Bills’ biggest strength leaves Lamar Jackson ‘tired of this s—t’

Buffalo continued to dominate the turnover battle in the NFL divisional round.

The Buffalo Bills are off to the AFC Championship Game, thanks in large part due to their ability to dominate the turnover battle.

Sunday’s win over the Baltimore Ravens saw the Bills register three takeaways, while simultaneously not given the ball away once. In a 27-25 game, that proved to be the decisive difference between the two teams.

For Buffalo, it was more of the same. The Bills have now won the turnover battle in 14 of their 19 games this season, and are 12-2 in those contests over the course of the year. They have turned the ball over only once in their last eight games, and their combined +27 turnover differential is by far the best mark among the four teams still competing for the Super Bowl.

“We were able to get some turnovers, some key takeaways that were important,” said head coach Sean McDermott after the game. “Cashed in on some of those. Probably not enough at the end of the day, and we’ll go back and look at it.”

The Bills’ first takeaway came in the first quarter, when a Lamar Jackson deep ball went off the mark and was intercepted by safety Taylor Rapp. They did not turn the opportunity into points during what was a 7-7 contest at the time, but the takeaway was able to halt Baltimore’s offensive momentum after an impressive opening series.

One drive later, the Ravens again gave the ball away. Jackson tried to make something happen after a high snap, but ended up fumbling the football on a Damar Hamlin tackle.

This time, following a Von Miller recovery and return, the offense cashed in. Josh Allen found the end zone four plays later to put Buffalo up 14-7.

Despite those two early turnovers, the Ravens remained in the race and were down just two points entering the fourth quarter. That deficit increased to five on a 51-yard Tyler Bass field goal, but Baltimore was still in a position to take the lead on a touchdown at that point.

That was until Buffalo’s defense rose to the occasion a third time, taking advantage of a Mark Andrews fumble. Terrel Bernard knocked the ball out of Andrews’ hand after a 16-yard catch, and jumped onto it for the third turnover of the day.

Once again, the Bills capitalized on the Ravens’ miscue. Not only did they add another field goal, they also used over five minutes of game time in the process, leaving their opponent with only 3:29 on the clock in what was now an eight-point game.

That deficit proved too big for Baltimore to overcome, with the game eventually ending on an unsuccessful two-point attempt. The outcome, and the events that led to it, left Lamar Jackson unsurprisingly frustrated at the postgame podium.

“Every time we’re in situations like this, turnovers play a factor, penalties play a factor. Tonight, it was turnovers,” explained the MVP frontrunner. “We can’t have that s—t, and that’s why we lost the game. As you can see, we’re moving the ball wonderfully. Just hold onto the f—king ball. I’m sorry for my language, but this s—t is annoying. I’m tired of this s—t.”

Whereas the Ravens are left to play a game of “What could have been?” the Bills are on to another playoff meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Their ability to limit their own mistakes while capitalizing on their opponent’s is a big reason for that. It also is something Buffalo will have to rely on once again in order to unseat the two-time reigning world champions at Arrowhead Stadium.