ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Josh Allen scored two touchdowns and the Buffalo Bills beat Lamar Jackson and a turnover-prone Baltimore Ravens team, 27-25, in an AFC divisional game Sunday.
Baltimore, which turned the ball over three times in the loss, had a chance to tie the game in the final two minutes, but tight end Mark Andrews dropped a Jackson pass on a 2-point conversion. Andrews also lost a fumble earlier in the quarter.
“Nobody cares and fights more than Mark,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said of Andrews. “We wouldn’t be here without Mark Andrews. … It’s like anything else. Destiny is a decision you make and how you handle what happens in life. And Mark will handle it fantastically.”
The Bills will face Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game for their fourth playoff game in five years. The Chiefs have beaten the Bills three straight times in the playoffs, including in the conference title game four years ago in Kansas City.
Allen scored on runs of 1 and 4 yards while Ray Davis also scored on a 1-yard run. Tyler Bass made both field goal attempts, including a 21-yarder with 3:29 left after the Bills stopped at the Baltimore 2. That drive was set up by the Ravens’ third turnover, when linebacker Terrel Bernard stripped the ball from Andrews at the Buffalo. 44.
The Bills continued to play complementary football to overcome a patchwork defense and an offense that didn’t have a receiver reaching 900 yards this season. Buffalo finished the regular season with the league’s best plus-24 turnover differential.
It continued Sunday with a game without turnovers by Allen and the Bills that was just good enough on a slippery field with a layer of snow. As a result, the Bills closed out their season a perfect 10-0 at home. This included a 30-21 victory over the previously undefeated Chiefs in Week 11.
“We’re excited. (There’s) a lot of pride in this locker room. We don’t listen to the outside noise,” Allen said. “Everyone was saying this and that about us. Our guys continue to work hard. We’re internally motivated.”
The Ravens had one of the most productive offenses in the NFL during the regular season, but failed to reach the conference title game, which they lost to the Chiefs a year ago. Scrutiny of Jackson’s postseason performance will only increase as he falls to 3-5 in the postseason. He had two turnovers in the first half in that loss, throwing an interception and losing a fumble. Overall, Baltimore fell to 5-8 in the divisional round, including 1-4 in its last five.
“At the end of the day,” Ravens guard Kyle Hamilton said, “the chips didn’t fall to us.”
The Chiefs (16-2) sat back and watched it all, after advancing Saturday with a 23-14 victory over the Houston Texans. Mahomes threw for 177 yards and a touchdown to Travis Kelce, who had seven catches for 117 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching alongside WNBA star Caitlin Clark from a suite.
This will be the seventh straight AFC Championship Game for Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Chiefs. They went 4-2 and won three Super Bowls, including two in a row. Kansas City aims to become the first team in NFL history to complete a three-peat in the Super Bowl era.
The Bills (15-4) are 4-2 in AFC title games but 0-4 in the Super Bowl, losing four straight in the 1990-93 seasons. According to ESPN BET, Buffalo started as 1-point underdogs and the total opened at 48.5 points.
“We gave our defense a chance to play,” Allen said of Sunday’s win. “We made a play at the end. I’m so proud of our guys.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
