Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith takes the field before the game against the Buffalo Bills. Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Ravens Look For Revenge in Season Opener

Originally posted on Baltimore Ravens on SI
By Jon Alfano | Last updated May 15, 2025 1:00 PM ET

The Baltimore Ravens will begin the 2025 season in the same place where their 2024 season came to a bitter end.

Indeed, the Ravens will face the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Field on NBC's "Sunday Night Football" in Week 1, giving fans an excellent primetime showdown to cap off the first Sunday of the season. Of course, this is a rematch of last year's thrilling Divisional Round game, which Buffalo won 27-25 after Baltimore shot itself in the foot repeatedly.

With the rematch on the horizon, Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith wants to right last season's wrongs and set the tone for another strong year.

Roquan Smith’s most anticipated game of 2025?

“The first game of the year. That’s how you start the season off and that’s gonna set the tone for the entire season.” pic.twitter.com/A3k9vVrrtT
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) May 15, 2025

"Yeah, just how I like it," Smith said during an appearance on NFL Network. "Revenge is best served as a cold dish, you know. So, it will be nice to get up to Buffalo and get a little pay back for those guys from the end of the year."

The two AFC heavyweights also met on Sunday Night Football last year, with the Ravens cruising to a 35-10 home victory in Week 4. While it was a statement win for the Ravens after a sluggish start to the season, it's hard to think about it now considering how the second game went.

"Honestly, man those guys won the game fair and square last year, you know that. Misery sets in all offseason and you use that as motivation throughout the offseason," Smith said. "So, just knowing that we have everything it takes to be the best team in the NFL. You have to show that game in and game out and it's going to start up there in Buffalo. Just like everything we've gone through throughout the offseason and how it ended, it's just about unleashing it on those guys. And I'm sure they have the same plan."

This marks the second-straight year the Ravens will open the season against the team that eliminated them just months earlier. Last month, they faced the Kansas City Chiefs in the first game of the NFL season after losing to them 17-10 in the 2023 AFC Championship Game. The rematch was intense, with the Chiefs holding on for a 27-20 win after Isaiah Likely's touchdown as time expired was overturned.

Now heading north instead of west, Smith and the Ravens will look for a better result this time around.

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

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