And there was another thing that gnawed at the defense’s collective craw. The Ravens protected the football better that any team all season. The Bills were the best at taking it away. The challenge was obvious. “That was our motto all week: Let’s see who’s better,” Phillips said.

The Buffalo Bills just smiled because they expected it. They may not have expected Lamar Jackson to underthrow a wide-open Mark Andrews and for Andrews to let it slip through his grasp, per se. But they expected the Baltimore Ravens to make a mistake at some point in that drive.