We correctly predicted the Ravens would need to hold the Buffalo Bills to 17 points in order to win. Unfortunately for Baltimore, the Ravens were completely throttled on offense by an ingenious mix of blitz pressure, running lane containment and zone pass coverage from Sean McDermott and his DC Leslie Frazier. The swirling winds at Orchard Park were the least of Lamar Jackson’s worries as he was reduced to throwing off his back foot at the last second in the pocket for most of the game.

In the end a 101-yard TD INT was the dagger in the Ravens’ 2020 season.

Taron Johnson’s pick-6 of Lamar Jackson’s pass with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter secured a 17-3 win over the Baltimore Ravens in a divisional-round playoff game Saturday night.

The interception return matched the longest in NFL history and punctuated a stellar defensive outing in which Buffalo (15-3) limited the NFL’s top running offense to 150 yards on 32 carries.

Jackson was sacked four times and did not return after being evaluated for a concussion following the final play of the third quarter, and two plays after Johnson scored.

Facing second-and-10 at Baltimore’s 25, center Patrick Mekari snapped the ball over Jackson’s head. The quarterback turned and chased the bouncing ball down inside the 5, turned and quickly threw it away as Tremaine Edmunds had him by the legs and Trent Murphy fell down on top of him.

Jackson’s injury left Tyler Huntley to finish the game after being promoted off the practice squad.

Buffalo’s defense took the pressure off of a Josh Allen-led offense that was limited to 223 yards offense, and made up for rookie kicker Tyler Bass missing two of three field goal attempts — a 43-yarder that was wide right in the second quarter and a 44-yarder that sailed wide left with 5:30 remaining.

The game was decided in the third quarter, when the Bills went up 10-3 on Allen’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs to cap an 11-play, 66-yard opening drive.

Jackson responded by marching the Ravens 66 yards on 15 plays before throwing the interception while facing third-and-goal from the 9. Johnson jumped in front of the pass intended for Mark Andrews and took off up the right sideline, following a lead block from Tre’Davious White.

Johnson wasn’t touched until a mob of Bills players jumped on his back and brought him down in the end zone.

The Bills advanced to the AFC championship game for the first time since 1994 on their way to making — and losing — their four consecutive Super Bowl appearance. Buffalo also extended a season in which it has broken numerous droughts by claiming its first AFC East division title in 25 years and, with last week’s victory over Indianapolis, winning its first postseason game since the same year.

The Bills will play the winner of the AFC’s other divisional playoff between Cleveland and Kansas City on Sunday.

Buffalo has won eight straight, matching its best streak since 1990. The 13 regular-season victories matched a franchise record set in both 1990 and ’91 in a season they set numerous single-season records on offense, including scoring 501 points.

The fifth-seeded Ravens (12-6) had their season come to an end after leading the NFL in yards rushing for a second consecutive year.

Baltimore clinched its third playoff berth in three years by winning its final five regular-season games. The winning streak came after a 1-4 skid capped by a 19-14 loss at Pittsburgh on Dec. 2 in a game rescheduled three times due to COVID-19 issues.

Matchup
1st Downs	19	17
Passing 1st downs	7	14
Rushing 1st downs	11	1
1st downs from penalties	1	2
3rd down efficiency	7-17	4-13
4th down efficiency	0-2	0-0
Total Plays	73	55
Total Yards	340	220
Total Drives	10	10
Yards per Play	4.7	4.0
Passing	190	188
Comp-Att	20-37	23-37
Yards per pass	4.6	4.8
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Sacks-Yards Lost	4-32	2-18
Rushing	150	32
Rushing Attempts	32	16
Yards per rush	4.7	2.0
Red Zone (Made-Att)	0-3	1-2
Penalties	8-59	2-11
Turnovers	1	0
Fumbles lost	0	0
Interceptions thrown	1	0
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	0	1
Possession	35:33	24:27