Sep 7, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton (14) tackles Buffalo Bills running back Ty Johnson (26) during the first quarter at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Ravens HC Scolds Kyle Hamilton for Foolish Mistake

Originally posted on Baltimore Ravens on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Sep 10, 2025 7:00 AM ET

The Baltimore Ravens committed no shortage of errors in their season-opening AFC Divisional Round rematch against the Buffalo Bills. You don't allow 41 points and 16 within the final four minutes without a few blunders, as the Ravens blew a late 15-point advantage in surrendering to a 41-40 loss.

Josh Allen was electric for the Bills, leading his once-overmatched-looking squad on several emphatic downfield marches to visibly seize the game's momentum. The Ravens' defense, meanwhile, completely folded after looking like it would be one of the NFL's best entering this regular season.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh left the game frustrated with some of his players' lapses, and took aim at a peculiar target. Kyle Hamilton is arguably the best defender on Baltimore's roster, but one blink-and-you'll-miss-it choice of his caught much of Harbaugh's ire.

He pocketed an interception on one of the Bills' failed two-point conversion attempts, one of several times they halted Buffalo's scoring at six. But instead of going down with the ball in the end zone or seeing how far he could get downfield with his pick, he lateraled the ball to Kyle Van Noy in shot at a circus play that was immediately snuffed out.

"I told him that I just questioned whether he actually graduated from Notre Dame or not," Harbaugh said the next day. "I thought that was one of the most foolish things I've ever seen. So he agreed and it should never happen again."

Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Fan reception to Harbaugh's insight was mixed after the game, a loss which many will be happy to pin on the veteran coach, and he didn't gain any new supporters in his insinuation of one of the Ravens' prized pieces.

The team's decision to punt the ball right back to the Bills within the final two minutes and a lead that had dwindled all the way down to two felt like the nail in the Ravens coffin, hammered in well before Buffalo's Matt Prater booted the last-second go-ahead field goal. This also isn't Harbaugh's first collapse, with the former Super Bowl winner turning losses like this into something of an annual occurrence.

Hamilton was fairly distraught after the game himself, but he was much more focused on the plays that really ended up swinging the game. He actually got a fingernail on Prater's game-winner, but couldn't influence it enough to change its course.

#Ravens Kyle Hamilton got a piece of that #Bills field goal. Just grazed it. pic.twitter.com/fKZPiOICm0
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) September 8, 2025

One of the captains of the defense, he felt sick at just how much damage he'd allowed to the Bills' scoring attack, claiming he was "about to throw up on the field.” His unit wasn't the only piece of Baltimore's roster to come up short, with Derrick Henry's late fumble setting up another scoring opportunity while the rest of the offense stagnated under Lamar Jackson on their final drive, but after the Ravens' slow start to their previous season, the star safety is already motivated to get to work.

This article first appeared on Baltimore Ravens on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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