The Lee Evans-Billy Cundiff double whammy was worse than Sunday night.
Playing in the AFC championship game rather than the divisional round, the Ravens went from thinking they were going to the Super Bowl to not even forcing overtime in a blink in Foxborough 13 years ago. But the guilty parties were just bit players.
Mark Andrews has scored more touchdowns than anyone in franchise history and will be part of the team’s Ring of Honor one day. Even acknowledging Andrews’ underwhelming play in previous postseasons, there’s no predicting such an accomplished veteran losing a fumble on Baltimore’s penultimate drive and then dropping the game-tying 2-point conversion pass with 1:33 to go in a 27-25 loss to Buffalo. It will easily go down as the worst nightmare of an excellent career, which is a shame for someone who’s done so much for the Ravens.
In the end, the three-time Pro Bowl tight end headlined the same old story for a team that’s been outstanding in the regular season and bewildering in January. The postseason is a pass-fail proposition, and the Ravens again fell short despite the stat sheet looking pretty in a number of categories. Baltimore averaged 7.3 yards per play, collected more first downs and plays of 20-plus yards, and had a better third-down conversion rate than the Bills.
But none of that mattered because of three turnovers — compared to none for Buffalo — and that fatal Andrews drop.
End of story.
The Ravens were pretty fortunate to even have a chance to tie the game on the final drive, which speaks to how they performed otherwise.
Two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson played a heck of a second half and deserved better on the two-point try after a spectacular touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely, but his two turnovers in the first half were a major reason why Baltimore trailed 21-10 at intermission. It was Jackson’s first two-turnover game since last year’s AFC Championship.
Not good enough.
The coaching staff didn’t abandon the run like it did against Kansas City last January, but one could at least question not giving the ball to Derrick Henry at least one more time on the goal-to-go drive that resulted in a field goal late in the first half or on either unsuccessful 2-point try. Still, these are more nitpicks one could bring up in any game rather than anything egregious.
The Baltimore defense was superb holding Buffalo to six points in the second half and received no favors with short fields or the very questionable pass interference call on Tre’Davious White that led to a Bills touchdown seconds before halftime. But the group wasn’t particularly great over the first 30 minutes, especially against the run. And just like last year’s AFC title game, the trailing Ravens couldn’t manage a takeaway to swing the win probability back in their favor.
In nine postseason games going back to 2018, Baltimore has 16 giveaways compared to just three takeaways. In other words, the Ravens have been way too careless with the football and not dynamic enough on defense despite that side of the ball clearly being superior in these playoff losses.
On the January stage, you need your stars to play like stars on both sides of the ball. Last year, it was the Zay Flowers fumble at the goal line and Jackson’s disappointing showing. The Andrews fumble and drop were even worse coming in the fourth quarter of a one-score game, but Jackson’s turnovers remained critical regardless of how he rebounded in the second half.
Now what? Where do the Ravens go from here?
Unfortunately, the January narrative attached to Jackson will continue for another year even as he likely accepts his third league MVP award in a couple weeks. The 28-year-old has played better these last two postseasons than he did earlier in his career, but an “A-” second half couldn’t quite erase — or overcome — his “C-“ first half. The Ravens need Jackson to play like an MVP for 60 minutes or at least take care of the ball like Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen did in each of these last two playoff defeats.
There isn’t a magic solution when the NFL’s best regular-season player turns the ball over twice and one of your top players loses a fumble and drops the game-tying pass on the final two drives of the game. There’s no accounting for that if you’re John Harbaugh or any other coach.
The proverbial window for championship contention remains wide open as long as Jackson is healthy and upright. The roster will change as it does every offseason, but there’s plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. Of course, the Ravens can only hope to stay as healthy as they were this season, something that shouldn’t be overlooked even in the disappointment of Flowers’ postseason absence.
Though it’s going to be another long 12 months, there’s no reason to believe the Ravens can’t be back in this position a year from now.
But the latest gut-wrenching defeat leaves you wondering why to expect anything different the next time.