Josh Allen rushed for two touchdowns and Buffalo's defense forced three turnovers as the Bills advanced to the AFC Championship Game with a 27-25 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night.
The Bills hung on with 1:33 remaining when wide-open Mark Andrews dropped a two-point conversion pass from Lamar Jackson and the ball bounced off his chest. On the previous play, Jackson had scored a 24-yard touchdown on a sliding Isiah Riley, giving the Ravens a chance to tie the game.
Mark Andrews abandons 2PT conversion
the game will probably endpic.twitter.com/wF6aEtsm0i
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 20, 2025
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The Bills advance to the AFC Championship Game next Sunday against the conference's top seed, the two-time Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Buffalo ended a three-year losing streak in the district round. This is a familiar matchup for Buffalo, which has lost to Kansas City in three of the past four postseasons. The Bills finished the season a perfect 10-0 at home. That included a 30-21 win over the previously undefeated Chiefs in Week 11.
Allen scored on runs of 1 and 4 yards, and Ray Davis also scored on runs of 1 yard. Tyler Bass made two field goal attempts, including a 21-yard shot with 3:29 left, after the Bills stalled at the Baltimore 2-yard line. The impetus was set up by the Ravens' third turnover, when linebacker Terrell Bernard stole the ball from Andrews at the Buffalo 44.
“What do you think of the Buffalo Bills' defense?'' asked Allen, the Bills' MVP candidate quarterback. “This team has been hearing all year that we don't have the talent, we're too small, we can't stop the run, we're not good enough to compete. We've just put our heads down and worked hard. I'm very proud of our defense. I'm very proud of our offense and our special teams. What a complete win.”
The Ravens had one of the most productive offenses in the NFL during the regular season, but fell one win short of the conference title game, losing to the Chiefs a year ago. With Jackson falling to 3-5 in the postseason, there will be even more attention to his performance in the playoffs. In this loss, he committed two turnovers in the first half, threw an interception and lost a fumble, but if Andrews had made a solid two-point conversion, opinions might have been different.
“There's no one who cares and fights like Mark,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said of Andrews. “We wouldn't be here without Mark Andrews…It's like anything else. Destiny is the decisions you make and how you deal with what happens in life. And Mark will do a great job.”
Baltimore fell to 5-8 in the divisional round and 1-4 in their last five games.
The Bills continued to play complementary football this season to overcome a patchwork defense and an offense without a receiver reaching 900 yards. Buffalo finished the regular season with a league-best plus-24 turnover differential. That continued on Sunday, and Allen and the Bills' turnover-free game was enough for them to advance.
