ExtremeRavens Posted 14 hours ago Posted 14 hours ago Mark Andrews’ fumble and drop sealed the Ravens’ fate in an agonizing 27-25 divisional round loss to the Bills that will again send them home wondering what could have been. Here are five things we learned from the game: Mark Andrews’ agony epitomized that of a great team that can’t take the last step How awful and cosmically unfair that it was him, the guy who cares so much that he attacks midsummer workouts with an intensity many players reserve for the last possession of the Super Bowl. Andrews had not lost a fumble since 2019. He shares an extrasensory connection with Lamar Jackson that has made them the defining passer-receiver partnership in Ravens history. But all that passion, all that trust could not save Andrews in the defining moments of another soul-crushing playoff loss. The Ravens were moving relentlessly toward a potential go-ahead score when Andrews caught Jackson’s pass in the middle of the field midway through the fourth quarter. The three-time Pro Bowl tight end turned up field to pick up more yards as he has hundreds of times before. Instead, the ball popped out of mitts that are normally as reliable as a sunrise. The Ravens knew turnovers could doom them against an opponent that wouldn’t give them much margin for error. Andrews’ fumble was their third, to none for Buffalo. That alone probably should have been enough to do them in. But cruel fate was not done with Andrews, who came back from an ugly ankle injury last season and a terrifying car wreck at the start of this one to catch a career-high 11 touchdowns. After the Ravens’ defense did its job at the goal line, holding Buffalo to a field goal that made it 27-19, Jackson drove Baltimore back the other way, maneuvering coolly and rediscovering his sharpshooter’s aim when he needed it most. His 24-yard dart to Isaiah Likely pulled the Ravens within a 2-point conversion of the tie. With the season hanging by a thread, Jackson rolled to his right, spotting No. 89 — his self-described security blanket — alone in the front corner of the end zone. He flipped the ball and watched it ricochet excruciatingly out of Andrews’ grip. This wasn’t 2019 or 2023, when the Ravens rolled into the playoffs high and mighty only to fail utterly to reach their regular-season standard in elimination games. They out-gained Buffalo 416 yards to 273, 7.3 yards per play to 4.6. Each time they made a seemingly unrecoverable error, they recovered to push for the lead once more. They were the more dynamic team despite the 18-degree kickoff temperature and the coating of snow slicking the field. That the final result was the same had to hurt so much more because they dug up so many answers throughout this season. All along, players (and even some opponents) said only the Ravens could beat the Ravens. That turned out to be true, but not in the identity-crisis way that we lamented after they ran the ball just 16 times in their AFC championship loss to the Chiefs last season. Unsteady hands killed this beast of a team. No one could have predicted Andrews would be the man unable to secure the ball, but sometimes, the model soldier is fated to be wounded deepest. Afterward, teammates did what they could to share his burden, to express how much they admire him. “He does everything right,” Likely said. “That’s why he’s my big brother. I look up to Mark in everything he does. I try to be a sponge with everything he does. It happens. He’s human.” Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson committed two turnovers for the first time all season in Sunday’s loss to the Bills. (Al Bello/Getty) Lamar Jackson too is in for an offseason of self-recrimination Jackson vs. Josh Allen was the story within the story — two uniquely gifted quarterbacks who staged a monumental tug-of-war for Most Valuable Player honors and who both need a Super Bowl to complete their masterpiece careers. Their battle Sunday night turned into a microcosm of the battle between the mighty teams they lead. Jackson was the more dynamic passer and runner, combing for 293 yards to Allen’s 137 and digging into his sorcerer’s bag when the Ravens faced extinction in the fourth quarter. But Allen didn’t make any major mistakes, while Jackson dug his team a hole with two turnovers in the first half. It’s not romantic when the more careful titan bests the one who inspires greater awe. Then again, who ever said playoff football has to be romantic? “We can’t have that [expletive],” an angry Jackson said when it was over. “That’s why we lost the game, because as you can see, we’re moving the ball wonderfully. It’s just hold onto the [expletive] ball. I’m sorry for my language. I’m just tired of this.” On the Ravens’ second possession, Bills linebacker Matt Milano drew uncomfortably close and Jackson did not have time to calculate the proper angle as he