Last year following their loss in the AFC Championship game, Ravens HC said that his players should walk out “with their heads held high.” The idea was to keep the spirits up for a team that had reached its first conference title game since 2012, with the hope that they would improve to go one better in the next season. However, following their divisional round defeat to the Bills, Harbaugh was left harping more of the same tune while highlighting his side’s shortcomings in crunch situations.

A tight encounter saw the Bills emerge victorious 27-25 on Sunday to set up a mouth-watering clash with the Chiefs in the conference championship game. The game was decided on fine margins, with the Bills playing a largely error-free game to come out on top. Ravens, on the other hand, were forced into mistakes that ultimately cost them a rematch against the Chiefs. The Bills forced the Ravens into three turnovers, while the Bills didn’t give the Ravens one.

Speaking after the game, Harbaugh was left to lament his side’s failure to turn up on the day. Harbaugh said, “We didn’t win this game this morning of course. It’s a big game, but we didn’t end up doing the things we needed to do to win the game. We played well enough to win, but we didn’t make the plays we needed to.”

The turnovers forced by the Bills were turned into 10 points in the eventual two-point win. The Ravens’ defense, which had been the team’s strength since Week 11, just couldn’t make enough plays. They did hold Josh Allen to just 127 passing yards, but they couldn’t keep him out of the end zone as he rushed for two touchdowns, including a backbreaker in the second quarter.

The Ravens won 12 games in the season and seemed to be on track for another crack at the conference championship game but fell short. In addition to the costly turnovers, untimely penalties also proved to be their undoing. Failure to take advantage of clear opportunities also cost them dear. With the score 21-19 in the third quarter, they missed the chance to level the game.

While this defeat, like the one to the Chiefs nearly a year ago, will hurt, Harbaugh had reason to look back on the season with pride. During his presser, he lauded the team’s commitment. “I’m proud of our football team, proud of the season. I told these guys in the locker room to hold their heads high because they did everything that a football team can do to be the best football team that they can be throughout the course of a season – a resilient team, a tough team; a team that faced every challenge and just fought and stayed together and worked hard and made the most of every single day.”

Ravens will need to address their offensive line issues in the offseason and that is where they face a challenge. Three of the Ravens’ top six offensive linemen — starters Ronnie Stanley, Patrick Mekari and reserve Josh Jones — are free agents. Bringing in young and talented offensive players has been the mantra for them for years and we would expect that to continue.

Lamar Jackson had a mixed night as well. He threw for 254 yards and was the driving force behind the Ravens staying in the game for long periods, but two turnovers in the first half, one of which led to a Josh Allen touchdown, left his side with a mountain to climb early on.

Meanwhile, Harbaugh was also quick to defend TE Mark Andrews whose costly drop ultimately led to the end of their season. On Baltimore’s final drive of the game, they were trailing  27-19 with 1:33 left to play. Lamar Jackson found tight end Isaiah Likely in the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown strike, meaning they needed a two-point conversion to tie the game.

However, the usually reliable Andrews fumbled the ball after finding himself open at the one-yard line. This summed up the Ravens’ night, as they were the architects of much of their own downfall. But Harbaugh refused to blame Andrews.

“There’s nobody that has more heart and cares more and fights more than Mark. We wouldn’t be here without Mark Andrews. That’s what you say to him… Mark will handle it fantastically like he always does because he’s a high-character person,” he said. Before the game-deciding mistake, Andrews had a largely forgetful outing. During the Ravens’ previous possession, he received the ball from Jackson and made a move before having the ball punched out of his arms. The Bills went on to hit a field goal, making it an eight-point game with 3:29 remaining. Still, it would be harsh to take away the credit from the Bills, especially for their defensive display.

The Bills held Ravens’ running back Derick Henry to 84 rushing yards. The Ravens’ offense rushed for 176 yards on 20 carries as the Bills’ defense proved to be the game-changer. Their strategy of blitzing Jackson on 13 of 31 dropbacks (42%) and pressuring him on eight of those dropbacks, also paid off.

The defeat would have hurt Lamar Jackson a little more. He was going up against Josh Allen in the battle of two MVP-contending QBs and safe to say he wasn’t happy about being on the losing side.

Lamar Jackson critiques his performance as MVP chances remain in balance

Speaking after the game, Jackson was unhappy with how the game unfolded and criticized his own performance. “In the first half, I had two costly turnovers. Me not holding the safety, me just knowing the coverage and knowing it was man [coverage], I threw a B.S. interception. It was 7-7 at the time. I believe they scored after that.”

Jackson had come into the game looking to prove his MVP credentials on the big stage. But the Bills’ limited his play as Allen shone brighter.

The NFL MVP Awards will be declared on February 6, 2024, in New Orleans and the race included two favorite contestants, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen. Though Lamar has already been awarded the MVP trophy two times (1st in 2019 and 2nd in 2023), he did his best to add a third this time.

Jackson, apart from being No. 1 in the QB rating, has thrown four interceptions and 4172 yards for 41 TDs. That’s exceptional, right? But if we look at Josh Allen’s stats, though he has fewer passing touchdowns, he has thrice as many rushing TDs as Jackson, with 12. His technical stats are great too. Allen has 1.1% interceptions on dropbacks and a 1.2% turnover rate. Josh Allen has the votes and hearts of many to win too, as the general sentiment is ‘he has never won the award’.

Though the MVP voting deadline has passed and the divisional game will not have any impact on the race, Jackson is left with regret over not making the most of this opportunity. He remains in contention for the MVP award, but something tells us he would have gladly swapped it for a Super Bowl.