With the game on the line, Baltimore Ravens star Mark Andrews dropped the ball as he fell back into the end zone for what would have been a two-point conversion to tie the game against Buffalo Bills on Sunday night.
In a harrowing moment for the tight end, the ball inexplicably slipped out of his hands in the snow and bobbled out of bounds, leaving the Bills with a two-point lead with just a minute and 33 seconds on the clock. From there, there was no going back as the Bills won 27-25.
It was heartbreaking way for the Ravens to lose the game after Lamar Jackson had hauled his team up the field with a glorious eight-play, 88-yard touchdown drive to seemingly take the game to the death.
Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs lie in wait for Josh Allen and the Bills, who head to Arrowhead Stadium to play next Sunday night in a blockbuster showdown for a place in the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
But for Andrews, it is a moment he might well be remembered for for the rest of his career. It really was that bad.
As the shell-shocked tight end took his seat back on the sidelines, his Ravens teammates were gathering around him and offering him support.
Mark Andrews dropped a pass with a two-point conversion at his mercy to tie the game
It was a devastating way for the Baltimore Ravens and Andrews to lose the game
With the game on the line, Lamar Jackson found Andrews but the ball slipped from his grasp
What they can say to lift him up, only they know. From there, the Ravens had no way back against the Bills at a euphoric Highmark Stadium.
Moments earlier, Andrews had threatened to derail the game for his team with a shocking fumble. After reeling in a Lamar Jackson dart, Andrews darted back in on himself before Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard punched the ball from his grasp.
‘I saw him cut back and really all I saw was the ball,’ a jubilant Bernard said on the field after the game.
‘These conditions, the ball is wet. We spoke all week about making sure we attack the ball.’
The Bills were repelled by the Ravens defense and could only kick a field goal, meaning Jackson and his men needed eight points to tie the game.
Jackson found Isaiah Likely for the touchdown and then seemed to have put it on a plate for the normally reliable Andrews, but with the game on the line the tight end lost the ball.
Andrews had four drops all year, two of them in the game against the Bills. Maybe the earlier incident with Bernard had rattled him. Only he can say. It was only the second fumble of his career.
‘We wouldn’t be here without Mark Andrews,’ Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in the aftermath. ‘Nobody has more heart or fights more than Mark. Mark will handle it fantastic, like he always does. It’s football.’
Andrews pictured in the warmup before the gripping game against the Bills on Sunday
Lamar Jackson was in no mood for blaming teammate Andrews in the aftermath of the loss
Lamar Jackson was in no mood to blame Andrews either, saying: ‘I’m just as hurt as Mark.
‘He has been battling all season. I’m not going to put that on Mark.’
For the Bills, attention now sharply turns to the AFC Championship showdown against the Chiefs next Sunday night in what will be a blistering atmosphere at Arrowhead.
The Chiefs knocked the Bills out of the playoffs last season but the Bills won against the Chiefs at Highmark earlier in the regular season.
But the Chiefs in the playoffs is a different proposition, especially with Travis Kelce returning to his finest form in Saturday’s win over Houston Texans.
