By JONAH BRONSTEIN Associated Press
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Quarterback Lamar Jackson regretted losing his cool by shoving a Bills fan in the end zone during a touchdown celebration.
Running back Derrick Henry felt even worse for losing a fumble that opened the door for the Ravens’ improbable collapse. With Matt Prater hitting a 32-yard field goal as time expired, Baltimore squandered a 15-point lead in the final four minutes in a stunning season-opening 41-40 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night.
“I told my teammates after the game, put the loss on me,” said Henry, following an outing in which he set several milestones with 169 yards rushing and scoring two touchdowns.
“I own it like a man. We got lackadaisical and they made a play,” he added. “If I take care of the ball, I feel like it would be a different situation.”
Jackson and Henry led the charge on a night the Ravens scored on seven of their first eight possessions. And the outcome appeared to be sealed when Henry scored on a 46-yard run to put the Ravens up 40-25 with 11:42 remaining.
The momentum, however, turned shortly after the Bills cut the lead to 40-32 with 3:56 left, when Josh Allen’s tipped pass was caught by Keon Coleman in the end zone.
On Baltimore’s next possession, Henry had the ball punched out of his hands by Ed Oliver, and the fumble recovered by Terrel Bernard.
The loss was reminiscent to how the Ravens’ ended their season with a 27-25 loss at Buffalo in the AFC divisional playoff. Baltimore committed three turnovers and the outcome was decided when tight end Mark Andrews was unable to haul in a 2-point conversion with under two minutes left.
Henry chose to look ahead.
“This one is definitely going to sting for a while,” Henry said. “It’s Week 1. We still feel that we should have won, but it’s over now.”
The loss spoiled an outing in which Henry surpassed Jim Brown for the sixth-most touchdowns rushing in NFL history with 108. He also joined Brown in becoming the second player to have 13 career games with at least 150 yards and two TDs rushing.
Jackson was productive in his MVP quarterback showdown with Allen, by finishing 14 of 19 passing for 210 yards with touchdowns. He also had 70 yards rushing sand a touchdown, the 200th of his NFL career.
But Jackson expressed regret over an altercation he became involved in while celebrating DeAndre Hopkins’ 29-yard touchdown catch late in the third quarter.
A fan in the end zone first tapped Hopkins on the head and attempted to do the same to Jackson, when the quarterback rose up and shoved the person back in his seat.
“I seen him slap D-Hop, then he slapped me and he was talking,” Jackson said. “So I just forgot where I was for a little bit. You got to think in those situations. You got security out there, let security handle it. I just let my emotions get the best of me. But hopefully it won’t happen again. I’ll learn from that.”
The fan was ejected by stadium security.
As for Henry’s fumble, Jackson backed his teammate.
“I told him to let that go,” Jackson said. “He did enough for us. He scored a 50-yarder one time, popped another one. He was going off, but things happen. Unfortunately it happened at the wrong time. I’m not going to knock him for that. I fumbled in the playoffs.”
The Ravens became the first team to lose when scoring 40 or more points and leading by at least 15 points in the fourth quarter.
But this was the 17th time in 18 seasons under coach John Harbaugh that the Ravens lost a game in which they led by 10 or more points in the second half.
“We’ve been here before,” Harbaugh said. “This is how the NFL works. You play tough teams in tough environments. Hopefully you learn from it and keep getting better. You get better throughout the season and become the team you’re going to be. It’s a long journey.”
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