Baltimore Gets Rookie Treatment

It only seemed like the ball hung in the air forever.

In reality, just a second or so passed between Buffalo safety Da'Norris Searcy tipping Joe Flacco's pass and Bills rookie linebacker Kiko Alonso somehow getting his hands under the falling ball and cradling it before it hit the turf, sealing a 23-20 win over Baltimore.

That was more than long enough for every crushing, come-from-ahead coulda/shoulda heartbreaker Buffalo has endured over the past, oh, half-century to flash through the brain of everyone watching.

If you prefer looking on the dark side of everything, particularly everything pertaining to the Bills, you might want to dismiss Alonso's second interception of the game -- the fourth of his young career -- as the last in a series of random breaks that added up to an upset of the reigning Super Bowl champions.

Watch the replay, though, and you see that there was absolutely nothing lucky about the play. Searcy tipped away a pass that, if completed, would have put the Ravens in position for a game-tying field goal -- albeit a long one.

Alonso displayed incredible athleticism and focus in gaining control of the ball before it hit the turf. His professional experience, or lack thereof, had nothing to do with making that play. You've either got it, or you ain't.

Alonso is what a lot of Buffalo fans desperately wanted (and, judging from the number of No. 51 jerseys still visible around town, still believe) Paul Posluszny to be -- an every-down middle linebacker capable of making game-changing plays against the run or pass.

It is tough not to feel pretty good about Alonso's fellow second-round pick, Robert Woods, too.

Woods got himself open repeatedly, most notably on a 42-yard touchdown strike from Buffalo's previously most notable rookie, E.J. Manuel.

The Bills' first two choices in the most recent draft already show the sort of connection that usually does result from experience. Manuel-to-Woods almost resulted in a second touchdown, but for a close-but-probably-correct replay reversal.

Aside from his route-running and hands, Woods, who finished with four catches for 80 yards, also showed his running ability on a 13-yard reverse.

Then there's Manuel.

It is not difficult to imagine what was going through his head as the ball, and seemingly the game -- along with a fair amount of the good will he has built up with the local fan base -- bounced away from him after a botched fake read-option handoff to Fred Jackson with 3:22 remaining as his team clung to a three-point lead.

Probably something like this:

"OHSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT."

You could almost see Terrell Suggs swooping in, snagging the ball in stride and fleeing to a go-ahead touchdown that would so rattle Manuel and the Bills, neither would be able to form a cohesive strategy for recovering.

But the J.P. Losman flashback ended as quickly as it started, when fate put Stevie Johnson in possession of the wayward ball with a truly lucky bounce, ensuring that Manuel would not have a worse day than another rookie quarterback who had outplayed him seven days earlier.

Manuel's passing numbers were not overwhelming, or even especially whelming -- 10-of-22 for 167 yards and the touchdown to Woods, which was countered by his first two-interception game as a professional. A week after getting sacked eight times by the New York Jets, the Ravens only got to him twice, although one resulted in a lost fumble.

The touchdown to Woods, though, came on the sort of deep throw not seen very often around these parts since, well, I have to mention that Losman character again. He also completed third-down throws on Buffalo's first two scoring drives. And two of his best throws of the day -- the non-touchdown to Woods and a perfectly floated deep sideline throw to Scott Chandler -- wound up hurting his completion percentage, after the replays were reviewed.

Plenty of more seasoned Bills also contributed, of course. Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller repeatedly gouged Baltimore's run defense, which came in ranked fourth in the NFL, but gave up 203 yards on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Buffalo's run defense (third-from-worst before Sunday) stuffed Ray Rice and Bernard Pierce badly enough in the first half to convince the Ravens to give up on that line attack completely in the second.

Their complete inability to deal with Marcell Dareus might have had something to do with that. Bearing his strongest resemblance yet to a third-overall draft choice, Dareus was in on seven tackles and registered two sacks, capping his day by flinging the 6-foot-6, 245-pound Flacco to the ground with one arm on the second.

And then there was Aaron Williams, who was so lousy at corner through two professional seasons that the Bills made a safety out of him, only to put him back at his original spot out of injury-induced desperation. While his day was far from perfect, most notably when Torrey Smith torched him for a 74-yard gain midway through the fourth quarter. But he also accounted for two of the five picks of Flacco, with the second -- a remarkable, leaping grab -- saving a touchdown.

All of which sends the Bills to Cleveland, winners of two straight under former third-string quarterback Brian Hoyer, for a Thursday night game that suddenly looks like something of a crossroads for two teams who nobody expected to do much this year.

One-quarter of the way through the 2013 season, neither Buffalo nor the Browns could ask for much more.