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Josh Allen v Lamar Jackson was set to be an epic. The idea of this season’s MVP favorites sharing a field was chill inducing. Because whichever quarterback punctuated a brilliant individual season with a conference championship berth would do so because he outplayed his counterpart.
Then the actual game was played in snowy Buffalo. It turns out there’s so much more to a football game than the two men under center, even men as supremely talented as Allen and Jackson. Many will blame Jackson for Buffalo’s 27-25 win over the Ravens, especially as the weeks and months go on. They’ll credit Allen too. But neither player was the key factor in the outcome. It’s often the easy chances players don’t take rather than flashes of brilliance that decide games.
Jackson wasn’t perfect on Sunday but he stepped up when it counted. Driving 88 yards in eight plays to set up a game-tying two-point conversion in the final moments of a playoff contest is what MVPs do. But Jackson didn’t dial up the play call for the two-point conversion, and his pass was fine – it was tight end Mark Andrews who dropped the simplest of catches to effectively hand the game to the Bills.
Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken decided to put the season in the hands of Andrews, who had fumbled and squashed a promising Ravens drive earlier in the half.
“We wouldn’t be here without Mark Andrews. … It’s like anything else. Destiny is a decision that you make, and how you handle what comes in life. And Mark will handle it fantastic,” John Harbaugh said in his postgame press conference.
“Destiny is a decision that you make” sounds fancy and metaphysical. In this game, it was the little decisions that led to Buffalo advancing to the AFC championship.
Playing Sliding Doors is easy but, in the moment, the decision not to put the ball in the hands of Jackson or Derrick Henry with the game on the line was unconscionable. This is Henry who rushed for 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns this season. This is Jackson, a magician.
Jackson did turn over the ball twice in the game’s first 16 minutes on a misfired deep ball snagged by Taylor Rapp and a fumble caused by Damar Hamlin. But Jackson shook it off, and the Ravens counterpunched with a superior offense. The Ravens outgained the Bills 416 yards to 273 and averaged 7.3 yards per play to Buffalo’s 4.6. Allen was largely a non-factor by his high standards. Buffalo were never able to establish a deep passing game; in fact, Allen only had 96 passing yards after three quarters.
But, crucially, he didn’t turn over the ball, and neither did running back James Cook, who was excellent. Allen also muscled his way into the end zone twice, but he didn’t have to play hero. Again, it was the little things. It was not only Baltimore’s three turnovers, it was their lack of discipline. The Ravens drew five penalties for 43 yards while the Bills were only flagged once. It was the Ravens’ decision to go for a two-point conversion at the end of the third quarter, the result of which was an incompletion to Isaiah Likely. Had they made an extra point, there would have been no two-point conversion attempt for Andrews to drop. Or perhaps Harbaugh would have tried for the win but put the ball in the hands of Jackson or Henry. We’ll never know.
And then there was the decreased usage of Henry. Prior to the Buffalo game, Henry had at least 20 carries and 135 rushing yards in each of Baltimore’s last four games. Against the Bills, Henry had 16 carries, including just seven in the first half.
The focus will be on Jackson and Andrews, just as it was on Zay Flowers when he fumbled a would-be touchdown against the Chiefs in last year’s AFC championship game.
“It’s f’ing annoying. I’m tired of this shit,” Jackson said after Sunday’s game.
Had Andrews held on and the Ravens won in overtime, it would be the Bills questioning a litany of decisions and being tired of the pain. They’d be asking why their offense was especially conservative to open the second half. The Bills punted on consecutive drives. Why they never tried to establish a legitimate passing attack when Allen’s arm is insane. Who knew Allen v Jackson would feature an abundance of receiver screens.
Now the hype moves on from Allen v Jackson to Allen v Mahomes. The storylines these two quarterbacks – their flair for the dramatic, and their history – will be omnipresent in the lead up to Sunday. Just like Allen v Jackson, it will be fun to pore over. But when the game is played, the little things will almost certainly decide who advances.
MVP of the week
Jayden Daniels, quarterback, Washington Commanders. There is poise, a word thrown around to describe Daniels throughout his rookie season. And then there is the jaw-dropping spectacle of mental and physical domination he displayed in Washington’s commanding 45-31 win to oust the NFC’s top seed, the Detroit Lions. It was no surprise that Daniels waltzed into Ford Field brimming with confidence – after all, in the wildcard round he became the first rookie quarterback since 2012 to win a road playoff game. But how he was unfazed by the raucous crowd, how he remained aggressive, converting three of his four fourth-down attempts, how he made virtually zero mistakes … this is the stuff of legends.
