Mark Andrews had a chance to force overtime. Instead, he experienced one of the most shocking moments of his career when the Ravens lost to the Bills in the AFC divisional round, ending the season.
The Ravens tight end dropped a pass into the end zone and made a two-point shot to tie the game at 27 with 1:31 left in the game.
Lamar Jackson led an eight-play, 88-yard touchdown drive to pull Baltimore within two points.
But disaster struck when Jackson rolled to his right and saw the 29-year-old Andrews open the pass for a two-point conversion.
The pass went to Andrews to the right, but the three-time Pro Bowler couldn't hold onto the ball and it fell into the end zone, resulting in an incomplete pass.
“Oh, the ball dropped!'' He had control of the two-point conversation,'' CBS play-by-play man Jim Nantz exclaimed on the broadcast.
The Ravens attempted an onside kick in a final attempt to get the ball back, but the Bills were able to recover and run out the clock.
It was one of two tough moments in the fourth quarter for Andrews, the other coming when the Ravens ran down the field with just over eight minutes left in the game.
Jackson hit a 16-yard pass to Andrews into Bills territory, but Terrell Bernard punched the ball free, fumbled it, and jumped on the ball to end the drive, at which point the Bills were 24-0. He held a lead of 19.
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith He spoke out about a tough night for Andrews at the X and seemed to push back on the chatter that Jackson was partly to blame for the loss.
“Unfortunately, the great Mark Andrews, who hasn't lost a fumble and hasn't dropped a pass since 2019, was stripped of a fumble and should have tied the game with less than two minutes left. We missed a two-point conversion.” Tragic! Absolutely tragic,” he wrote.
Andrews had five catches for 61 yards in the playoff loss.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh defended Andrews after the loss.
“We wouldn't be here without Mark Andrews,” Harbaugh said.
The Ravens have only advanced to the conference championship once since winning the Super Bowl in 2012.
