ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Tight end Mark Andrews dropped a would-be game-tying 2-point conversion with less than two minutes remaining, and quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Ravens watched another promising season end in playoff heartbreak Sunday night, falling to the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round, 27-25.

Jackson passed for 254 yards and two touchdowns and added six carries for 39 yards, but after he found tight end Isaiah Likely on a 24-yard touchdown with 1:33 remaining, Andrews couldn’t control his wide-open pass near the goal line.

Jackson had two of the second-seeded Ravens’ three turnovers inside a frigid Highmark Stadium, underscoring a night of costly mistakes. The Ravens outgained the second-seeded Bills 417-273, but they could not sustain the dominance that had propelled them to a Week 4 win over Buffalo and Super Bowl hopes entering the playoffs.

Jackson fell to 3-5 as a starter in the playoffs, with almost as many turnovers (11) as total touchdowns (13). The Ravens have advanced to just one AFC championship game in his seven years in Baltimore. The Bills, who also defeated the Ravens in the divisional round four years ago, will play the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs in the conference final next Sunday.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen, a favorite along with Jackson for NFL Most Valuable Player honors, went 16-for-22 for 127 yards. But he added 10 carries for 20 yards and two touchdowns that gave the Bills a substantial first-half lead.

Running back Derrick Henry finished with 16 carries for 84 yards. Wide receiver Rashod Bateman had three catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. Andrews had four catches for 42 yards, but he lost a fumble midway through the fourth quarter near midfield as the Ravens were going for a potential go-ahead score. The Ravens also were charged for 33 more penalty yards than Buffalo.

The Ravens closed what had been an 11-point deficit with a dominant third quarter. A 47-yard field goal by kicker Justin Tucker and a 5-yard touchdown run by Henry gave the Ravens a shot at tying the game at 21, but Jackson’s pass on a 2-point try was batted down.

Jackson, one of the NFL’s most turnover-averse quarterbacks in the regular season, mixed flashes of brilliance with head-scratching giveaways in the first half. After finding Bateman on a 16-yard touchdown to open the game, he overshot the wideout on the next drive on a deep pass. Safety Taylor Rapp’s interception was only the fifth pick Jackson threw this season.

On the Ravens’ next drive, Jackson had the offense in field goal range, looking for a go-ahead score. But he stumbled as he tried to avoid a sack by safety Damar Hamlin, and the ball slipped from his grasp. Bills defensive end Von Miller scooped up the fumble and returned it to the Ravens’ 24. Four plays later, Buffalo had a 14-7 lead.

The Ravens had a chance to tie the game on their next drive, but they had to settle for a field goal after earning first-and-goal at the Bills’ 2-yard line. The Ravens’ defense offered no respite. Buffalo burned off all but a few seconds of the first-half clock with a nine-play, 70-yard touchdown drive capped by Allen’s second end-zone plunge. The Ravens’ 21-10 halftime deficit was their biggest all season.

More of the same

For the second straight year, the Ravens left more points on the board than they could afford. Last year, they had an elite defensive effort negated by an anemic offense. On Sunday, they had a solid defensive performance negated by an offense that faltered in the red zone and couldn’t take care of the ball.

I’m not here to convince you whether this performance is some indictment of quarterback Lamar Jackson’s playoff bona fides. He was the best player on the field for large stretches Sunday night. He also had two bad turnovers in a cold, unforgiving environment and against one of the NFL’s most turnover-happy defenses. The Ravens needed to win this game on the margins, and they couldn’t.

— Jonas Shaffer, Ravens reporter

The narrative continues …

The evil playoff Ravens showed up again. Lamar Jackson, who took good care of the ball for most of the season, threw an interception and fumbled. Center Tyler Linderbaum, who has been so steady, had bad snaps. Tight end Mark Andrews, who has been Mr. Reliable through the second half of the season, dropped passes and fumbled at the most important moments. The defense pulled things together, much as it did last year against the Chiefs, but it needed to shut the Bills down instead of containing them with the way the offense was playing. And so the Ravens lose in the final minutes yet again.

– Giana Han, Ravens reporter

Andrews, Jackson can’t change playoff legacy

In 2019, it was the ball that bounced through his hands and was snatched out of the air in a shocking loss to the Tennessee Titans. On Sunday in Buffalo, it was a fumble with less than nine minutes left, then a dropped pass on what would have been a game-tying 2-point conversion. Mark Andrews, who hasn’t caught a touchdown in eight career playoff games, came up small at the worst possible time.

The quarterback wasn’t blameless. Lamar Jackson’s fumble and interception were pivotal in allowing Buffalo to build a first-half lead. Andrews came into the league with Jackson in 2018, and the two could one day go into the Ravens’ Ring of Honor together. But their inability to win in the playoffs will haunt them for at least one more year.

– Paul Mancano, Banner Ravens Podcast co-host

Turnovers are everything

This performance can’t convince me that Josh Allen deserves MVP. But, of the two quarterbacks, he definitely hurt his team far less than Lamar Jackson. With short and intermediate throws and his bruising runs, Allen rarely manufactured highlights, but he was steady and trustworthy with the ball.

It’s maddening that Jackson, who had four picks during the regular season, can’t seem to be his regular self when that’s all that is needed of him. Playing from behind forced Derrick Henry off the field late. It put more of the impetus on the passing game, which was shaky without Zay Flowers. It put the defense, which was very good in the second half, in terrible positions with awful field position. Turnovers are everything in the playoffs, and the Ravens let everything slip through their fingers.

— Kyle Goon, columnist

This story has been updated.