Baltimore vs. Cleveland
Kick Six! Ravens Beat Browns on Special Teams Stunner as Time Expires.
Kaelin Clay put the Ravens on the board with an 83-yard punt return for a touchdown. It turned out to only be the second biggest special teams play of the day.
Brent Urban blocked a 50-yard potential game-winning field goal try from Cleveland kicker Travis Coons, and Will Hill ran it back 64 yards for a touchdown as time expired. The 6’7” lineman was able to get his outstretched left hand on the low trajectory attempt.
“It’s surreal,” said defensive tackle Brent Urban, who missed all of 2014 and suffered another setback with a torn bicep muscle this year. “After being out so long, it’s crazy. I’m almost speechless. It’s just a wonderful feeling.”
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Quarterback Matt Schaub made his Ravens’ debut start under center for the first time in nearly two years. He completed 20-of-34 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns. However, he also threw a pair of interceptions, the last of which to Tramon Williams gave the Browns prime field position with less than a minute to play in regulation.
Instead of being a costly mistake it turned out to just set the stage for another thrilling finish for a club that has seen all 11 of its games this season decided by eight or fewer points.
“One of the greatest football games you’re probably ever going to see in terms of excitement,” said head coach John Harbaugh.
Cleveland put itself in a position for the win despite losing starting quarterback Josh McCown to a collarbone injury caused by a Timmy Jernigan hit earlier in the game. Austin Davis replaced the journeyman QB and led a game-tying rally capped by a 42-yard touchdown toss to Travis Benjamin. The defender whom Benjamin got behind on the deep route? Hill, who got his chance at redemption on the game’s decisive, final play.
“I was desperate and frustrated at the same time,” safety Will Hill explained. “I was praying that we could get a block and it bounced my way and I took it to the end zone.”
Baltimore bookended its scoring with special teams scores. The first one, which will be far less talked about, saw Kaelin Clay bob-and-weave through multiple Browns defenders and sprint up the far sideline for an 83-yard punt return for his first career NFL touchdown.
Javorius Allen started at running back in place of an injured Justin Forsett carried 12 times for 55 yards and hauled in an addition four receptions for 29 yards and a second quarter touchdown.
GAME RECAP
The Ravens received the opening kickoff but promptly punted after a five-play drive. By the time the offense got back on the field they’d be playing with a lead though. Kaelin Clay split a pair of defenders and hugged the sideline en route to an 82-yard return for a touchdown after Cleveland would punt on its opening possession.
The Browns would punt again on the following series and sparked by a 21-yard run by Javorius Allen, the Ravens would tack on three more points with a 49-yard Justin Tucker field goal to go up 10-0 with 4:26 remaining in the first quarter.
Cleveland would chew up nearly eight minutes of clock on the following drive, which finished with a 31-yard field goal by Travis Coons after C.J. Mosley stopped Isaiah Crowell in the backfield on 3rd-and-short.
Quarterback Matt Schaub connected with Chris Givens on a 48-yard gain on the first play of the next possession and followed that up with his first touchdown pass in two years. Schaub found Allen who danced through four Browns defenders for a 13-yard touchdown reception. The extra point made it 17-3 with just over 10 minutes until the half.
Josh McCown did the heavy lifting for the Browns, completing six passes for 64 yards and a touchdown toss to Marlon Moore making it a one possession game. The Browns would close the score to 17-13 following a Ravens’ three-and-out and a Coons chip shot field goal to close the half.
Baltimore’s defense forced a three-and-out to open the third quarter, however, Karlos Dansby picked off a badly underthrown Schaub pass to Kamar Aiken on the ensuing series and ran it back 52 yards to give the Browns their first lead of the ballgame, 20-17.
It would be short-lived as Schaub and company responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass to Aiken. Schaub’s second score of the night made it 24-20.
Cleveland advanced into Baltimore territory on the next drive before three straight incompletions by McCown resulted in an Andy Lee punt which was downed at the 1-yard line. Schaub moved the chains with first down conversions to Crockett Gilmore, Nick Boyle, and a pair to Aiken before settling for a 35-yard field goal from Tucker to go up 27-20 with just over nine minutes remaining in regulation.
McCown, still suffering from a hurt collarbone caused by a Timmy Jernigan hit earlier in the game, exited in favor of Austin Davis, who would tie it up at 27-all two series later with a 42-yarder to Travis Benjamin with under two to go.
Punts by both sides collectively took 59 seconds off the clock before Schaub was intercepted for a second time as Tramon Williams put the Browns in prime field position at the Baltimore 48.
Davis moved it down to the 33 where the field goal unit came on to attempt a 50-plus yarder for the win. Brent Urban’s outstretched left hand blocked the try toward the near sideline where Will Hill would grab it and follow a convoy of blockers 64 yards as time expired for a 33-27 victory.
UP NEXT
Baltimore (4-7) gets one less day to prepare for Miami (4-7) when the two meet on Sunday. Despite a career day from wide receiver Jarvis Landry, featuring 13 receptions for 165 yards and a score, Ryan Fitzpatrick outdueled Ryan Tannehill for a 38-20 New York Jets victory.
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