USA TODAY International Edition
RAVENS ENJOY REDEMPTION
After lapse, defense puts clamps on Bengals in OT
Joe Flacco sat on the M& T Bank Stadium sideline trying to shake off the shock of watching Andy Dalton’s 51- yard desperation heave ricochet off two players and into the hands of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A. J. Green for an overtime-forcing touchdown Sunday.
Flacco and Baltimore Ravens teammate Torrey Smith muttered in disbelief after Green’s catch on the last play of regulation completed Cincinnati’s rally from a 17- 0 halftime deficit.
Dalton’s Hail Mary appeared to deflect off wideout Marvin Jones’ shoulder pad and was tipped to Green by safety James Ihedigbo, whose job was to bat the ball out of the end zone.
When Ihedigbo moved closer to the goal line instead of manning the back end, Green was able to corral the twice- deflected ball, stunning the Ravens and a crowd of 70,992 fans.
“Real quickly, you just kind of say to yourself, ‘ You’ve got to be kidding me. It is just not going right,’ ” Flacco said. “Then you pretty quickly get back up, take the field and see what you can do.
“I don’t know if you’re thinking that it’s going to be it for us for the season.”
But the season was in jeopardy for the reigning Super Bowl champions. Flacco and his resurgent Ravens regained control of the game, and Justin Tucker kicked a 46- yard field goal to give Baltimore a 20- 17 victory and life in the AFC North.
“I don’t think we ever felt we were out of it, and this game definitely helped,” Flacco said.
The Bengals won the overtime coin toss. But a few moments later Ihedigbo and cornerback Corey Graham found redemption when they dropped tailback Gio Bernard for an 11- yard loss on fourth- and- 2 from the Baltimore 33- yard line.
It was a critical stop and put the Ravens ( 4- 5) in position to finish off the Bengals ( 6- 4).
“Defensively, we played lightsout,” Ihedigbo said. “When you have a heck of a day and make two interceptions, and then I made a bonehead play to put us in the position that we were, you could sulk. Or next time, you make a play.
“That fourth down was a key stop. We bottled them up to give our offense great field position.”
After throwing two first- half touchdown passes, Flacco finished with two interceptions and a lost fumble. But he did enough on the decisive drive to move his team 28 yards in seven plays and set up Tucker’s fifth career game- winning kick.
Despite being held to 85 rushing yards on 30 carries, the Ravens, who had lost three in a row by a combined 11 points, won for the first time since Oct. 6 vs. the Miami Dolphins.
“We’re not playing great right now,” said Flacco, who finished 20for- 36 for 140 yards. “But we’re doing the best we can to win.”
Baltimore’s secondary responded to defensive coordinator Dean Pees’ call for more turnovers, intercepting Dalton three times, backed by a pass rush that had five sacks.
“One good thing that Coach ( John) Harbaugh emphasized all week was finishing,” said linebacker Elvis Dumervil, who had 21⁄ sacks. “The guys
2 were frustrated on that ( Hail Mary) play. And give Cincinnati credit because they made it. But one thing we did was we regrouped as a defense, and we went out and answered the call.”
Dalton kept bringing his team back, leading the Bengals to Mike Nugent’s 32- yard third- quarter field goal and cashing in Terence Newman’s fourth- quarter interception with an 18- yard TD pass to Bernard.
But the defense held Dalton to 24for- 51 passing for 274 yards. His 52.2 passer rating was the second- worst mark of his career. Dalton’s rating was the lowest by any opposing quarterback the Ravens have faced this season, raising further questions about his ability to win big games, especially on the road.
“We were very close to winning this game,” Dalton said. “We just needed one more play, and we couldn’t do it.”
And while it wasn’t pretty, the Ravens found a way to come through when they could have suffered a crushing blow.
“Everybody’s head and heart dropped for a moment,” cornerback Lardarius Webb said of Green’s touchdown catch. “Then, the defensive leaders, Haloti Ngata said, ‘ Let that play go.’
“We just wanted turnovers. That’s what we talked about all week. If we keep getting them, we can change our season.”