Two playoff games in one season after having two playoff games over the last 20 years. That’s a great sentence to type out! This is certainly a nice change of pace following all those years of subpar football in the Western NY region. While we all want the Bills to roll over everyone to the Super Bowl, we know that is not that easy especially after last week’s nailbiter over the Indianapolis Colts.
This week’s opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, come to Buffalo looking to show that last year’s early exit in the playoffs was a fluke and that they are one of the supreme teams in the AFC. On top of that, they have a relatively healthy roster to contend with. Below are both Buffalo and Baltimore’s respective injuries heading into Saturday night’s game.
QUESTIONABLE
DE Darryl Johnson (Knee)
Despite not practicing all week, Johnson has been declared questionable for Saturday’s game. He is dealing with a knee injury that isn’t apparent on film and his playing time has not been noticeably different. According to the injury report this year, no one that has been DNP all week has played in the game later that week.
It is important to note that he also had a knee injury heading into Week 9 which he played through, but details were scarce on the specifics. There is not any more information to come out about his knee and it remains to be seen if he plays. The brief tweet thread was an excellent observation of the previous injury. I have no idea whether there is any correlation, but it is important to reflect back on when details are scarce.
While this is the playoffs, he potentially could suit up, but considering Trent Murphy has been inactive for a significant portion of the season, it would make sense to put Murphy in his place and fill the special team’s slot with someone else. This is the easiest one-for-one swap and if you recall, Murphy shined in last season’s playoff loss to the Texans. He does know how to perform when called upon; this may be his opportunity to shine and potentially find a new home next season.
ACTIVE
WR Cole Beasley (Left knee)
Beasley has practiced all this week in a limited fashion and he has said that he is doing much better and should be able to play easier than the Wild Card game. Details regarding what he is dealing with still have not divulged but it’s evident that he will do whatever it takes to play and be available. Fortunately, he does not have a game day designation indicating that he is full go for Saturday.
Based on how he played last week, it wouldn’t surprise me if the 2nd half was more taxing on him like it was last week. Between the pain management strategies and adrenaline for the game, he will play and do what he can contribute to a win.
LB Tremaine Edmunds (Hamstring)
I’m not sure what to make of the hamstring designation Edmunds is dealing with this week. He played in 100% of defensive snaps and 19% of special teams snaps which are usually on defensive field goal attempts or two-point conversions.
Reviewing the film, he didn’t appear limited during the early portions game; this may have occurred on the final drive to end the game as he was sprinting downfield to defend the Hail Mary pass. There isn’t anything to suggest that he did injure the hamstring then, but nothing else on film earlier shows the injury. I have also found that sometimes there are injuries right at the end that don’t get acknowledged due to the timing of everything.
Considering he has been limited all week but full on Thursday, he may have tweaked things and the team is being cautious to allow healing. He does not have a game designation and should perform close to his full abilities. There is always concern for further aggravation of the injury, but it’s the playoffs and he won’t miss this if he can play.
There were some people that did reach out and concerned that he didn’t look good in warm ups from this video from WGR’s Sal Capaccio. Looking at the brief clip, it looks as though he is working through warming his calf muscles through dynamic movement. There is purposeful movement with bouncing on the toes and similar movement from one leg to the next. On top of that, Siran Neal appears to be doing a similar activity, though he is lengthening his stride slightly more than Edmunds. Either way, if Edmunds was that limited that he couldn’t do simple warm up drills, he wouldn’t have been practicing.
DT Justin Zimmer (Groin)
Zimmer appears on the injury report following a groin injury Saturday. His snap counts are in line with what he has done in past games and there was no clear injury available on film.
Unless the groin injury is severe or noted when it occurred, these are hard to detect without some context. Considering he plays roughly 25-30% of defensive snaps, if he suffers a further injury, his snaps can be absorbed by the defensive line rotation with minimal issues. This could be as simple as, there is soreness, it hurts, but once he gets moving, he can play and perform.
DT Ed Oliver (Ankle)
Oliver is another surprise addition to the injury report this week with an ankle injury from Saturday. He played in 100% of snaps and did not show anything on film regarding the injury. He did not have a game day designation and won’t miss the game while being limited in practice.
WR Stefon Diggs (Oblique)
Diggs was questionable for the Wild Card game but had himself a day Saturday indicating that the oblique did not bother him as much as the team led on last week. This is always something to watch but it doesn’t appear that the last game or practice this week aggravated the injury.
K Tyler Bass (Hand)
Bass was a big surprise to the injury report with a hand injury after not having that designation on Tuesday. There was some thought that he injured the hand while performing a tackle late in the 1st quarter. It’s really hard to discern if he did injure the hand while falling to the ground; he led more with his shoulder in taking out the Colts returner.
Even if he broke his hand or there was any significant injury to the area, he could still kick without issue and wear some type of protective bracing. However, he practiced in full the past two days and does not have a game day designation indicating that this is not an issue. It’s also important to note that he did not have a designation Tuesday but appeared Wednesday could indicate that he injured the hand Tuesday. He will still be able to kick and tackle without hesitation come Saturday.
Ravens Injury Report:
QUESTIONABLE
CB Marcus Peters (Back)
This may be the biggest injury for the Ravens coming into this game. He played in 100% of snaps last week and there are not any reports of the specifics of the injury. He has dealt with several other injuries including calf and thigh injuries ailments earlier.
He is officially listed as questionable but coach John Harbaugh noted that he expected both him and Matt Judon to play Saturday. Without specifics or video of the back injury, it may be hard to identify where Peters may be limited with his activities. I do expect him to suit up like all the Ravens player’s did last week.
T DJ Fluker (Knee)
Fluker is interesting because he began dealing with this injury in practice prior to Week 17 but played in both the final regular-season game and Wild Card, splitting time with Tyre Phillips. Like the Peters injury, there is little in the way of specifics. He has since been ruled questionable, but considering he’s played the last two weeks and he splits time at the tackle position, I would anticipate that he plays.
ACTIVE
LB Matt Judon (Illness)
Outside of COVID, it would take a significant illness to hold any player out of playing due to illness. Considering how important he is to the defense, his loss could be Buffalo’s gain, but I’d expect Judon to still perform and not miss a step. He might require fluids before the game and even during halftime, but I’d expect he’s tougher than the flu.
Bills Inactives:
QB Jake Fromm
TE Tyler Kroft
DE Darryl Johnson
LB Tyrel Dodson
OL Jordan Devey
*There could be the possibility of 7 if practice squad players are called up but declared inactive.
This has the potential to be a low scoring game despite the explosive offenses of both teams. This may come down to who has the ball last and who makes fewer mistakes. The Bills are favored at -2.5 according to PointsBet at the moment. If the Bills come out and play how they did against the Colts, I’d expect a loss. However, we have seen this team rise up to the occasion and defeat more talented opponents this season. It’s clear that everyone wants a win from the Bills, but it will be a stressful game to watch until the very end. Enjoy the moment, the Bills are good and they appear to have the ability to sustain this success.
Top Photo Credit: BuffaLowDown
