Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews dropped a 2-point conversion pass with 1:33 left to play as the Buffalo Bills posted a 27-25 victory in an AFC second-round playoff game on Sunday night.
Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely to cap an eight-play, 88-yard drive that give the Ravens an opportunity to tie the game.
Instead, the Bills held on for a victory even though Baltimore outgained Buffalo 416-273 in yardage and converted 7-of-10 third-down snaps and its only fourth-down attempt into first downs.
The Ravens lost three turnovers – two fumbles and one interception – while the Bills did not have any in a game that kicked off with a temperature of 19 degrees and was contested in a light snow at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.
In the second quarter, Jackson fumbled on a sack on a second-and-10 snap at the Buffalo 28-yard line. Bills defensive end Von Miller returned the recovery 39 yards to the Baltimore 24 to set up the first of quarterback Josh Allen’s two touchdown runs as Buffalo took a 14-7 lead with 8:52 left in the first half.
Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard punched the football away from Andrews on a 16-yard completion and recovered it at the Buffalo 46 with 8:41 to play. The Bills kept the ball for 5:12 before kicking a field goal for a 27-19 lead with 3:29 remaining.
In the Ravens’ 35-10 victory over Buffalo on Sept. 29, Baltimore running back Derrick Henry ran for 199 yards and one touchdown on 24 carries. On Sunday, the former Alabama All-American ran for 84 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries.
Andrews’ drop was the second 2-point conversion failure for the Ravens in the second half. On Baltimore’s seven-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, Henry had five carries for 46 yards, including a 5-yard scoring run with 1:37 left in the third quarter. That cut Buffalo’s lead to 21-19, but an incompletion on the 2-point attempt left that margin unchanged.
Henry carried the football two more times for 5 yards as Baltimore had 14 more snaps in the game.
In his ninth playoff game, Henry became the seventh NFL player with 1,000 postseason rushing yards by boosting his career total to 1,002 yards and seven touchdowns on 198 carries.
In addition to Henry, five more players from Alabama high schools and colleges got on the field during the Baltimore-Buffalo game:
- Ravens cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (St. Paul’s Episcopal, Alabama) is on injured reserve and not eligible to play.
- Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper (Alabama) was targeted once but did not have a reception. The game was the first for Cooper since Nov. 24, 2019, in which he played but did not catch a pass.
- Ravens wide receiver Malik Cunningham (Park Crossing) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
- Ravens guard Darrian Dalcourt (Alabama) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
- Bills offensive tackle Tylan Grable (Jacksonville State) dressed for the game but did not play.
- Marlon Humphrey (Hoover, Alabama) started at slot corner for the Ravens. Humphrey made four tackles.
- Bills safety Kareem Jackson (Alabama) is on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
- Ravens nose guard Michael Pierce (Daphne, Samford) made five tackles.
- Bills wide receiver Tyrell Shavers (Alabama) in on the practice squad and not eligible to play.
- Bills defensive end Javon Solomon (Troy) did not record any stats.
After winning the AFC East with a 13-4 regular-season record, Buffalo has posted victories over the Denver Broncos (31-7 on Jan. 12) and Ravens to reach the AFC Championship Game for the first time since the 2020 season. The Bills will play the Kansas City Chiefs at 5:30 p.m. CST Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, to determine the AFC representative in Super Bowl LIX.
The Chiefs reached the conference title contest for the seventh consecutive season by beating the Houston Texans 23-14 on Saturday.
Baltimore won the AFC North with a 12-5 regular-season record and reached the second round of the postseason by beating Pittsburgh Steelers 28-14 on Jan. 11.
