ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Lamar Jackson brought the Baltimore Ravens to the brink of a dramatic come-from-behind victory with the chance to secure their second straight berth in the AFC championship game, only to have the opportunity slip through their fingers.
Mark Andrews’ fingers, to be exact in a 27-25 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round of the playoffs on Sunday night.
The game was decided with 1:33 left when the usually sure-handed and wide-open tight end had Jackson’s pass glance off his hands and chest and fall incomplete on what would have been a tying 2-point conversion. Baltimore had a chance to change its recent narrative of struggling in the playoffs but heads home with more questions than answers.
“We’ve got to get over this,” Jackson said. “Because we’re right there. I’m tired of being right there. We need to punch that ticket.”
Jackson, who threw an interception and lost a fumble in the first half, refused to blame Andrews.
“I don’t think it’s his fault,” Jackson said. “All of us played a factor in the game. It’s a team effort. We’re not going to put that on Mark. Because he’s been battling all season. All the great things he’s been doing all season. It don’t always go our way. We win as a team. But the times when it’s not going our way, we need to figure that out.”
Three turnovers, an 11-point halftime deficit and two failed 2-point conversion attempts were too much for Jackson and the Ravens to overcome.
Jackson’s postseason record dropped to 3-5, and 1-5 when he has a turnover, and the Ravens fell short of reaching the conference championship game for the fourth time in their past five playoff appearances since Jackson’s arrival in 2018.
This time, the Ravens squandered a year in which they gained the third-most yards in NFL history, became the first team to top 4,000 yards passing and 3,000 yards rushing, and featured the league's best rush defense.
“We didn’t end up doing the things we needed to do to win the game. We played well enough to win, but we didn’t make the plays in certain circumstances,” coach John Harbaugh said.
As for Andrews, Harbaugh is convinced the player will bounce back.
“There’s nobody that has more heart and cares more or fights more than Mark. We wouldn’t be here without Mark Andrews,” Harbaugh said. “Mark will handle it fantastic like he always does, because he’s a high-character person, he’s a tough person, and he’s a good person. I’m proud of him just like I’m proud of all the guys.”
There was plenty of blame to go around after the Ravens had the edge in total yards (416-273) and didn’t punt the ball but had difficulty finishing drives after Jackson capped the opening possession with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman.
Baltimore’s next two drives ended with turnovers by Jackson. Andrews’ lost fumble, meantime, came at Buffalo’s 44 when linebacker Terrel Bernard punched the ball out with 8:41 left and Buffalo up 24-19. The turnover led to Tyler Bass' 21-yard field goal with 3:29 left.
“It was uncharacteristic of us to have turnovers like that,” Harbaugh said. “There’s plenty of games we’ve had that we didn’t turn the ball over. You usually win those.”
Andrews finished with five receptions for 61 yards. The tight end was also the target on Baltimore’s first failed 2-point attempt after Derrick Henry scored on a 5-yard run to cut Buffalo’s lead to 21-19. Linebacker Matt Milano, however, batted down Jackson’s pass.
Andrews left the locker room without speaking to reporters.
“I would say how it’s a team effort. It’s not on (Andrews). We’re all in this together,” said Derrick Henry, who finished with 84 yards rushing.
Including playoff games, the Ravens fell to 0-10 with Jackson at quarterback when they have trailed by 10 or more points at the half.
Baltimore’s defense gave up a season-high 147 yards rushing to Buffalo, with Josh Allen scoring on 1- and 4-yard runs, and rookie Ray Davis also scoring on a 1-yard run.
“I didn’t think we were physical enough in the first half,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. “We could’ve done better throughout the whole game, but I think they ran the same duo play like 10-plus times tonight, and that honestly is just not a good showing of what we can do as a defense. I feel like that’s somewhat disrespectful, and for us to allow them to do that, that’s just out of character for us. We can pinpoint different things that happened this and there. At the end of the day, it just wasn’t enough to get the job done.”
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Jonah Bronstein, The Associated Press
