ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen rushed for two touchdowns, Buffalo’s defense forced three turnovers and the Bills advanced to the AFC championship game with a 27-25 win over the Baltimore Ravens in a divisional playoff game on Sunday night.
The Bills hung on when a wide-open Mark Andrews dropped a 2-point conversion pass from Lamar Jackson, allowing the ball to bounce off his chest with 1:33 left. Jackson connected with a sliding Isaiah Likely for a 24-yard touchdown to give the Ravens a chance to tie.
The Bills advanced to the AFC championship game next Sunday against the conference’s top seed, the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Buffalo snapped a three-year run of being eliminated in the divisional round.
It’s a familiar matchup for Buffalo, which has been eliminated by Kansas City in three of the past four postseasons.
Allen scored on runs of 1 and 4 yards while Ray Davis also scored on a 1-yard run. Tyler Bass hit both field goal attempts, including a 21-yarder with 3:29 left after the Bills stalled at Baltimore’s 2. That drive was set up by the Ravens' third turnover, when linebacker Terrel Bernard stripped the ball from Andrews at the Buffalo 44.
The Bills closed their season a perfect 10-0 at home. That included a 30-21 win over the previously unbeaten Chiefs in Week 11.
The Ravens had one of the NFL’s most productive offenses in the regular season but fell a win short of reaching the conference title game, which they lost to the Chiefs a year ago. Scrutiny of Jackson’s playoff performances will only increase as he fell to 3-5 in the postseason. He had two first-half turnovers in this loss, throwing an interception and losing a fumble.
Baltimore fell to 5-8 in the divisional round, including 1-4 in its last five.
The Bills continued playing complementary football to overcome a patchwork defense and an offense that didn’t have a receiver reach 900 yards this season. Buffalo finished the regular season with a league-best plus-24 turnover differential.
That continued on Sunday with a turnover-free game from Allen and the Bills that was just good enough.
Injuries
Ravens: Leading receiver Zay Flowers missed both playoff games with a knee injury.
Bills: Safety Taylor Rapp did not return after hurting his hip in the second quarter.
Up next
The Bills get a rematch of the 2020 AFC championship game, which Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs won 38-24.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
John Wawrow, The Associated Press
