Ravens’ playoff bid ruined

BALTIMORE — The crowd was yelling as the clock was winding down. The Baltimore Ravens and their fans were poised for a New Year’s Eve celebration, long before the clock struck midnight.

And then, an instant later, silence.

There would be no football in January for the Ravens, who 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 to give the Cincinnati Bengals a 31-27 victory.

Needing a win to advance to the postseason, Baltimore (9-7) rallied from a 14point 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, a native of Clairton who played at Pitt, over the middle on a fourth-and12 play.

“To battle our way back the way we did, and then not to be able to finish and win the game is about as tough as it can be,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.

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 final game under coach Marvin Lewis.

Baltimore entered knowing it could have also gotten into the postseason if either Tennessee or Buffalo tied or lost. Both those teams won, leaving the Ravens with no margin for error on a frigid and windy day.

“Nobody’s happy,” safety Eric Weddle said. “We didn’t make the plays. We weren’t good enough.”

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-for-18 start.

Flacco’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace made it 27-24, but all of that was rendered meaningless after Dalton put an appropriate finish on a game filled with huge plays.