Doubts about the Bills’ defense got us “a little pumped up” against the Ravens

In the days leading up to the partisan round of the playoffs, there was plenty of discussion about the Ravens’ 35-10 win over the Bills to open the regular season.

The Ravens piled up 427 yards in that game while Derrick Henry ran for nearly 200 yards by himself, so there was plenty of doubt as to whether Buffalo’s defense could slow down Baltimore’s offense enough for the Bills to pull out a win. Bills players heard those doubters and came out determined to prove them wrong.

They forced a pair of turnovers in the first half to build a 21-10 lead in front of the home crowd. The Ravens got rolling in the second half, but linebacker Terrell Bernard knocked the ball out of tight end Mark Andrews’ hands for a third down in the fourth quarter and it played a big role in a 27-25 victory that sent the Bills to the AFC Championship Game.

“We have a lot of pride in ourselves, what we do here as a defense,” defensive end AJ Epenes said, via Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com. “I’m just saying in defense, they’ve been telling us all week how they’re going to do it, how they’re going to do it, and it just, I mean, it kind of fired us up a little bit.”

The Bills are sure to hear more doubters as they prepare to enter Arrowhead Stadium to face the Chiefs, but Sunday’s win should give them plenty of confidence in their ability to get the job done.