo could be on the losing end of the game this week.

3. Avoid Post Bye Week Struggles

This game against the Ravens will mark the first post-bye-week contest for the Bills under new head coach Joe Brady. This group will need to make sure that they come out strong, not allowing the week off to impact anything.

Buffalo has typically done well out of the bye week in recent years, but this team entered the off week with a ton of momentum. The last thing that this unit wants is for them to slow down or have a letdown game against a major AFC rival this week.