fired down the sideline to wide receiver Rashod Bateman. The ball floated away from Bateman and into the arms of Buffalo safety Taylor Rapp. Interception — only Jackson’s fifth of a previously near-perfect season. The Ravens’ defense held, and Jackson seemed none the worse for his error, guiding his offense to the Buffalo 28-yard line. On second-and-10, a wild snap caught him off guard. As he tried to recover, he lost his grip on the snow-slicked football. The Bills’ Von Miller picked it up and chugged 39 yards the other way to set up a go-ahead touchdown. Two plays, and Jackson was right back in the playoff Bermuda Triangle that has given critics ammunition to pick at his otherwise irreproachable career. The interception-fumble combo was a chilling reminder of his most disappointing games — the 28-12 shocker against Tennessee five years ago and the 17-10 misfire against Kansas City last January. Those losses cut down the soaring hopes of No. 1 seeded Ravens teams. It was supposed to be different this time, with Jackson coming off his most masterful regular season and flanked by the greatest partner he’s ever had in running back Derrick Henry. Again, however, his mistakes put the Ravens on treacherous ground. They had a chance for a resounding answer after Jackson fired a 42-yard strike to Bateman to give them first-and-goal at the 2-yard line. But they could not punch the ball in as the Bills stonewalled Derrick Henry on first down and sacked Jackson on second. They had been deadly in such scenarios all season, scoring touchdowns on a league-best 74.2% of their red zone trips. Again, Jackson and his Ravens weren’t quite the juggernaut we expected to see. They went to the halftime locker room down 21-10 to a foe entirely capable of matching them score for score. Jackson did much to redeem himself in the second half, especially when the Ravens had to have a touchdown on their last drive. Without his best wide receiver in Zay Flowers and with Bateman temporarily knocked from the game, he made wonderful decisions and equally wonderful throws. That rally will not save him from another interminable offseason of hard questions. Jackson is one of the three best football players in the world with Allen and Patrick Mahomes, so he’s judged by standards that do not apply to almost anyone else. He wasn’t good enough for half of the season’s biggest game, and that will eat at him until he finally rolls through an entire postseason devoid of self-defeat. Ravens running back Derrick Henry, right, had 16 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown against the Bills. (Adrian Kraus/AP) The Ravens built the right offense around Jackson The many prognosticators bullish on the Ravens guessed they would simply overpower the smaller Bills as they had in a 35-10 win over Buffalo at the end of September. Derrick Henry ran for 199 yards, 87 on his first carry, that night, and few could see how the Bills would stand up to four quarters of his unyielding pressure in the rematch. “As good a one-two punch as we’ve ever seen in the National Football League,” CBS commentator Tony Romo said of Jackson and Henry. Give the Bills credit. With Milano and nickel back Taron Johnson, both of whom were injured for the previous meeting, they presented stiffer resistance. Defensive tackles Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones fought hard against Baltimore’s interior blockers. The Ravens ran for 176 yards on 30 carries, plenty impressive but well short of the overpowering 271 they rolled up in September. Still, offensive coordinator Todd Monken did not abandon the run after his team fell down 11. In fact, he used it to control the third quarter as the Ravens rallied to within 21-19. Everyone involved seemed to understand this was the team’s offensive bedrock. If not for Andrews’ fumble, we might be talking about how the Ravens gradually imposed their will despite Buffalo’s vigorous hitting and pursuit. It’s cold comfort at the moment, but we just watched the greatest offense in Ravens history, one that moved the ball more efficiently than any other team both on the ground and through the air. That potency did not vanish on a bitterly cold night in Buffalo despite the terrible mistakes that undermined the machine. Monken is a candidate for multiple head coaching vacancies. Henry’s two-year, $16 million contract is weighted in such a way that it will be in the Ravens’ interest to seek an extension or re-negotiation over the next few months. But this worked stupendously well, and they should look to run it back if at all possible. Ravens cornerback Nate Wiggins tries to bring down Bills quarterback Josh Allen on Sunday. (Al Bello/Getty) Again, the Ravens’ defense played well enough to win a playoff game The first time Buffalo had the ball, Khalil Shakir got behind Brandon Stephens for 34 yards on third-and-8. That chunk gain