Mark Andrews' brutal drop cemented his nightmare 4th quarter in Ravens' playoff loss
When all is said and done, Baltimore Ravens star tight end Mark Andrews will be remembered as one of the best tight ends of his generation. He’s a great blocker, a proficient receiver, and one of the core pieces for a Ravens team that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Unfortunately, he’s probably never going to forget his woeful fourth quarter against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Let’s head to the mid-fourth quarter. With Lamar Jackson’s Ravens trying to mount a comeback, Andrews caught a wide-open pass in the middle of the field. Rather than go down or simply run straight ahead and get tackled, Andrews tried to juke Bills defenders after his big gain.
This left him susceptible to a fumble, where Buffalo linebacker Terrel Bernard quickly obliged:
Terrel Bernard forces it.
Terrel Bernard recovers it.@BuffaloBills ball!: #BALvsBUF on CBS
: Stream on @NFLPlus and Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/mAjj3dp0Ms— NFL (@NFL) January 20, 2025
Still, the Ravens weren’t done. After the Bills settled for a field goal on their ensuing possession to make the score 27-19, Jackson pulled off some remarkable wizardry on an 88-yard touchdown drive capped off by tight end Isaiah Likely.
This is where the Ravens needed a two-point conversion to tie the game up. They ended up a perfect play, with Andrews finding himself wide open near the far pylon. Except … he dropped it.
For all intents and purposes, this sequence was the end of the Ravens’ season. What a brutal turn of events for the tight end:
The two-point conversion is no good
: #BALvsBUF on CBS
: Stream on @NFLPlus and Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/s1DAo0tdm1— NFL (@NFL) January 20, 2025
Again, Andrews has been a perennial Pro Bowl tight end for this iteration of the Ravens. He’s been a good soldier and usually made the smart and tough play whenever they’ve needed it. You genuinely have to appreciate guys like this on football teams, making ends like this feel even worse.
While the Bills officially move onto the AFC title game against the Kansas City Chiefs next week, you have to feel for Andrews, who might have had a Ravens conference championship weekend appearance go right through his grasp.