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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
Melissa Jacobs

Bills v Ravens was supposed to be about two stars. It was settled by a brutal drop

Mark Andrews’s drop effective ended the Ravens’ season.
Mark Andrews’s drop effectively ended the Ravens’ season. Photograph: Gregory Fisher/USA Today Sports

Josh Allen v Lamar Jackson was set to be an epic. The idea of this season’s MVP favorites sharing a field was chill inducing. Because whichever quarterback punctuated a brilliant individual season with a conference championship berth would do so because he outplayed his counterpart.

Then the actual game was played in snowy Buffalo. It turns out there’s so much more to a football game than the two men under center, even men as supremely talented as Allen and Jackson. Many will blame Jackson for Buffalo’s 27-25 win over the Ravens, especially as the weeks and months go on. They’ll credit Allen too. But neither player was the key factor in the outcome. It’s often the easy chances players don’t take rather than flashes of brilliance that decide games.

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