Lamar Jackson waits for the Super Bowl and it continues as the ‘tired’ Baltimore Ravens quarterback ends up cruelly against the Buffalo Bills | NFL news

The Super Bowl agony continues for Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens as they are forced to endure yet another story of heartbreak leaving the NFL party early. Will their time ever come?

When Lamar Jackson is your quarterback and Lamar Jackson plays, Baltimore’s Super Bowl window will never be considered closed. He’ll likely win his third MVP award after another year of records, career highs and league-leading numbers, but once again his and the Ravens’ campaign culminates in playoff disappointment.

On Sunday, it was MVP vs. MVP (both deserve the award) as Jackson and Josh Allen faced off for the right to advance as the AFC Champion Knight tasked with slaying Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs’ three-peat rushing dragon on behalf of the rest NFL.

Two of the greatest running backs of their generation who have yet to taste triumph and who could highlight each other’s painful shortcomings at the hands of the Chiefs. Two franchises in the Ravens and Buffalo Bills that were banging on the Super Bowl door only to be drowned in the red sea of ​​Arrowhead. Both need a Super Bowl, both are desperate for a Super Bowl.

It would be Allen who would win as the Bills held on for a 27-25 victory at the death to reach the AFC Championship game, setting in motion the latest tantalizing installment of the modern Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning era. Allen looks for his first Lombardi lift, Mahomes follows with his fourth and third in a row.

Jackson was guilty of costly turnovers that night, but he didn’t give up without a reminder of his greatness as he blocked a raucous Highmark Stadium to orchestrate a masterful 88-yard drive on eight plays in the final minutes, capped by a 24-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah. pull the Ravens within two.

Baltimore looked every way they were about to tie the game on a two-point attempt when Mark Andrews broke free from the right side of the end zone, only for the tight end to drop what on any other day looked like a routine catch. Cue Bills ecstasy, cue Ravens regret.

“It’s a team effort,” Jackson said after the game. “He was breaking his body. Making plays on that field didn’t work for us. As I’ve said all season every time we’ve been in this situation, turnovers play a factor. Penalties play a factor.

“Tonight, losers, can’t have that s***. That’s why we lost the game. Because, as you can see, we’re moving the ball wonderfully. Just hang on to the f****** Ball. Pardon my language, this s *** boring.”

The Ravens let it slip through their fingers, literally. It became a nightmare night for Andrews, who also lost a fumble when lineman Terrel Bernard fumbled the ball before returning it himself earlier in the fourth quarter. Baltimore was already down earlier in the game, Andrews’ misfortune is the headline point.

“I would say the same thing to any guy, like Mark,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said. “There is no one who has more heart or more care [and] he fights more than Mark. We wouldn’t be here without Mark Andrews. That’s what you tell him.

“So it’s like anything else, destiny is a decision you make. It’s a decision about how you deal with what comes in your life. Mark will deal with it fantastically as always. He’s a person of high character, a tough person and a good person. I’m proud of him just like I am proud of all the guys.”

Jackson cursed himself after being intercepted by Taylor Rapp on a pass intended for Rashod Bateman in the first quarter before he also lost a snap on a Damar Hamlin throw, from which Von Miller’s 39-yard return topped Allen’s one-yard rushing touchdown for a 14-7 lead.

It was NFL playoff football at its most ruthless and brutal yet again.

“We’re a team,” Jackson said. “The first half, I had two costly turnovers. I didn’t hold the safety, I just knew the coverage, I knew it was the man. I threw an interception.

“Miss. I’m just trying to do something. It was like an RPO play, so I couldn’t throw the ball [tight end Isaiah] Probably. I was trying to do something, trying to squeeze the ball. It slipped out of my hand. Von Miller picked it up, got a few yards, I think that got them points.”

Jackson closed the regular season with a career-high 4,172 passing yards for 41 touchdowns to just four interceptions with an NFL-best 119.6 passer rating while also rushing for 915 yards after eclipsing Michael Vick for the most rushing yards since quarterback in NFL history. Statistically, he was nearly flawless, weaving in familiar episodes of off-script mutant genius and convention-busting throws to ignite the best-designed defensive schemes within one of the league’s most formidable two-headed offensive tandems alongside Derrick Henry.

But rightly or wrongly, familiar questions will arrive. Jackson is now 3-5 in the playoffs and is the only guard to win multiple MVP awards while posting a losing record in the postseason. He is also the only multiple MVP winning quarterback who did not win a Super Bowl ring. Also, he is still only 28 years old.

Sunday always ran the risk of evoking uncomfortable quarterback narratives around losers. In the end, it came down to which passer and which team made fewer mistakes, and the Bills came out victorious by winning the turnover battle with a clean performance while totaling just 273 yards of offense compared to Baltimore’s 416.

Jackson responded admirably to his early turnovers when the Ravens’ offense might have completely capitulated, which began as a play around the running backs who also ran into defining variables elsewhere. Baltimore backfired with a botched decision to go for a two-point conversion late in the third quarter — which may have eliminated the need to go for two points in the final minute if they had kicked the extra point — and so did the offense’s game plan that decided to give the ball to Derrick Henry only 16 times.

But when a quarterback turns the ball over twice in the biggest game of the year after committing just nine turnovers all season, the NFL will always be under scrutiny. Baltimore has now lost three times in the Divisional Round, twice in the Wild Card Round and once in the AFC Championship Game (falling 17-10 to the Chiefs last season) with Jackson at the helm.

He hugged Allen with a smile at the end Sunday night, masking his own gut-wrenching pain to applaud his most worthy enemy. He remains at the center of a generation-defining quarterback battle for supremacy alongside Mahomes and Allen, and has continued to respond decisively to adversity in the playoffs. He is so close and he knows it.

The story of this season ends here for the Ravens. But Jackson will be back. He’s too talented, too driven, too good not to.

What’s next?

Sunday January 26th is the NFL Conference Championships – Live Sky Sports NFL – with the Philadelphia Eagles first hosting the Washington Commanders in the NFC title game at 8 p.m., followed by the Chiefs taking on the Bills at 11:30 p.m.

Super Bowl LIX takes place on Sunday, February 9 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, live on Sky Sports NFL.