The wind whipped around Bills Stadium on Saturday night, wreaking havoc for both Buffalo and Baltimore in the Divisional Round.
Each club missed two field goals, a bevy of deep passes sailed on quarterbacks, and the contest's rhythm suffered from the herky-jerky nature, as the Bills persevered, 17-3, to advance to the AFC Championship Game.
Following the contest, Ravens coach John Harbaugh noted the wind was rough for both teams.
"The wind was very impactful," he said, via Ryan Mink of the team's official website. "I think you could see that for both kickers. It was a very tough wind out there, really in both directions."
Justin Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, missed 41- and 46-yard field goals in the first half. Entering the 2020 Divisional Round, Tucker was 11-11 on field goal attempts inside 50 yards in his postseason career.
Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed field goals of 43 and 44 yards.
Harbaugh added that the wind could have played a role in the horrific snaps from Ravens center Patrick Mekari, who botched four snaps, one that led to Lamar Jackson getting injured and being ruled out due to a concussion.
Neither passing offense got on track in the blustery conditions. Bills QB Josh Allen completed 23-of-37 passes for 206 yards and a TD. Jackson went 14-of-24 for 162 yards and a game-changing pick-six. Baltimore backup Tyler Huntley completed 6-of-13 for 60 yards, including a deep shot that the wind pushed that could have been a TD to Marquise Brown.
Elements are part of football, but nothing else wrecks a game quite like the wind. A contest between two prolific offenses was rendered a defensive struggle in part because of howling winds.
