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Another year, another playoff heartbreaker for the Baltimore Ravens, and quarterback Lamar Jackson. However, Stephen A Smith was one of the first people to come to his defense. The ESPN host explained his thoughts on Twitter/X about who cost the team the game.
“This is not on @Lj_era8,” Smith said. “He did his job. Unfortunately, the great Mark Andrews — who hasn’t lost a fumble since 2019, and doesn’t drop passes — got stripped for a fumble and then dropped the 2-pt conversion that would’ve tied the game with under 2 min left. Tragic! Absolutely Tragic.”
Smith must've been watching the AFC divisional round like most of the United States. The play that he referenced is one that some will look to forget. As a result, Ravens fans were in shock as an Andrews drop gave the Bills the win. It was a two-point conversion that would've tied the game.
Also, the former Oklahoma football standout hadn't lost a fumble since 2019. For any player, that's worthy of hanging your hat on. Unfortunately, his drop came at one of the worst times of the season. The Ravens had one of the best seasons in recent memory and had Jackson lead the way. He threw for 4,172 yards, 41 touchdowns, and four interceptions, and he had the highest quarterback rating in the league.
Stephen A Smith believes the Ravens' loss isn't on Lamar Jackson
Judging from his tweet, Smith believes the loss doesn't fall on Jackson, and for solid justification. He threw for 254 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Jackson also had 39 rushing yards in the cold, Buffalo snow. Furthermore, the game was an even split across the board.
Both teams had identical statistics, including total plays and time of possession. It was truly a tooth-and-nail game that went down to the wire. Still, the blame has to go somewhere, as Smith called out the Ravens real culprit in the gut-wrenching loss on Sunday.
That culprit was Andrews.
At the end of the day, drops happen all the time. While fans and rivals will continually clown Andrews and the team, it's a part of the game. While it's unfortunate that he dropped the pass, he hasn't had a fumble since 2019. For not committing one in over five seasons, that's impressive.
Still, it's another painful loss for the Ravens and for Jackson, who has desperately tried to put the team on his back to compete for a Super Bowl. While it won't happen this year, the loss doesn't fall on the 2023-24 MVP, at least in the eyes of Smith.
