Baltimore vs. Chicago
Backup Huntley Leads Ravens to Victory in Chaotic Fourth Quarter
Undrafted free agent quarterback Tyler Huntley wasn’t expecting to be making his first NFL start when strolling up to Soldier Field on Sunday.
Starting quarterback Lamar Jackson was expected to play, even taking a few throws during warmups, but about 90 minutes before kickoff it was determined he was too ill to go.
All Huntley did was lead a game-winning drive with under two minutes to play, capped by a 3-yard Devonta Freeman touchdown to give the Ravens a 16-13 win over Chicago.
“It’s crazy, I was walking towards the bus, and Lamar (Jackson) texted me,” backup quarterback Tyler Huntley recollects. “He said, ‘go do your thing today. I’m going to be watching.’ And I was like, “all right, let’s go.’”
Coach John Harbaugh said the illness to Jackson is not COVID-19-related. The 2019 MVP was a full participant in practice on Friday, but wasn’t feeling well on the plane ride on Saturday according to Harbaugh.
On short notice, Huntley completed 26 of 36 passes for 219 yards, added 40 yards on the ground, and sparked back-to-back scoring drives in the fourth quarter.
“How about the quarterback?” beamed head coach John Harbaugh. “For him to come in, and Tyler play the way he did, Tyler Huntley to play quarterback the way he did and to find a way to win that game at the end, to take the team down in two-minute drive and win that game, it’s a good launching for his career, would you say?”
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Chicago’s backup shined as well, as Andy Dalton threw for two touchdowns in relief for injured starter Justin Fields, including a 49-yarder to Marquise Goodwin that put the Bears up 13-9 with 1:41 remaining in regulation. The throw came on 4th-and-11 on an all-out blitz when Goodwin got behind cornerback Chris Westry in the secondary.
“That was one of those things where it was like we die by our sword, by who we are,” explains defensive end Calais Campbell. “We sent the whole house and had one-on-one, and with the wind factor, we figured that would be enough, but they just made a play. That’s what happens sometimes. Statistically, you want to put yourself in the best position to win.”
Huntley responded with two perfect throws to Devin Duvernay and a 29-yarder to Sammy Watkins on 3rd-and-12. Freeman followed up with the game-winning touchdown on a rush up the middle.
“It’s about the team, us playing together, us fighting for each other, us executing,” said running back Devonta Freeman. “When one of our brothers goes down and can’t be out there to fight with us, we do it for them and play as a whole and just try to win.”
Freeman finished with 49 rushing yards while tight end Mark Andrews tallied eight receptions for 73 yards. Linebacker Tyus Bowser recorded a pair of quarterback sacks, the second of which wrapped up Dalton on a potential hail mary attempt on the final play of the game.
GAME RECAP
The Ravens received the opening kickoff and despite moving the chains twice, the drive came to an end when quarterback Tyler Huntley was sacked by Robert Quinn to force a Sam Koch punt.
Chicago responded with a 10-play, 64-yard series that yielded no points after Cairo Santos shanked a 40-yard field goal attempt wide left.
Baltimore’s next two offensive series were hindered by another sack from Quinn and one from Kindle Vildor. Tyus Bowser ended a promising Bears drive himself by strip-sacking Justin Fields at the Ravens’ 41 while Calais Campbell recovered the loose football.
Huntley would follow up with a pair of 11-yard completions to tight end Mark Andrews, helping set up a 35-yard field goal by Justin Fields for the first score of the afternoon, making it 3-0 with 2:11 left to play in the first half.
After a Bears punt, Huntley would lead a second scoring drive highlighted by completions of 12 and 15 yards to first round pick Rashod Bateman and a 4th down conversion on a quarterback draw to the left. Tucker split the uprights with 27 yards out to extend the Ravens’ lead to 6-0 to close the half.
Chicago was forced to punt on its opening possession of the third quarter after Fields failed to convert a 3rd-and-11 on a quarterback keeper. Fields’ leg turned awkwardly during the tackle by Bowser and he was ruled out for the rest of the game with an injury.
Bears’ backup Andy Dalton went to work following a punt by Baltimore, going 83 yards on just two plays. A 23-yard completion to Jimmy Graham was followed up by a wide receiver screen to Darnell Mooney, who traversed 60 yards through traffic for a touchdown to give Chicago its first lead, 7-6, with 8:02 to play in the third quarter.
After a pair of Baltimore punts with a Chicago punt sandwiched in-between, Chicago elected to gamble on 4th-and-short at midfield by lining David Montgomery up at shotgun in the wildcat formation. The running back was stuffed by Justin Madubuike for a turnover on downs.
Despite moving toward the red zone, Huntley committed his biggest mistake of the afternoon as his intended throw to Andrews was swiped by a diving Tashaun Gipson for an interception at the Chicago 14.
Following a three-and-out and a poor punt by Pat O’Donnell, rushes by Latavius Murray and Devonta Freeman helped set up Tucker for a 46-yard field goal with 3:48 left in regulation to make it 9-7 in Baltimore’s favor.
Chicago rallied with a pair of 4th down conversions, the first from Dalton to Mooney and the second on a 49-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Goodwin as the Bears retook the lead 13-9 with 1:41 remaining.
Huntley executed the two-minute drill wonderfully with a 21-yard strike to Devin Duvernay and a 29-yard completion to Sammy Watkins on 3rd-and-12 to move the offense down to Chicago’s 3. Freeman took a handoff up the gut on the next play for the game-winning touchdown. Baltimore would lead 16-13 with 22 seconds left.
The Bears had one last opportunity for a hail mary, but Dalton was wrapped up by Bowser in the backfield before the quarterback could get the throw away, securing the win.
UP NEXT
Baltimore (7-3) heads home to M&T Bank Stadium to host Cleveland (6-5) in a key divisional matchup on Sunday Night Football. The Browns kept the Lions out of the win column again behind a 130-yard rushing performance by Nick Chubb and picking off Detroit backup quarterback Tim Boyle twice in a low-scoring 13-10 affair.