A split-second decision by Bills CB Taron Johnson produces "franchise-altering play"

He thought for a millisecond about taking a knee after intercepting a pass in the end zone against the Baltimore Ravens. But then he changed his mind

Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

He didn't have much time to make up his mind. From the time Bills cornerback Taron Johnson secured an interception a yard deep in the end zone of Saturday night's playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens until he made the decision to bring in out instead of dropping to the turf for a touchback, less than one second had elapsed.

In that span, he weighed the pros and cons. His team could be pinned near the goal line if he was dropped early in the runback attempt. At the same time, he knew his team was up by only seven points late in the third quarter and had struggled to score all evening against an extraordinary defense. So a defensive score could change everything.

What to do?

"I caught the ball and I kind of looked down," Johnson told reporters after the game, "but then I looked up, and I was seeing a whole bunch of green grass to the right side. So I figured if I could race over there -- I know [Ravens QB] Lamar [Jackson] is fast -- but if I have lead blockers, I feel like I could take it."

Take it, he did. To the house. One hundred and one yards.

Ballgame.

But not before using his head more in the seconds that followed his emergence from the end zone. Johnson spotted fellow cornerback Tre'Davious White running with him as a blocker. He also saw that Jackson had an angle on him.

"I slowed down a little bit to let Trey get in front of me just to help me out."

White was careful not to be penalized for a peel-back block similar to the one that essentially ruined the Bills' playoff game at Houston the year before, and the rest is history.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen called it a "potentially franchise-altering play."

That could be simply because the interception itself was so unlikely.

Jackson had never thrown a red-zone interception in his three-year career until that moment.

"Coach made a good call, a Cover-2 call," Johnson said, "and I'm just reading the eyes of the quarterback. "I have the seam in that coverage and he took me to the back side and all I did was cheat. He didn't see me and the ball came to me.

"... Maybe in the middle of the play I felt it was a big play, just having the opportunity to take it all the way back."

The score changed everything.

On Baltimore's next possession, when Jackson retreated to field a wild shotgun snap, he might have just tried to fall on it if the game was tied or the Ravens were behind by just one touchdown. But down by 14 with time about to expire in the third quarter, he picked it up and tried to make a play under a heavy rush.

He heaved a pass to nobody as he was falling backward to the ground, his head ricocheting so violently off the turf that he sustained a concussion while being called for intentional grounding.

Perhaps none of that would have happened without the quick thinking and decisive actions of Johnson and White.