It appeared the Baltimore Ravens were ready to shock the Buffalo Bills with an improbable comeback and send their divisional round playoff game to overtime. After trailing by 11 points at halftime, Lamar Jackson engineered a second-half comeback, highlighted by an eight-play, 88-yard drive late in the fourth quarter that was capped by an Isaiah Likely touchdown with 1:33 remaining.
All Baltimore needed was the two-point conversion to tie the game. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken dialed up a play to get veteran tight end Mark Andrews open in the flat. Jackson saw him, threw the ball his way … and Andrews dropped it. The Ravens were unable to recover the ensuing onside kick, and the game was over with the Bills advancing to the AFC Championship game with a 27-25 victory.
You could argue that one play doesn’t determine the outcome of a 60-minute contest, but this Andrews drop was final nail in the coffin of the Ravens’ 2024 season. And Andrews had a nightmare fourth quarter. Before his pivotal drop, he also fumbled away possession on Baltimore’s previous drive. Monken gave him a chance at redemption in crunch time, and he couldn’t come through.
After the game, Ravens coach John Harbaugh addressed the critical mistake by Andrews, and said his tight end will handle this adversity the right way because of his high character.
“There’s nobody that has more heart, and cares more, and fights more than Mark. We wouldn’t be here without Mark Andrews,” Harbaugh said. “Mark will handle it fantastic, like he always does, because he’s a high-character person, he’s a tough person and he’s a good person. Proud of him, just like I’m proud of all the guys.”
Andrews hadn’t dropped a pass since Week 6, per ESPN. He had two drops on Sunday night. The Ravens had Super Bowl aspirations in 2024, but weren’t able to make it back to the AFC Championship game.
