The Baltimore Ravens exited the NFL playoffs in the Divisional Round against the Buffalo Bills in a game that came down to the wire. Lamar Jackson had the opportunity to tie the game with just under two minutes remaining, but the Ravens failed to convert their two-point attempt.
Chris Simms Blames Lamar Jackson and Mark Andrews for Missed 2-Point Conversion
Pro Football Talk host Chris Simms was a guest with Kay Adams on the latter’s “Up & Adams Show,” discussing the Divisional Round games in their conversations.
The former NFL quarterback had issues with Jackson’s timing on their pivotal play. According to Simms, Jackson’s throw was both off-target and poorly timed as per the rhythm of the play. He made no bones about it in his analysis.
“It’s too late. Lamar Jackson’s making $55 million a year, and that ball needs to be on time. It was not accurate.”
“(Lamar) made it as HARD as it could possibly be for a WIDE OPEN (two-point conversion).”@CSimmsQB on why the Mark Andrews drop was more on Lamar Jackson than we think… 👀🔊@heykayadams @ravens | #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/6ZU35Jj18P
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) January 20, 2025
“Mark Andrews needs to catch it, don’t get me wrong. But Jackson is making $55 million a year. He double-clutched and threw it like a dart. And now there’s Mark Andrews, where it’s cold. He’s worried about getting in the end zone.”
Simms said that Todd Monken’s playcall was perfect because it resulted in the tight end getting open. However, it was the execution of the play with which he had a bone to pick.
What the NFL analyst pointed out was in line with what several other onlookers noted. Jackson did not have the best outing, though he kept the Ravens in the game.
Jackson had an interception in the first half, followed by a lost fumble on a subsequent drive. This allowed the Bills to build their all-important lead while preventing the Ravens from sticking to their vaunted ground game, from which they built an all-time great regular-season campaign.
The two mistakes came when Jackson was being pressured, resulting in a -0.52 EPA/DB when pressured, which ranks 15th of the 20 playoff performances so far. Nonetheless, Jackson ranked No. 1 for the regular season and the postseason in PFN’s QB+ metric.
Jackson lamented his lack of ball security during the postgame press conference. The Ravens quarterback knows and understands that Super Bowl contention windows can close all too soon.
