Dalton, Bengals shatter Ravens’ playoffhopes
BALTIMORE — The Ravens were ousted from the playoff hunt in stunning fashion Sunday when Andy Dalton threw a 49- yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd with 44 seconds left, giving the Bengals a 31- 27 victory.
Needing a win to advance to the postseason, Baltimore ( 9- 7) rallied from a 14- point deficit to take its first lead with 8: 48 left. But Dalton put together a magnificent 90- yard drive in the closing minutes before hitting Boyd over the middle on a fourth- and- 12 play.
Boyd avoided a tackle by Maurice Canady and raced to the end zone to give Cincinnati ( 7- 9) the victory in what might have been its last game under coach Marvin Lewis.
Baltimore entered knowing it could have also gotten into the postseason if the Titans or Bills tied or lost. Both won, leaving the Ravens with no margin for error on a frigid and windy day.
After getting off to a horrid start, the Ravens appeared in position to end their two- year hiatus from the postseason. Plenty of players stepped up in their time of need: Chris Moore had a pivotal kickoff return, Alex Collins delivered a huge fourth- down touchdown run and quarterback Joe Flacco bounced back from a horrible 4- for18 start.
Flacco’s six- yard touchdown pass to MikeWallace made it 27- 24, but all of that was rendered meaningless after Dalton put an appropriate finish on a game filled with huge plays.
Dalton also threw two touchdown passes to Tyler Kroft.
The Ravens were down 17- 3 late in the first half whenMoore rambled 87 yards with a kickoff before being stopped near the left sideline with eight seconds left. He finished what he started on the next play, catching a six- yard touchdown pass.
Baltimore trailed only 17- 10 at the break despite a 268- 61 deficit in yardage and 16- 2 disparity in first downs.
The Ravens took that momentum into the third quarter, moving deftly downfield before Moore juggled a pass that ended up in the hands of Cincinnati’s Darqueze Dennard, who sprinted down the left sideline 89 yards for a touchdown.
Trailing again by two touchdowns, Baltimore faced a fourthandthree from the Cincinnati 17. Collins took a pitchout designed to go around left end, reversed his field and ran around a block by Flacco to get into the right corner of the end zone.
That set the stage for a tense fourth quarter in a game Cincinnati dominated at the outset.
The Bengals moved 78 yards on eight plays after the opening kickoff and took a 7- 0 lead on a one- yard touchdown pass from Dalton to Kroft. That represented more points than Cincinnati scored in the first game between the teams, a 20- 0 Ravens victory in the season opener.