This was one of those games which come down to the old “Go For It or Kick the Field Goal?” question in the final minutes of play. Unfortunately for the Ravens, they did NOT choose to kick the FG.
With the score tied at 20 in the final quarter, the Ravens (2-2) had second down from the Buffalo 1-yard line. Two straight runs failed to reach the end zone, and Baltimore decided to go for it on fourth down from the 2.
Lamar Jackson had to scramble a bit, then threw a pass into the end zone that was intercepted by Jordan Poyer for a touchback with 4:09 remaining — a disastrous result for the Ravens because it meant the Bills (3-1) weren’t pinned deep like they would have been following an incompletion.
“Hindsight, you take the points,” Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. “But you look at it analytically, you’ll understand why we did it.”
Josh Allen drove the Bills down the field and Tyler Bass made a 21-yard field goal as time expired for a 23-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. Buffalo trailed 20-3 late in the second quarter. It was the largest comeback win for the Bills since they erased a 21-point deficit to beat New England in 2011.
It was the second straight home game in which Baltimore let a sizeable lead slip away. Miami rallied from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Ravens 42-38 two weekends earlier.
Buffalo’s past 20 regular-season victories had been by 10 or more points, matching an NFL record set by the Chicago Bears in the 1940s. That streak is over, but the Bills snapped a seven-game skid in games decided by seven points or fewer.
Allen threw for 213 yards and a touchdown with an interception, and Jackson passed for 144 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions. The matchup of star quarterbacks didn’t really live up to its potential on a rainy day near the Chesapeake Bay. Jackson and Allen did their usual damage with their legs but were largely limited to short completions.
J.K. Dobbins scored two early touchdowns for the Ravens, but they allowed a 4-yard touchdown pass from Allen to Isaiah McKenzie in the waning seconds of the first half to make it 20-10.
“Instead of going down 20-6 or 20-3, it’s 20-10,” Allen said. “So one stop away, we’re back in this thing.”
Buffalo controlled the third quarter and tied it on Allen’s 11-yard touchdown run. The Ravens didn’t do much offensively in the second half until Jackson led them from their own 5 all the way to Buffalo’s 1 in the fourth. It looked like Baltimore was poised to take the lead, but then it all went terribly wrong for the Ravens.
Buffalo had scored a touchdown on its opening possession in eight straight games, playoffs included, but that streak ended when Allen was intercepted in the first minute of the game. Dobbins opened the scoring with a 1-yard TD catch from Jackson, and after the Bills kicked a field goal, Dobbins ran 4 yards for a touchdown to cap a 15-play, 81-yard drive that took 9:08.
The Bills caught a break in the second quarter when Baltimore tight end Mark Andrews was called for offensive pass interference, negating a reception near the Buffalo goal line. The Ravens settled for a field goal and a 17-3 lead.
| Matchup |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Downs | 22 | 22 |
| Passing 1st downs | 14 | 7 |
| Rushing 1st downs | 7 | 13 |
| 1st downs from penalties | 1 | 2 |
| 3rd down efficiency | 4-11 | 6-13 |
| 4th down efficiency | 1-1 | 1-2 |
| Total Plays | 62 | 64 |
| Total Yards | 326 | 296 |
| Total Drives | 10 | 10 |
| Yards per Play | 5.3 | 4.6 |
| Passing | 201 | 134 |
| Comp-Att | 19-36 | 20-29 |
| Yards per pass | 5.4 | 4.3 |
| Interceptions thrown | 1 | 2 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost | 1-12 | 2-10 |
| Rushing | 125 | 162 |
| Rushing Attempts | 25 | 33 |
| Yards per rush | 5.0 | 4.9 |
| Red Zone (Made-Att) | 2-3 | 2-4 |
| Penalties | 4-31 | 9-70 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 2 |
| Fumbles lost | 1 | 0 |
| Interceptions thrown | 1 | 2 |
| Defensive / Special Teams TDs | 0 | 0 |
| Possession | 21:50 | 38:10 |
Game Leaders
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