Jason Wolf: Josh Allen, Bills advance despite little success on the ground

The Bills rushed for just 32 yards on 16 attempts and called a single running play in the first half of their 17-3 victory against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night in wind-whipped Orchard Park, but nevertheless advanced to the AFC championship game for the first time since the 1993 season after a game-changing 101-yard interception return for a touchdown by cornerback Taron Johnson.

The Bills will face either the upstart Cleveland Browns or reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday, and should the Browns pull the upset in Kansas City, the title game will take place at Bills Stadium. But the Bills' next game will occur in an outdoor venue, one way or the other, and while the high-flying offense scored a franchise record 501 points this season, it’s not built to control a game on the ground in inclement weather, a potential Achilles heel as they seek their first trip to the Super Bowl in nearly three decades.

“It’s going to take everybody moving forward,” quarterback Josh Allen said. “We understand that. We can’t just rely on one guy to do their job.”

Allen completed 23 of 37 pass attempts for 206 yards and a touchdown. He added three rushing yards on seven carries.

With both kickers missing field goals and passes sailing in the icy wind, the Bills didn’t even bother to run the football for most of the game against the Ravens, deciding they were incapable of executing much in the way of a ground attack.

Buffalo called 26 offensive plays in the first half. One was a called run. It came with 3:07 remaining. Devin Singletary managed three yards. (The Bills’ other two rushes in the first half were a four-yard scramble by Allen and a kneel down to send the teams into the locker room.)

The performance resulted in a 3-3 tie at halftime and at least a slight recalibration at intermission.

“The wind was an ordeal. It was definitely an ordeal,” center Mitch Morse said. “So for us it was just trying to keep it to maybe shallow routes, getting out the ball quicker, making yards after catch and for us trying to establish a little bit of a run game.”

Buffalo’s offense had the ball just once in the third quarter, but the Bills scored 14 points after finally getting the running game involved on a long touchdown drive and Johnson’s historic interception return, which tied for the longest in NFL postseason history.

Singletary finished with 25 rushing yards on seven carries. T.J. Yeldon had four yards on two carries.

Buffalo called more running plays on its touchdown drive to begin the second half than it did in the first 30 minutes of the game.

The Bills traveled 66 yards in 11 plays and 5:31, by far the team’s longest and most successful drive of the game, in part because they got the ground game going.

Singletary rushed for 20 yards on three carries before Allen capped the drive with a three-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs, providing the Bills with a 10-3 lead with 9 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

“I think overall we did expect to run the ball a little bit more than we did,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I think it just got away from us, but they are a good, stout front. They’re big, strong, long up front. And so I thought we did come out in the second half and establish some rhythm there.”

The Ravens owned the top-rated rushing attack in the NFL after averaging nearly 192 yards on the ground this season. But the prolific rushing attack couldn’t save Baltimore once it trailed Buffalo by double digits.

Johnson’s coast-to-coast score provided the Bills with a 17-3 lead, and the 14-point swing, coupled with a head injury to Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson that knocked him out of the game on the final play of the third quarter, all but secured the victory.

But even at that point the Bills continued throwing the ball, unable or unwilling to grind out the victory on the ground.

In three scoreless possessions, including one that began on the Baltimore 29-yard line, Singletary managed two yards on three carries and Yeldon had four yards on two carries.

The Ravens allowed an average of 4.6 yards per carry this season, but last week held two-time rushing champ Derrick Henry to just 40 yards on 18 carries.

Buffalo had success with a similar pass-heavy game plan in Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks, when Allen completed 31 of 38 passes for 415 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed seven times for 14 yards and a score. Zack Moss rushed nine times for 18 yards and a touchdown, Singletary rushed twice for 1 yard and Isaiah McKenzie added a carry. It was 69 degrees at kickoff that day.

It was 30 degrees with a swirling wind against the Ravens.

And the Bills were without Moss, who’s out for the rest of the postseason because of an ankle injury.

When the Bills’ final drive of the first half sputtered at midfield after another incomplete pass, the Ravens fielded a punt and took over at their own 27-yard line with 1:03 remaining and one timeout.

It was enough time to put their only points on the board.

Jackson connected with a wide-open Marquise Brown on a wobbly pass that picked up 30 yards to the Buffalo 35, and Justin Tucker hit a 34-yard field goal to tie the score at 3-3 with 4 seconds remaining in the first half.

Tucker had missed two field goals already. A 41-yard attempt in the first quarter bounced off the left upright. A 46-yard attempt in the second quarter bounced off the right upright.

Tucker had never missed multiple field goals from inside 50 yards in the same game. He was 11 for 11 on field goals from inside 50 yards in his playoff career.

Bills rookie Tyler Bass was 1 for 3. He knocked one through from 28 yards in the first quarter after the Bills took over at the Baltimore 38 following a shanked punt.

He also missed from 43 yards in the second quarter and 44 yards in the fourth.

Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley, an undrafted rookie free agent who replaced Jackson, sailed a potential touchdown pass over Brown on fourth down midway through the fourth quarter.

“It’s only going to get tougher from here,” Allen said. “We’re ready for it. We’re just excited for an opportunity to play next week.”