ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen heard the “MVP! MVP!” chants directed at him from the stands of Highmark Stadium on Sunday night, but the 28-year-old quarterback deflected the credit after the Buffalo Bills’ hard-fought victory in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs.
This season’s Bills were thought to be thin on both sides of the line of scrimmage. And it wasn’t one player or one unit that led to second-seeded Buffalo beating the third-seeded Baltimore Ravens 27-25, ending its string of three straight losses at this stage of the postseason and moving on to play the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs.
It was everyone.
“What a complete win,” Allen said. “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.”
Allen rushed for touchdowns of 1 and 4 yards, but he threw for only 127 yards and rushed for 20. Buffalo finished with a modest 273 yards of offense that included rookie Ray Davis scoring on a 1-yard run.
How about that oft-maligned defense, which gave up 271 rushing yards in a 35-10 loss to the Ravens in the fourth week of the regular season? On Sunday, the Bills (15-4) allowed 176 yards on the ground and 416 overall to the Ravens, but the home team’s defense compensated by forcing three turnovers.
“We were motivated all week, man,” said linebacker Terrel Bernard, who forced and recovered Mark Andrews’ fumble to set up Tyler Bass’ 21-yard field goal with 3:29 left. “We put a lot of work into it. And to see the results start to pay off right now, I can’t say enough about this team.”
The Bills made fewer mistakes than the Ravens (13-6) on a snow-slicked field and hung on when the usually sure-handed and wide-open Andrews dropped a 2-point conversion pass from Jackson, allowing the ball to bounce off his chest with 1:33 left. Jackson — like Allen, the Baltimore quarterback is considered a top contender for the NFL MVP award he has won twice before — connected with a sliding Isaiah Likely for a 24-yard touchdown to give the Ravens a chance to tie it.
Baltimore tried an onside kick, and Buffalo cornerback Rasul Douglas fielded the ball on two hops.
Buffalo went 10-0 at home this season, including a 30-21 win over the previously unbeaten Chiefs in the 11th week. Now the Bills head to Kansas City, Missouri, where they’ve been eliminated twice in the past four years — more recently in an unforgettable finish three years ago, when Buffalo blew a three-point lead in the final 13 seconds of regulation and lost 42-36 in overtime at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Chiefs (16-2), who beat the fourth-seeded Houston Texans on Saturday, are making their seventh consecutive appearance in the conference final and hosting it for the sixth time in that stretch. They are seeking what would be their fifth Super Bowl appearance in six seasons; if they get to the big game, they’ll try to win it four the fourth time in that stretch, including an unprecedented third Lombardi Trophy in a row.
The Bills get a rematch of the AFC title game from 2020 season, which the Chiefs won 38-24 before losing the Super Bowl to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“We know what they are. They’re the perennial of what you want to be in the NFL,” Allen said. “You’ve got to beat them to get past them. So, you know, we’re going to enjoy this one tonight.”
AP photo by Gene J. Puskar / Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson fumbles as he is tackled by Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin (3) during Sunday’s game in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs in Orchard Park, N.Y.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 only increase as he fell to 3-5 in the postseason.
“We got to get over this, because we’re right there,” said Jackson, who dropped to 1-5 when committing a turnover in the playoffs. “I’m tired of being right there. We need to punch in that ticket.”
Baltimore fell to 5-8 in the divisional round, including 1-4 in its past five appearances.
Jackson finished 18-of-25 passing for 254 yards and two touchdowns, including a 16-yarder to Rashod Bateman to cap Baltimore’s first possession. Jackson lost the turnover battle with an interception and a fumble, while Allen enjoyed his 11th turnover-free game of the season.
“It was uncharacteristic to have turnovers like that. There were opportunities for us to not have those, but we had them,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “You try to bounce back from them in the course of the game. You can’t take them back.”
Andrews, who had the critical drop, did not make himself available to reporter after the game, but he got plenty of support from his teammates.
“One play doesn’t define anybody. He’s the all-time leading touchdown receiver in Ravens history,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. “He’s been a consistent beacon of success the whole time he’s been here.”
The Bills leaned on the complementary football that allowed them to match a franchise record with 13 regular-season wins, become the NFL’s first team to score 30 touchdowns passing and rushing, and do so without a receiver gaining 900 yards. Defensively, Buffalo finished the regular season with a league-best plus-24 turnover differential.
“The mindset is what it’s all about,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “These guys believed, played to win, and you find a way, right?”
The Bills limited Derrick Henry to 84 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries after the big running back had a season-high 199 yards against them in the regular-season meeting in September.
Allen’s 1-yard touchdown run with 8:49 left in Sunday’s second quarter gave the Bills the lead for good at 14-7.
That score was set up by Jackson’s fumble. Facing second-and-10 at the Buffalo 28, Jackson first had to secure a high snap. After gaining control, he attempted to scramble forward, only to lose the ball when safety Damar Hamlin grabbed the quarterback by the ankle.
Von Miller scooped up the fumble and was finally chased down at Baltimore’s 24.
The Ravens failed on both 2-point conversion attempts, with linebacker Matt Milano batting down Jackson’s pass after Henry scored to make it 21-19.