Familiar fatal flaws and 4 more takeaways from Divisional Round loss to Bills

Some questions were answered while others came into focus in the second round of the playoffs.

The Baltimore Ravens ended the 2024 postseason with a heartbreaking 27-25 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round. With the defeat, they not only failed to advance to the AFC championship game for the second year in a row but they came up short in gut-wrenching fashion.

“We didn’t win this game, which is disappointing, of course,” Head coach John Harbaugh said. “It’s a big game. We didn’t end up doing the things we needed to do to win the game. We played well enough to win, but we didn’t make the plays in certain circumstances.”

Offensively, the Ravens outgained the Bills through the air and on the ground but didn’t take care good enough. Defensively, Baltimore got pushed around in the trenches and let Buffalo go 3-of-3 in the red zone in the first half and put the clamps on in the second half to give their offense a chance to mount a comeback.

The loss drops the Ravens out of the playoffs and sends them into an offseason with some tough decisions to make on the free agency front and it means they’ll have to start from ground zero in their pursuit to end their decade-plus-long Super Bowl appearance and title drought.

Here are five takeaways from Sunday’s season-ending loss at Highmark Stadium.

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Negative turnover differential doomed Ravens again

After not giving the ball away for nearly a month in which they played three games including the Wildcard Round, the Ravens turned the ball over three times on Sunday to the Bills none and that was the biggest difference in the game in the end. It marked just their second time not only losing the turnover battle but committing multiple turnovers in the same game—the only other was their Week 11 loss to Pittsburgh Steelers in which they finished with a 3-1 differential.

The first turnover came on a lofted pass from quarterback Lamar Jackson intended for wide receiver Rashod Bateman who broke off his route and was intercepted by Bills safety Taylor Rapp. Thankfully, the Ravens’ defense stepped up and got a stop to force a punt so it didn’t lead to any points. However, it still took away a potential scoring opportunity for his team on a day when they didn’t have much trouble or difficulty moving the ball through the air or on the ground.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the Ravens’ next two turnovers as they both led to Bills scoring drives and spoiled very promising drives for their offense where they could’ve tied or regained the lead. The second turnover was a fumble by Jackson where he corralled a bad snap from two-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum but then dropped the ball on the ground trying to escape a sack. Bills outside linebacker Von Miller scooped up the ball and returned it 39 yards to the Baltimore 24-yard line and his quarterback scored from one-yard out four plays later.

The third and final was the most deflating because it came in the fourth quarter with the Ravens driving and with all the momentum beneath their sails after their defense forced a long field goal attempt. After hauling in a 16-yard pass over the middle of the field, three-time Pro tight end Mark Andrews had the ball punched out of his grasp by Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard while trying to juke instead of getting upfield.

Each of the Ravens’ last four premature playoff exits has come down to one or more pivotal turnovers in the second half. Whether it was Jackson’s pick-six the last time they played a playoff game in Buffalo, the infamous ‘Fumble in the Jungle’ with Tyler Huntley at the helm, Zay Flowers’ fumble at the goal line or Jackson’s triple coverage interception in the fourth quarter in last year’s AFC title game, their inability to take care of the ball with the game on the line has doomed them time and time again.

“Every time we’re in situations like this, turnovers play a factor,” Jackson said. “We can’t have that [expletive]. That’s why we lost the game, because as you can see, we’re moving the ball wonderfully. It’s just hold onto the [expletive] ball. I’m sorry for my language. I’m just tired of this.”

Lamar Jackson gave Ravens a chance to win in the end

The two-time league MVP did everything in his power to redeem himself and make up for his two first-half turnovers and did just that and then some with the bevy of crucial plays he made to lead the Ravens almost completely back from the brink. After going 6-of-10 for 123 passing yards and a touchdown in the first half, he went 12-of-15 for 131 passing yards and a touchdown in the second half. On what would’ve been the game-tying drive had Andrews not dropped the tying two-point conversion attempt, Jackson went 6-of-7 for 80 yards and made one incredible play with his legs to buy himself more time to pass after another.

