It happened in a minute from New York.
With 58 seconds left in the third quarter on Saturday night, Ravens was 9 meters away from tying the score. When the time expired, the bills had no chance of losing.
Taron Johnson stepped in front of Lamar Jackson’s third pass to the final zone and returned his 101-yard interception for the biggest piece of Bills’ 17-3 win over the Ravens in a playoff game AFC Divisional Round in front of 6,700 fans. Johnson exceeded Jackson’s speed on the sidelines and with intermittent winds of 16 mph.
“Emotions are still flying,” spokesman Dion Dawkins said shortly before midnight. “It’s a party here. The boys are excited. It will take place in half an hour when the boys get in their car that we are [one] game away from the big show. ”
Johnson, a third-year Weber State player with two interceptions in the first 41 games of his career, disguised his place in the area below and read Jackson’s eyes as he watched Andrews.
“They always tell us to look at the defender’s vision, especially when we’re in the area,” Johnson said. “It will take you where you want to be.”
The devastating tower of events multiplied only two pieces later. Ravens had trouble with the shots throughout the game and a ball over Jackson’s head in the rifle sent him to his own end zone.
Jackson took the ball out and threw it out of bounds as he was dragged down, trading an intentional grounding penalty at the 2-meter line to avoid a touchdown or safety.
The bigger problem? The 2019 NFL MVP suffered a concussion at the crazy final game of the quarter and did not return to the game.
“He comes down anytime,” Andrews said, “you know he feels something.”
Tyler Huntley, the uninterrupted novice defender, had two chances to make things interesting. On the fourth and 9th, with 6:39 left, he overturned an awning Brown, which was a sure shot of 71 meters.
“It was a heckuva throw,” said coach Jim Harbaugh. “I think the wind pushed her back a little.”
Four minutes later, Huntley threw a failure when a jump Andrew Marks could not provide a great pass to the fourth and goal.
Despite compiling just 220 meters of total offense and 16 first downs, the Bills are heading to the AFC Championship game for the first time since January 1994, the last of four consecutive appearances, due to a surprisingly dominant defensive performance ( four sacks) against a Ravens offense, which averaged 34.6 points per game over the previous six. Buffalo will either host the Browns or visit the Chiefs next weekend.
This was the fourth playoff game of 2000, with no touchdowns in the first half. The Kickers combined to score 2-of-6 field goals.
Ravens’ Justin Tucker – the most accurate kicker in NFL history – missed two field goals in a game for the first time in 2018. But both attempts were from 50 yards out. Never before, in a nine-year career, has he missed twice out of 50.
“We failed to finish the leads as we needed to,” Harbaugh said.
Each team got one complete possession in the third quarter.
Bills took the lead and led 66 yards on 11 games for the touchdown on a unit that featured more rushed games (four) than the entire first half (three). With a better balance of game calls, Allen threw a wide screen receiver to Stefon Diggs, who got low traffic and sailed for a 3-meter touchdown.
The Ravens responded with an eight-minute ride to Bills’ 9-foot line. Under pressure, Jackson jumped a pass to an open Brown, as the potential equalizing touchdown turned into an incomplete one. The interception came to the next piece – 15 from possession.
“Taron Johnson will be remembered for a long time here in Buffalo,” said quarterback Josh Allen. “One of those pieces that can change the franchise.”