OTL: Andrews’ Drop Bring Back Memories of Lee Evans

It’s a dark day in Baltimore. The Ravens lost to the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round. Something that ended up being a problem that nobody saw coming was the run defense.

Kyle Hamilton said the Ravens weren’t physical enough.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) January 20, 2025

This is a fair assessment from the Ravens All Pro safety. The Bills carried a two score lead into the second half with Josh Allen barely having to do anything in the air. The run defense couldn’t prevent James Cook from getting a full head of steam. It wasn’t until the second half until the Ravens stepped up in this regard.

Of course the final blow was the two point try that failed to tie the game because Mark Andrews couldn’t haul in a wide open pass. As our account posted, it was the perfect bookend to a season that ended with Isaiah Likely‘s toe.

Perfect bookends to the 2024 Ravens season pic.twitter.com/bG1frNYoOs

— Russell St. Report (@RussellStReport) January 20, 2025

The difference between the season opener loss and this one from the tight end position perspective is that Likely’s near winning play was an incredible effort that just saw his toe fall out of bounds. Andrews just blew his opportunity to be the hero. Especially after his earlier costly fumble.

Mike Preston gave a middling grade to Lamar Jackson in his Baltimore Sun article:

Lamar Jackson is now 3-5 in the postseason, and his turnovers were costly in the first half of the game. One resulted in a Buffalo touchdown. Jackson played well in the second half and had the Ravens in position to tie the game, but tight end Mark Andrews’ fumble at midfield led to a Buffalo field goal and his dropped pass on a 2-point conversion attempt inside the final two minutes was their last offensive play in a two-point loss. Jackson was 18 of 25 passing for 254 yards and two touchdowns and finished with a passer rating of 114.4. But he can’t play so poorly in the first half of a game, especially on the road where the crowd is a factor.

Grade C

I would give Jackson a B myself. Things happen on the road in the playoffs. I thought Jackson keeping his composure was a big part of why the Ravens ended up even having a chance. His touchdown strikes were beautiful daggers through the tough and cold air. I think Jackson did okay but it certainly wasn’t his best day at the office.

This play has barely been talked about since the event after it was so devastating

Absolutely magical stuff from Lamar Jackson and Isaiah Likely in the biggest moment of the game

pic.twitter.com/md72NjopqT

— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) January 20, 2025

This pass to Likely was certainly something to talk about. Jackson certainly didn’t lay an egg though.

This meme captures  a lot of where fans are in a nutshell. I myself feel oddly numb, like the pain is going to get deeper later.

Good morning pic.twitter.com/8jL00HeUCI

— Ravens Nation ð™‡ð™„ð™‘𙀠(@LIVERavenNation) January 20, 2025

A slice of NFL history: The only two rookie QBs ever to beat a No. 1 seed in the playoffs are now Joe Flacco, whose Ravens beat the Titans in 2009, and Jayden Daniels, whose Commanders upset the Lions on Saturday night. pic.twitter.com/GLebFE6Nsa

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 20, 2025

It’s not a bad day across the beltway. The Washington Commanders are heading to the NFC title game to play the Philadelphia Eagles. Jayden Daniels made some history that puts him up there with Joe Flacco in NFL playoffs lore. It must be a number 5 thing. The Lions certainly didn’t see it coming.

Back home, Robert Griffin III came to the defense of his former teammates Mark Andrews and Lamar Jackson.

Lamar Jackson did not lose the Baltimore Ravens the game. Mark Andrews did not lose the Baltimore Ravens the game. The Baltimore Ravens lost the game as a team. Some of Lamar’s biggest attackers are trying to come to his defense by trashing his teammate. That’s very low.

— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) January 20, 2025

While I’ll give Lamar a little bit of a break as I’ve mentioned, it’s hard to give Andrews such grace. The fumble was bad. The drop was devastating. But that being said there were a lot of mistakes in this game and Griffin III has a point. It’s never just one thing and we have to remember these players are people first. Griffin’s comments do need to be heard for that reason.

The Ravens’ worst drop since Lee Evans.

pic.twitter.com/nClrdgf1wr

— Baltimore Memes (@BaltimoreMemes) January 20, 2025

Is this really a Lee Evans moment though? Evans did nothing else to paint his legacy with the Ravens. He will forever be known in Baltimore solely for that drop. Andrews has a long history and will do much more for this team. When you look at Andrews you see a player who just had his worst moment but he’s still one of the best tight ends in football. I don’t think this qualifies as an Evans moment but it is a drop that causes similar feelings of despair.

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