ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Highmark Stadium is a house of even more horrors for the Ravens.

Seven and a half months after suffering a heartbreaking playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC’s divisional round, the Ravens allowed 16 points over the final four minutes, collapsing in a 41-40 loss Sunday night.

The Ravens led 40-25 with 11:42 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Buffalo scored two straight touchdowns to draw within two points. Cornerback Nate Wiggins broke up a 2-point-conversion try, but the Ravens went three-and-out on their next drive.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who outdueled Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson with his late surge, led a nine-play, 61-yard drive to get Buffalo within field goal range. Kicker Josh Prater nailed a 32-yard field goal to complete the comeback and deliver Buffalo a potentially critical win in AFC playoff seeding.

Jackson, whom Allen narrowly edged for NFL Most Valuable Player honors last season, finished 14-for-19 for 210 yards and two touchdowns and rushed six times for 70 yards and a score. Running back Derrick Henry had 18 carries for 169 yards and two touchdowns, but his crucial fumble gave Buffalo a spark in the fourth quarter. Wide receiver Zay Flowers led the Ravens with seven catches for 143 yards and a touchdown.

The Ravens trailed for the entire first quarter, but they looked like the superior AFC contender until the fourth quarter. They scored two touchdowns in the second quarter, two in the third and one in the fourth.

They had no answer for Allen, who was his usual dynamic self. He finished 33-for-46 for 394 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 14 times for 30 yards and two scores.

The Ravens will return to Baltimore in Week 2 for their home opener against the Cleveland Browns. Sunday’s game marked the start of one of the NFL’s most rigorous opening slates; the Ravens will also face the Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams before their Week 7 bye.

Hard work doesn’t pay off

The Ravens spent all summer working on the small things — ball security, discipline, penalties — and some bigger goals — namely, takeaways.

Maybe it’ll pay off in the long run, but the Ravens’ attention to detail was severely lacking as the ground beneath their feet collapsed.

Tyler Loop missed an extra point. Derrick Henry fumbled. The Ravens gave up a way-too-easy field goal drive before halftime. On and on the little stuff added up, until all they had was a big problem.

The Ravens looked like the NFL’s best team for stretches Sunday. But how many other teams can hit a switch and almost immediately look like one of the worst?

— Jonas Shaffer, Ravens reporter

Defense has a way to go before it deserves to be feared

There were stalwart red-zone stops. There were forced fumbles. There were interceptions. All things the Ravens want to be characteristic of their defense as they strive to be feared like their defenses of old. But there were also moments when the linebackers and secondary seemed to read the play incorrectly or were slow to react. They made poor decisions at critical moments. The Ravens’ pass rush generated little pressure, seemingly focused on containing Allen. But that meant that two great defensive plays would be undone as Allen worked his magic. Granted, they were playing the reigning MVP, protected by a top offensive line. But the number of explosive plays was their undoing, more so than the last-minute Henry fumble.

— Giana Han, Ravens reporter

Every year, the same sad thing.

No one trusts the Ravens with a lead. This is canon. Watching the Bills fans streaming out of Highmark Stadium with nine minutes left, I wondered if Buffalo watched this team play last season. Sure enough, if you give Josh Allen enough chances, he will hurt you. Despite having a two-score lead with five minutes left, the Ravens squandered it and gave the Bills a chance to win. This is the meme of James Franco wearing a noose asking, “First time?”

The defense is going to get killed for this and rightfully so (the pass rush was mostly invisible, and Jaire Alexander looked like he missed all those weeks of practice). But what happened to the first-half gas offense that didn’t punt once? How did Derrick Henry put the ball on the turf on his own side of the field, literally the one outcome that could have led to the comeback? Why couldn’t Lamar Jackson conjure a drive when it was needed? The Ravens are millionaires on talent and paupers in the clutch. No one felt a Week 1 loss would have been the most damning thing in the world … unless it happened like this.

— Kyle Goon, columnist

An unfathomable loss

Mere minutes removed from the final whistle, it’s hard to fathom what is undoubtedly one of the worst losses of the John Harbaugh era. In two hours, in two days, in two weeks, it will be just as difficult to wrap our minds around it. The Ravens had no business losing their playoff rematch in Buffalo. But they did, and a season that began with optimism just three hours ago is off to a gut-wrenching start.

— Paul Mancano, Banner Ravens Podcast co-host

An early challenge Ravens must learn from

Hey, that was really fun. Two of the best teams in the league played. Led by two of the best quarterbacks in the game. It was weird and sloppy, as early games tend to be.

Ravens fans are no doubt devastated by the loss but … reading much into this would go a step too far. Your team is very good. It happened to play another very good team, at their place, and failed to execute in a few spots. You’ve known all along the Ravens are going to need to get through this team, or the Chiefs, or both. That’s the challenge ahead, and those games will go like this.

— Chris Korman, editor