Baltimore Ravens vs Buffalo Bills preview: team news, form and key matchups (2026 Week 8)

NFL Audit · 2026 Week 8 · Game preview

Some games are about who has the better defense. This one is about who can survive their own. The Buffalo Bills are scoring 32.8 points per game and allowing 28.5. The Baltimore Ravens are scoring 24.1 and allowing 23.9, and they arrive on Sunday having lost two in a row. One team is winning shootouts. The other badly needs to remember what it looks like when everything works.

How they come in

Buffalo has won two in a row, and the latest win was a typical Bills game: 33–30 over the Las Vegas Raiders. That one tells you plenty about this team. The offense is a machine, and the defense is leaky enough to keep an opponent in the game. A 28.5 points-allowed average isn't something you can wave away, even with the offense putting up 32.8 a night.

Baltimore's story is rougher. The Ravens lost 13–35 to the Cincinnati Bengals, a result that stings in both directions: the offense managed just 13 points, and the defense couldn't hold the line. Their season averages of 24.1 scored and 23.9 allowed describe a team that has been about even. That doesn't match the way the last two weeks have felt. The question is whether Sunday is the start of a slide or the bottom of a dip.

Team news

The injury report is out, and Baltimore's list is the one to read twice. Lamar Jackson is listed as questionable with an ankle issue for the trip to Buffalo. Few single designations in the league move a game's outlook the way that one does. Jaylinn Hawkins (knee) and Vega Ioane (knee) are also questionable. T.J. Tampa (knee), Tavius Robinson (pectoral) and Adam Randall (undisclosed) are on injured reserve.

Buffalo has its own questions. DJ Moore is questionable with a shoulder AC joint injury, and Ed Oliver is questionable with a knee problem. Zane Durant is on injured reserve. Tyrell Shavers is on the PUP list with an ACL injury, and his expected return is listed as Week 8, so he's worth a glance on Sunday. Grant DuBose and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles also appear as questionable, though those entries are tied to a Week 5 game at the L.A. Rams, so I wouldn't read much into them.

The matchup that decides it

Start with Buffalo's offense against Baltimore's defense. The matchup figure there is 9, the most favorable number on the page. Buffalo is scoring well above the league-wide average, and Baltimore's defense has allowed 23.9 per game. If the Bills move the ball the way they did against Las Vegas, the Ravens will have to score in bunches to keep up.

The other side is where Baltimore has trouble. The Ravens' offense against Buffalo's defense comes out at -4.4, which cuts against them. The paradox is that Buffalo's defense has allowed 28.5 per game, so this is no wall. Baltimore has to turn that opening into actual points, and a 13-point showing against Cincinnati is not a confidence-builder. The scoring gap of 8.7 in Buffalo's favor sums up the tension. Baltimore's path runs through its offense finding a rhythm early and forcing Buffalo to chase.

Players to watch

Josh Allen is averaging 255 passing yards per game through Week 7, and he's the engine of that 32.8-point attack. Alongside him, James Cook is the most interesting piece. He's at 95 rushing yards per game and 58 receiving yards per game, so he hurts you on the ground and as a pass catcher. Keon Coleman adds 59 receiving yards per game. If DJ Moore is limited, Coleman and Cook's receiving work could matter even more.

For Baltimore, the receiving numbers jump out. Zay Flowers is at 137 receiving yards per game, a huge share of the passing game. Tyler Huntley is listed at 298 passing yards per game through Week 7. Derrick Henry is at 45 rushing yards per game, which suggests the run game hasn't been the focal point. Josh Cuevas adds 35 receiving yards per game. With Jackson's status unresolved, how Baltimore's passing game is built on Sunday is the first thing to watch.

Where the numbers point

The numbers favor Buffalo. The Bills have the higher scoring rate, the better recent form and the more favorable matchup on offense. The one thing that keeps this from being a runaway case is the defense. Allowing 28.5 per game means Baltimore can stay in it if its offense shows up.

That's why Jackson's ankle is the swing factor. If Baltimore's offense has its best available version, this could be a high-scoring game with real pressure on both sides. If not, Buffalo's offense gives the Bills the edge. This is the game that tells us whether Baltimore's two-game skid is a blip or a real problem.

Key numbers

Injury report

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