It happened in a New York minute.
With 58 seconds remaining in the third quarter on Saturday night, the Ravens were 9 meters to tie the scoring. When that time expired, the Bills had no chance of losing.
Taron Johnson stepped in front of Lamar Jackson’s third-pass pass to the end zone and returned his 101-yard interception for the biggest play of the Bills’ 17-3 win against the Ravens in an AFC Divisional Round playoff game in front of 6,700 turbulent fans. Johnson overtook fast Jackson from the sideline and through 16 mph intermittent winds.
“Emotions are still flying,” said striker Dion Dawkins shortly before midnight. “It’s a party here. Guys are excited. It will hit in half an hour, when the guys get in the car we are [one] game away from the big show. “
Johnson, a third-year Weber State player with two interceptions in his first 41 career games, disguised his place in the lower zone and read Jackson’s eyes while looking at Andrews.
“They always tell us to look at the quarterback’s view, especially when we’re in the zone,” said Johnson. “It will take you where you want to be.”
The devastating turn of events only multiplied two moves later. The Ravens had problems with snaps throughout the game and a flying ball over Jackson’s head in the shotgun sent him fighting towards his own finishing zone.
Jackson took the ball and threw it out of bounds while being dragged down, exchanging an intentional grounding penalty on the 2-yard line to avoid a touchdown or safety.
The biggest problem? The 2019 NFL MVP suffered a concussion in the quarter final crazy move and did not return to the game.
“Whenever he falls,” said Andrews, “you know he’s feeling something.”
Novice quarterback Tyler Huntley had no chance to make things interesting. In the fourth to 9th, with 6:39 remaining, he knocked over a Marquise Brown in what would have been a 71-yard touchdown.
“It was a heckuva move,” said coach Jim Harbaugh. “I think the wind pushed him a little bit from behind.”
Four minutes later, Huntley made a foul when bouncy Mark Andrews failed to secure a high pass in the fourth for the goal.
Despite compiling only 220 yards of total attack and 16 first descents, the Bills are going into the AFC Championship game for the first time since January 1994, the last of their four consecutive appearances, due to a surprisingly dominant defensive performance (four sacks ) against a Ravens attack averaging 34.6 points per game over the previous six. Buffalo will host the Browns or visit the Chiefs next weekend.
This was the fourth playoff game since 2000 with no touchdowns in the first half. The kickers combined to score 2 of 6 field goals.
Justin Tucker of the Ravens – the most accurate kicker in NFL history – missed two field goals for the first time since 2018. But both attempts were over 50 yards. Never before in a nine-year career had he failed twice within 50.
“We weren’t able to finish the records the way we needed to,” said Harbaugh.
Each team had only one full possession in the third quarter.
The Bills kicked off and drove 66 yards in 11 moves for the tiebreaker touchdown on a unit that had more run runs (four) than the entire first half (three). With better play-call balance, Allen launched a wide receiver screen for Stefon Diggs, who went low and sailed through traffic for a 3-yard touchdown.
The Ravens responded with an eight-minute drive to the Bills’ 9-yard line. Under pressure, Jackson skipped a pass for an open Brown when the potential tied touchdown turned into incompleteness. The interception came on the next move – 15 in possession.
“Taron Johnson will be remembered for a long time here in Buffalo,” said quarterback Josh Allen. “One of those potentially altering pieces of the franchise.”