Josh Allen rushed for two touchdowns while Lamar Jackson coughed up two turnovers as the Buffalo Bills beat the Baltimore Ravens 27-25 to book an AFC Championship matchup with the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Jackson’s playoff record would only increase as he fell to 3-5 in the postseason, but despite having a fumble and a loss in the first half, he also helped push the Ravens back from a 21-10 deficit at the half to tie the ballgame up to a minute and a half.
Jackson’s second touchdown of the night, a 24-yarder to Isaiah Havan, pulled Baltimore within two, but veteran Mark Andrews, who had taken a loss earlier in the fourth quarter, missed the resulting two-point conversion.
The Bills recovered the ensuing fumble and ran out the rest of the clock to make it three straight years out of the divisional round and book another playoff meeting with the Chiefs.
Buffalo has been knocked out by Kansas City in three of the last four postseasons, including in the AFC Championship game four years ago.
Statistics leaders
Baltimore Ravens
- Transition. Lamar Jackson, 18/25, 254 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
- In a hurry. Derrick Henry, 16, 84 yards, 1 TD
- Getting. Isaiah Probable, 4 catches, 73 yards, 1 TD
Buffalo Bills
- Transition. Josh Allen, 16/22, 127 yards
- In a hurry. James Cook, 17, 67 yards
- Getting. Khalil Shakir, 6 catches, 67 yards
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen had two rushing touchdowns in their divisional round win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Allen had two rushing touchdowns in the first half that helped build Buffalo’s 11-point halftime lead, while Ray Davis also scored on a field goal at halftime;
The Ravens got off to a perfect start when Jackson completed an eight-play, 73-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman, but the Bills answered right back with an impressive 11-play, 70-yard drive of their own to tie things up.
Two plays later, Jackson was picked off by Taylor Rapp while again looking for Bateman to knock down his receiver with a deep hit down the field.
Lamar Jackson fumbles the football, one of three turnovers the Baltimore Ravens gave up in the game
Buffalo couldn’t drive up and score, but they would score after a fumble by Jackson that was dropped by Damar Hamlin and picked off by Von Miller on Baltimore’s next play, Allen converted it for the first of his two rushing touchdowns.
Justin Tucker and Tyler Bass each had multiple field goals in Buffalo’s cold and snowy conditions, with Tucker’s second field goal getting the Ravens back within their opponents’ 8 in the third quarter.
Derrick Henry then cut into that deficit later in the same quarter with a five-yard rush, but Baltimore, not for the last time, failed to convert the resulting two-point attempt to tie the game.
Bass’ two field goals, the first a clutch 51-yarder, would come on either side of Terrell Bernard’s forced fumble by Andrews, which pushed the Bills’ lead back to eight.
Jackson and the Ravens battled to the end, producing a nerve-wracking scoring drive in the final two minutes of the contest, but Andrews would be left to make another mistake as he failed to grab a two-point attempt after being wide open. would tie the game late.
What’s next?
January 26 The NFL Conference Championship takes place on Sunday, January 26 live on Sky Sports NFL, with the Philadelphia Eagles first hosting the Washington Commanders in the NFC title game at 8:00 p.m. , and then the Chiefs host the Bills at 11:30 p.m.
Super Bowl LIX will take place on Sunday, February 9 at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. live on Sky Sports NFL.
