Calls Mount Against Lamar Jackson’s Ravens for Ignoring NFL Referee & Running to the Locker Room vs Bills

The Bills and the Ravens were expected to start on a high note. And it happened the same way. But no one expected such a silly error on the Ravens’ part in their season opener. Before halftime, the Bills completed a play as Josh Allen threw a dart to Dalton Kincaid. But Lamar Jackson‘s teammate, CB Marlon Humphrey, pushed him out of the sidelines. The Ravens camp thought that the clock had run out, and so they started making their way to the locker room. But the referee had other plans.

The official called them back on the field and told them that 1 second remained. Shocked at the decision, they had no other option but to comply. However, the Bills got their opening and added 3 more points to their score with a field goal to take the score 13-20.

The night opened with Buffalo striking first. Josh Allen looked sharp on the opening scoring drive, capping a seven-play march with a 15-yard dart to Dalton Kincaid. Matt Prater’s extra point made it 7-0 midway through the first quarter, and it felt like the Bills were ready to set the tone. But Baltimore steadied itself.

Lamar Jackson controlled the tempo on a long possession that chewed up nearly eight minutes before Tyler Loop drilled a 52-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3. The second quarter belonged to the Ravens. Derrick Henry reminded everyone of his power, bursting through for a 30-yard touchdown that gave Baltimore its first lead at 10-7. Just minutes later, Jackson turned a broken play into brilliance, dashing 10 yards for another touchdown to push the margin to 17-7.

Buffalo fought back with a long, methodical drive that ended in a 25-yard Prater field goal, but the Ravens weren’t done. Loop nailed another kick, this one from 49 yards, to stretch the lead back to double digits at 20-10 with just half a minute left before halftime. The Bills refused to go quietly into the locker room.

In the final seconds, Allen hit quick strikes to move into range, and Prater cashed in again, drilling a 43-yarder as time expired. It was a lifeline for Buffalo, trimming Baltimore’s advantage to 20-13 at the break.

This was enough to anger the fans, who were pissed.

Social media in frenzy over Ravens’ mistake

Shannon Sharpe couldn’t hold his emotions as he joked on X, “That’s the longest 2 seconds in history 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.” That’s right. The Ravens are Super Bowl contenders. No one could believe they let the Bills take 3 points with just a silly error.

The situation made some fans laugh. One such fan mentioned, “Ravens tried to cheat the game.” That seems far-fetched, blown out of proportion. The Ravens were already leading the game when they miscalculated the timing. Yet one section of the Ravens Flock blamed the league for the mistake.

Last year, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs were the center of all the negative talk. This year, Josh Allen is in the middle. So, there is a shared belief among fans of Lamar Jackson that the league is favoring Allen. The fan commented, “They changed the definition of what a second is in the NFL.”

And yes, the referee calling them back is really unheard of. So, the fans were confused as one of them pointed out, “Never heard an Unpire having to stop a team from running into the locker room before.” However, the onus for this mistake lies on Lamar Jackson and his teammates.

They need to be game-aware on the ground. “Absolutely unreal that the Ravens defense let the Bills get three points before the half in that fashion,” analyst Kevin Oestreicher mentioned. That’s right. Although they won, the Ravens should remember, they lost the AFC Divisional game early this year by 2 points. That’s the cost of complacency.

Yet, it was a great game for the fans. And the QB and his coaches will work this out.