Lamar Jackson and Mark Andrews were not themselves in the 27-25 divisional-round playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills. Jackson had a transcendently elite regular season. Of all the things he did well in 2024, perhaps the most essential facet of his game was ball security.
He only threw four interceptions all season, but he uncharacteristically tossed one tonight in Orchard Park that was so off the mark it must have been a blatant miscommunication between him and his receivers.
He also lost a fumble, as did Andrews. The star tight end, who has connected with Jackson more times than any other Ravens pass-catcher during his career, had two bad drops at Highmark Stadium tonight.
And he only had four drops all season long. Unfortunately, he dropped the two-point conversion attempt in the waning minutes that would have tied the game.
Jackson’s throw was less than perfect, but it was a very catchable ball that Andrews should have created. This play was out of character for both of them.
This was a bad drop by Mark Andrews but let’s not pretend Lamar gave him a perfect ball to catch.
That pass was at his knees as he was falling backwards into the corner of the endzone. pic.twitter.com/bGYfXmrSnp
— The Nati King (@thenatiking) January 20, 2025
Andrews will be the fan base’s primary scapegoat, and that’s highly unfair. All games are won or lost collectively, not individually.
While certain decisive plays always stand out, especially in crunch time, there are always other plays that someone else could have made earlier in the game that would have changed the result.
Jackson will also be heavily blamed, which isn’t fair either. He and Derrick Henry are the primary reasons the Ravens won the AFC North division and earned the conference’s #3 seed.
