Buffalo Bills top Baltimore Ravens will play for the AFC title

ORCHARD PARK, NY — Josh Allen ran for two touchdowns and the Buffalo Bills defeated Lamar Jackson and a turnover-prone Baltimore Ravens team 27-25 in the AFC divisional round on Sunday.

Baltimore, which turned the ball over three times in the loss, had a chance to tie the game in the final two minutes, but tight end Mark Andrews dropped a pass from Jackson on a 2-point conversion attempt. Andrews also lost a fumble earlier in the fourth quarter.

“No one cares more and fights more than Mark,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said of Andrews. “We wouldn’t be here without Mark Andrews.

“It’s like anything else: Destiny is a decision you make and how you handle what comes in life. And Mark will handle it great.”

Now, the Bills will take on Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in Kansas City next Sunday in the AFC Championship Game for their fourth playoff appearance in five years. The Chiefs have defeated the Bills three straight in the playoffs, including the conference title game four years ago in Kansas City.

Allen scored on runs of 1 yard and 4 yards, while Ray Davis also scored on a 1-yard carry for Buffalo. Tyler Bass hit both field goal attempts, including a 21-yarder with 3:29 left after the Bills stalled at Baltimore’s 2-yard line. That drive was set in motion on the Ravens’ third turnover when linebacker Terrel Bernard stripped the ball from Andrews at Buffalo’s 44-yard line.

The Bills continued to play 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.

It continued Sunday with a turnover-free game from Allen and the Bills, who were just fine on a field slick with a dusting of snow. As a result, the Bills closed with a perfect 10-0 record at home. That included a 30-21 win over the previously undefeated Chiefs in Week 11.

“We’re excited. (There’s) a lot of pride in that locker room. We don’t listen to the outside noise,” Allen said. “Everybody said this and that about us. Our guys continue to work hard. We’re internally driven.”

The Ravens had one of the NFL’s most productive offenses in the regular season, but lacked a win to reach the conference title game, which they lost to the Chiefs a year ago. Scrutiny of Jackson’s playoff performance will only increase as he fell to 3-5 in the postseason. He had two first-half turnovers in that loss, throwing an interception and losing a fumble. Overall, Baltimore fell to 5-8 in the divisional round, including 1-4 in its last five appearances.

“At the end of the day,” Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton said, “the chips didn’t fall our way.”

The Chiefs (16-2, including the playoffs) sat back and watched it all after coming away with a 23-14 victory over the visiting Houston Texans on Saturday. Mahomes threw for 177 yards and a touchdown to Travis Kelce, who had seven catches for 117 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching with WNBA star Caitlin Clark from a suite.

It will be the seventh consecutive AFC Championship game for Mahomes, Andy Reid and the Chiefs. They have gone 4-2 and have won three Super Bowls, including two in a row. Kansas City aims to become the first team to three-peat in the Super Bowl era.

The Bills (15-4) are 4-2 in AFC title games but 0-4 in the Super Bowl — with all of their losses coming in consecutive seasons from 1990 to 1993.

According to ESPN BET, Buffalo opened as a 1-point underdog in the AFC Championship Game and the total opened at 48.5 points.

“We gave our defense a chance to make a play,” Allen said of Sunday’s win. “We made a play there at the end. I’m just so proud of our guys.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.