was key to Buffalo’s 70-yard drive to make it 7-7. It was a gut punch to fans worried that the Bills would isolate Stephens and pick on him all night. It turned out to be Buffalo’s most explosive play of the night. The Ravens did not go down because they could not hold the back end. Allen averaged a paltry 5.8 yards per attempt. Some of that was the Bills playing conservatively with a lead, but safeties Kyle Hamilton and Ar’Darius Washington, in many ways the saviors of first-year coordinator Zach Orr’s defense, again stood tall. No, the Ravens won’t be satisfied with giving up 147 rushing yards. “I didn’t think we were physical enough in the first half,” Hamilton said. But those yards came on 36 carries, so it wasn’t as if their defensive front was overpowered by Buffalo’s excellent offensive line. Down 21-10 with the Bills getting the ball to start the second half, the Ravens had no chance to climb back if the defense did not deliver stops. They held Buffalo to 19 yards on nine carries over two drives in the third quarter. Defending a short field after Andrews’ fumble in the fourth quarter, they held the Bills to a field goal to give Jackson his chance at a tying drive. Remember, this same Buffalo offense piled up 471 yards against a very good Denver defense in the previous round. No opponent (other than the New England Patriots facing reserves in a meaningless Week 18) had held the Bills under 300 yards since the first weekend in October. This Ravens defense never reached the heights of the 2023 edition and didn’t dominate in Buffalo. But the resurrection Orr supervised was real, and his crew gave the team a heartbeat when its deficit to the Bills could have mushroomed. Ravens coach John Harbaugh will live with this bitter disappointment just like everyone else involved. (Al Bello/Getty) This loss isn’t principally on John Harbaugh and his staff Some fans will seize on this latest playoff disappointment as further evidence that the Ravens have stagnated under Harbaugh, that the disconnect between their regular-season and postseason performance is unforgivable. But did we really watch a team that wasn’t prepared to play in Buffalo? The Ravens stormed to a touchdown on their first drive of the game. They didn’t punt once all night and moved the ball at a more efficient clip than they did during the regular season when they posted a historically elite DVOA. Their defense prevented big plays and stood tough when the game could have gotten away. They responded to disappointment after disappointment by refusing to circle the drain. The Ravens lost because their MVP quarterback and their great tight end turned the ball over at inopportune moments. How exactly would a coach or his coordinators prevent that? Do we seriously think Harbaugh and his staff failed to harp on ball security as they prepared for the Bills? “Well, it’s a point of emphasis always, and it’s a point of emphasis right now big time,” Harbaugh said Wednesday when asked about this very issue. “It was uncharacteristic to have turnovers like that,” he said after the game. “There were opportunities for us to not have those, but we had them. So, you try to bounce back from them. That’s what you try to do, in the course of the game. You can’t take them back. Once they happen, they happen. You try to make the next play.” Sometimes, as after the Ravens’ disturbingly flat performance against the Chiefs a year ago, a coaching staff has to wear a defeat. In this case, it’s some of the team’s top players who bear greater responsibility. The fact is, the Ravens annihilated their competition over the last four weeks of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs. They built a great offense and fixed their defense on the fly. There was no evidence that Harbaugh lost his team’s attention or ran out of fresh ideas as the Ravens stormed into the divisional round. There was far more to suggest this was one of his best coaching jobs. If owner Steve Bisciotti abruptly dumped his coach of the last 17 seasons, the rest of the NFL world would be stunned, Franchises with openings would crawl over one another to hire Harbaugh. He will live with this bitter disappointment just like everyone else involved. No one as proud as he will feel OK with bowing out one round earlier than the season before. But the Ravens were a better, more resilient team at the end of 2024 than they were at the end of 2023. They found a once-in-a-lifetime formula with Jackson and Henry, and their defense seems unlikely to face a recurrence of the growing pain that plagued it through the first 10 weeks of this year. This team, with Harbaugh at the helm, earned another shot. Have a news tip? Contact Childs Walker at daviwalker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6893 and x.com/ChildsWalker. View the full article Quote
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