Even after his turnovers in the first half, his morale and composure never waivered as he guided his team back into contention and erased a double-digit deficit in the process. His doubters and detractors will point to his playoff record as a starting quarterback to further reinforce their narratives about him and this team but despite the suboptimal result and being eliminated from Super Bowl contention, Jackson proved that he can perform well in the postseason and overcome his own mistakes, just not the litany that were made by others around him all the time.

Ravens defense lost battle in the trenches in first half

Through the first two-quarters of the game, Baltimore’s top-ranked run defense looked anything but stout as it let the Buffalo offensive line dominate the line of scrimmage at the point of attack. The Bills got consistent push for positive yardage, especially after contact when their running backs were getting driven forward for extra yards by their blockers and leg drive.

All three of the touchdowns that the Ravens gave up came on the ground and while they tightened up and stood their ground much better after halftime, only giving up two field goal drives and finishing with an average of 4.1 yards per carry given up, the damage had already been done. While they held the Bills out of the end zone on their fourth and final red zone drive to give their offense a chance to drive for a game-tying score to force overtime, the fact that they gave up scores each of the first three attempts cost them.

Offense got too cute in early red zone drive

In the playoffs, points are at a premium and every prime scoring opportunity needs to be maximized for a team to give itself the best chance to ultimately prevail. Turnovers prevented the Ravens from doing that for the most part but on their fourth drive of the first half, they were their own worst enemy yet again.

After flipping the field and getting all the way down to the Buffalo two-yard line on a 42-yard completion to Bateman, the offense stalled out and lost yardage before having to settle for a short Justin Tucker Field goal. They did the smart and expected move on first-and-goal and ran Henry who lost a yard then tried to fool the Bills defense on second-and-goal by dialing up a play-action pass out of heavy personnel. Jackson got sacked for a five-yard loss and then threw an incompletion on a failed check-down to Henry on third-and-goal.

Instead of just trying to run it in from short-yardage despite losing a yard on their first attempt, the Ravens and offensive coordinator Todd Monken got too cute and paid dearly for it. They could’ve stayed true to themselves and what made them the best red zone offense in the NFL all season and kept pounding the rock for what would’ve been the game-tying score after the Bills had just turned Jackson’s second turnover of the first half into a go-ahead touchdown on the proceeding drive. This was the four-point swing they could’ve controlled while the second one of the first half that’s getting broken down next was out of their control.

Horrendous pass interference call proved pivotal

While no one call from an official can make or break a game most of the time—the 2018 NFC Championship Game between Rams and Saints aside—referees can make, miss or completely blow a call that looms large on the outcome of a game. As atrocious as the clear and obvious late hit out of bounds of Jackson by Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver was given that it was also a hip-drop tackle as well, no call had a bigger impact on the final result of this game more than the defensive pass interference called on cornerback Tre’Davius White in the second quarter.

If anything, there was much clearer evidence to call it offensive pass interference as Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman shoved. Retired longtime referee and CBS Sports Rules Analyst, Gene Steratore, said on the broadcast live and on Twitter shortly thereafter that he would’ve supported a no-call since both players were engaged with each other but didn’t believe it warranted a flag on either player.

The pivotal play resulted in a four-point swing in favor of the Bills because it forced them to settle for a field goal, it set their offense up with a fresh set of downs at the Baltimore 12-yard line where Allen would punch the ball across the goal line three plays later to give his team a two-score 21-10 lead just before halftime. Had the penalty been called correctly, the Ravens likely would’ve declined it to conserve time for them to try to put up some more points of their own at the end of the half. Had it not been called at all, they would’ve gotten the ball back with over a minute to drive for a field goal of their own to make it a 17-13 game potentially. There’s no crying over spilled milk and could’ve, would’ve or should’ve but there’s no refuting that this call didn’t have a massive impact on the final outcome.