Josh Allen rushed for two touchdowns, Buffalo’s defense forced three turnovers and the Bills advanced to the AFC championship game with a 27-25 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night.
The Bills hung on when a wide-open Mark Andrews dropped a two-point conversion pass from Lamar Jackson, allowing the ball to bounce off his chest with 1:33 left. Jackson had connected with a sliding Isaiah Likely for a 24-yard touchdown on the previous play to give the Ravens a chance to tie.
The Bills advanced to the AFC championship game next Sunday against the conference’s top seed, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Buffalo snapped a three-year run of being eliminated in the divisional round. It’s a familiar matchup for Buffalo, who have been eliminated by Kansas City in three of the past four postseasons. The Bills closed their season a perfect 10-0 at home. That included a 30-21 win over the previously unbeaten Chiefs in Week 11.
Allen scored on runs of one and four yards while Ray Davis also scored on a one-yard run. Tyler Bass hit both field goal attempts, including a 21-yarder with 3:29 left after the Bills stalled at Baltimore’s two-yard line. That drive was set up by the Ravens’ third turnover, when linebacker Terrel Bernard stripped the ball from Andrews at the Buffalo 44.
“How about that Buffalo Bills defense?” said Allen, the Bills’ potential MVP quarterback. “All year, this team has heard we’ve got no talent, we’re too small, we can’t stop the run, we’re not good enough to compete. We’ve just put our head down and worked hard. I’m so proud of our defense. I’m so proud of our offense and special teams. What a complete win.”
The Ravens had one of the NFL’s most productive offenses in the regular season but fell a win short of reaching the conference title game, which they lost to the Chiefs a year ago. Scrutiny of Jackson’s playoff performances will increase as he fell to 3-5 in the postseason. He had two first-half turnovers in this loss, throwing an interception and losing a fumble, although opinions would have been different if Andrews had clung on to the two-point conversion.
“Nobody cares more, and fights more than Mark,” the Ravens’ head coach, John Harbaugh, said of Andrews. “We wouldn’t be here without Mark Andrews … It’s like anything else. Destiny is a decision that you make, and how you handle what comes in life. And Mark will handle it fantastic.”
Baltimore fell to 5-8 in the divisional round, including 1-4 in their last five appearances.
The Bills continued playing complementary football to overcome a patchwork defense and an offense that didn’t have a receiver reach 900 yards this season. Buffalo finished the regular season with a league-best plus-24 turnover differential. That continued on Sunday with a turnover-free game from Allen and the Bills that was just good enough to see them advance.