Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson made the critical mistake of Saturday’s game in an AFC Divisional Round clash against the Buffalo Bills, throwing a pick-six in the red zone that, in essence, cost his team the game.
Jackson was obviously pressing and knew Baltimore needed a touchdown to tie the score. Unfortunately, his errant throw resulted in a trip to the end zone for Bills cornerback Taron Johnson instead.
Lamar Jackson throws pick-6 to Taron Johnson
Thanks to the Bills’ official Twitter account, there was video of the fateful play, which proved very costly to Baltimore’s hopes of victory and made the score 17-3:
Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman was doing Jackson few favors throughout the evening, failing to adjust to the circumstances or fully capitalizing on the reigning NFL MVP’s skill set.
Jackson was making things happen all evening with his arm by extending plays and finding receivers on scramble drills, even as Baltimore’s reliable rushing attack wasn’t producing as much.
Unfortunately, that didn’t last, as Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier ultimately outfoxed Roman and Jackson on this occasion, resulting in a 101-yard play the other way.
Roman did have a good play designed to Ravens receiver Marquise Brown on the previous down. The wideout came streaking across Jackson’s face wide open on a crossing route. Frazier had dialed some serious pressure up the middle, though, which prevented Jackson from completing the easy score to Brown, which, if the extra point were successful, would’ve tied the score at 10.
Once Baltimore went down by two scores, the outcome was all but decided. Even worse, an errant snap led Jackson to chase the ball down near his own end zone, and he slammed his head on the Bills Stadium turf. The Ravens later announced he’d entered concussion protocol and was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the night.
Jackson finished with 34 yards on nine carries, completed 14 of 24 passes for 162 yards and the interception. He was sacked three times.