Daniels finished the day with 299 yards, two touchdown throws and no turnovers. He added 51 yards on the ground. But the statline doesn’t tell the whole story. Daniels had an answer to everything Detroit’s hobbled defense threw at him. Washington’s punter was given the first-half off as drive-after-drive resulted in points. Each time the Lions answered, Daniels could have reverted to rookie mode and pressed or panicked. But Daniels is a rookie in name only.
He was particularly masterful against the blitz. And in the third quarter, when the Lions pulled within three, Daniels led a 15 play, 70-yard drive, the highlight of which was the quarterback converting a fourth-and-two with his legs.
Video of the week
When NFL officials are accused of favoritism toward a particular player or team, it often reeks of jealously. But there is no denying that the officiating crew working the Houston Texans-Kansas City Chiefs game made two of the worst calls you’ll ever see in a playoff game. Both favored Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
The first came on a Will Anderson Jr sack that was flagged for roughing the passer. Not only was it a clean sack, it was called on third and eight, which extended Kansas City’s drive and led to a field goal. Then in the third quarter, with the score Chiefs 13-12 Texans, Mahomes fumbled from his own 35 before he recovered and stood up untouched. Clearly a runner at this point, Mahomes gained nine yards and then danced around goading the Texans to touch him. Houston linebacker Henry To’o To’o did just that as Mahomes slid late. As referee Clay Martin announced the unnecessary roughness call on To’o To’o, Troy Aikman echoed most of humanity when he exclaimed, “Oh, come on.”
You can’t blame Mahomes for using every tool to his advantage, especially given the Texans’ punishing defense. But it didn’t make two massively botched calls easier to stomach.
The Chiefs took control in the fourth quarter and eventually won 23-14. CJ Stroud had an uneven game for the Texans, so perhaps the Chiefs would have won anyway. But the officials gifting Kansas City free momentum played a part in the final score.
Stat of the week
205. That was how many yards Saquon Barkley rushed for in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 28-22 win over the Los Angeles Rams. The lone bright spot for the Rams is that they won’t have to face Barkley again for a while. In Week 12, the running back collected 255 yards against the Rams, an Eagles franchise record. On Sunday, he added 205 more, along with two touchdowns. Both of Barkley’s touchdowns, a 62-yarder in the first and a game-sealing 78-yarder in the fourth, were masterpieces. Barkley’s passion, vision, and explosive speed were again on display during those runs, along with the Eagles offensive line at its best. According to NFL on Prime, Barkley now holds the NFL record for most touchdowns over 60 yards in a season, including playoffs (5).
“This is the reason I came here,” Barkley told reporters after the game. Inspired performances like Sunday’s are the reason that Barkley is beloved well beyond Philadelphia.
Elsewhere around the league
As expected, the Eagles offensive line was far superior to its Rams counterpart, but Sunday was still among the unit’s worst performances of the season. The Rams pass rush made some shrewd half-time adjustments and came out on fire in the second half. All told the Rams collected seven sacks. Philly’s line still showcased itself as the best-in-the-league at times, particularly on the two Barkley touchdown runs. But all told they were beaten more often than we’re used to seeing. Given Jalen Hurts’s struggles, this line is going to need to be phenomenal in all four quarters next Sunday.
The award for most disastrous unit of the divisional weekend goes to the Texans’ special teams. It started with Kris Boyd tearing off his helmet and shoving special teams coach Frank Ross. Then things got really bad. Houston’s special teams committed two penalties, missed two field goals and an extra point, allowed a long return, and had a terrible punt.
Not only do the Dallas Cowboys have to watch their division rivals duke it out for the NFC championship, but Washington’s win means that every other NFC team has made a conference championship appearance since the Cowboys last played in a title game in 1995.
Tom Brady has been largely panned in his first year as Fox’s lead analyst, but he came to play, eh, analyze the Lions-Commanders tilt. Brady was insightful throughout. In addition to being the first to point out 12 men on the field and predicting Zach Ertz’s touchdown, he delved into the intricacies of the running back-offensive line relationship. He’s still not on the same level as Greg Olsen but the improvement is noticeable.
