The tide turned quickly against the Baltimore Ravens in Buffalo in the second half.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson left the contest near the end of the third quarter after his head slammed to the turf. A wild snap forced Jackson to scurry to the loose pigskin. Jackson scooped up the ball and threw it away, but was taken down with his head bouncing off the ground. The QB was called for intentional grounding on the play.
Jackson entered the concussion protocol and was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the contest, the team announced.
The Ravens trailed 17-3 at the time of Jackson's injury. The score remain unchanged as the Bills advanced to the AFC Championship Game for the first time since the 1993 season.
"I'm not frustrated at all. He was in the concussion protocol. He had a concussion and was ruled out with a concussion. That's where it stands, " coach John Harbaugh said afterward about Jackson and the season-ending loss.
Tyler Huntley took over for Jackson. He completed 6-of-13 attempts for 60 yards and carried the ball three times for 32 yards.
One of his most impressive plays came on a 36-yard incompletion to Marquise Brown, a pass that could've resulted in a deficit-cutting touchdown but instead led to a turnover on downs with 6:42 left in regulation.
"He did a good job," Harbaugh said of Huntley. "Probably the wind might've pushed that ball late there, we had that fourth-down play that just kinda got out of Marquise's grasp. That was a heck of a throw, you know, I think the wind pushed it from behind just a little bit. But, he made some scramble plays, handled it, in terms of managing things and orchestrating and really a challenging situation 'cause we were under a time constraint there, trying to move it as fast as we could. I thought he did a nice job."
Jackson's injury came just two plays after Jackson threw a 101-yard pick-six to Bills corner Taron Johnson. Trailing 10-3, the interception wiped out a chance for Baltimore to pull even. Jackson getting injured immediately after going down two scores added salt to the wound.
Before exiting, Jackson completed 14-of-24 passes in a brisk wind for 162 yards, took three sacks, and threw the pick. Jackson added nine runs for 34 yards. The Ravens generated 14 first downs through three quarters.
Huntley appeared in two games this season, completing 3-of-5 attempts for 15 yards and adding 10 rush attempts for 23 yards.
