With a trip to the Super Bowl just one victory away, the Baltimore Ravens looked nothing like the team that finished the regular season with the best record in the NFL before thrashing Houston in their playoff opener.
Worse, Lamar Jackson bore little resemblance to the quarterback who deftly maneuvered through the season playing like a consensus MVP.
We were one win away from the Super Bowl, what I've been talking about all season, my team has been talking about all season," Jackson said after Sunday's 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. "We fell short.
The offense, we didn't put nothing on the board. We scored once. That's not like us. I'm not frustrated, I'm angry because I know how hard we worked to get here.
Hosting the AFC championship game for the first time in their history, the top-seeded Ravens (14-5) committed too many penalties, gave the ball away three times and received an uneven performance from Jackson against the defending Super Bowl champions.
Jackson went 20 for 37 for 272 yards, but made few big plays beyond two throws to rookie Zay Flowers for 30 and 54 yards. He was sacked four times, lost a fumble and threw an interception.