Baltimore vs. Cleveland
Ravens Earn Wild Card Berth in Win Over Browns; Will Play at Rival Pittsburgh in the Playoffs
Much like two weeks ago against Jacksonville, it was a rough start for the Baltimore Ravens in a must-win game at home against a team eliminated from playoff contention, but a 17-0 fourth quarter propelled the Ravens (10-6) past the Cleveland Browns (7-9) 20-10, securing an AFC Wild Card berth and a date with the rival Pittsburgh Steelers next weekend on the road.
After seeing their five-yard playoff streak snapped a year ago, Baltimore is back in the postseason for the first time since winning Super Bowl XLVII after the 2012 season.
But even though that was still just last year on the calendar, head coach John Harbaugh said that it’s a totally different feeling each time you qualify for the playoffs.
“This is a new team, this is a different set of guys,” Harbaugh explained after the game. “You walk in that locker room, and you see the faces, and you hug those big guys, and you say congratulations on making the playoffs, especially in this division, especially in this conference, the way that things have gone this year. You're just happy for them, for this team, for this group of guys. Not the guys seven years ago, for these guys. That's what you think about.”
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As the Ravens came back, the scenario they needed to unfold in Kansas City was, as the Chiefs beat the San Diego Chargers, 19-7. That loss put the Chargers at 9-7 on the year, and if they ended up at 10-6, the Bolts would’ve made the playoffs due to their win over Baltimore earlier this year.
Thanks to the scoreboard at M&T Bank Stadium and the cheers from the crowd, there was no escaping what was happening halfway across the country.
“There is no not seeing the scoreboard,” Joe Flacco said. “It’s all over the place.”
It began to look like Baltimore would waste the gift that the Chiefs gave them, as Cleveland took a 10-3 lead into the fourth quarter, threatening to win against the Ravens for just the second time in 14 meetings and were starting rookie quarterback Connor Shaw.
But after a field goal to start the fourth quarter, Flacco completed a long bomb to Torrey Smith, setting up a connection between the two again for the go-ahead score. Up 13-10, Flacco found Kamar Aiken for the game-icing score with 3:44 left in the game.
Flacco was 22-for-36 for 312 yards and two touchdown, with more than half the yardage and both scores coming in the final quarter. Flacco will need more performances like that in crunch time if the Ravens are to make some noise in the playoffs.
“We’re just going to have to play fundamental football, get back [and] run our offense the way we need to run it,” Flacco said of fine-tuning the offense for the playoffs. “If there’s plays to be made, then we’re going to make them. We’ve just got to make sure that we give ourselves enough opportunities to make plays.”
Justin Forsett ran 17 times for 119 yards, finishing the season with 1,266 yards, more than doubling his previous career high set in 2009 with Seattle. It was an amazing find by the Ravens after learning before Week 2 that they would be without Ray Rice for the whole season.
Steve Smith also capped off an excellent regular season, leading the team eight catches and 90 yards today to crack the 1,000-yard mark for the eighth time in his illustrious career. Torrey Smith also added 83 yards and a touchdown catch.
Now after winning twice on the road on their way to the Super Bowl in 2012, Baltimore hits the road again as the No. 6 seed in the AFC.
“We've been on the road plenty of times in the playoffs as a group,” Harbaugh said. “We're as dangerous as anybody else, at least. So, I'm excited to be coaching the Ravens in the playoffs, I can tell you that.”
GAME RECAP
After each team punted twice to start the game, Baltimore got things going on their third possession. A pass interference call against the Browns put the ball on the 1-yard line, but Baltimore failed to get it into the end zone, as Forsett was tackled for a three-yard loss on 4th and goal.
The game was scoreless into the second quarter, and the Ravens drove the ball down to the Browns’ 7-yard line, but they had to settle for a Justin Tucker field goal to make it 3-0.
It’s always unsettling to get inside the opponents’ 10-yard line twice and only get three points, and the Browns responded on the next possession with a field goal of their own to tie the score. The Ravens had a chance to get a field goal before halftime, but on third down from the Browns’ 35, Flacco was sacked by Paul Kruger and fumbled; the ball was batted backwards several times and it ended up being a 22-yard loss, so the game was tied 3-3 at the half.
The Ravens faithful started to get restless in the third quarter when Shaw hit Taylor Gabriel for a 49-yard completion, then Terrence West rushed up the middle for a two-yard score to put the Browns on top 10-3.
The fourth quarter, however, was all Baltimore. Tucker kicked a 28-yard field goal to make it 10-6 with 10:41 left, and then after a three-and-out for Cleveland, Flacco completed the heave to Torrey Smith on the first play of the next drive for 53 yards and again for 16 yards on the next play for a touchdown to give the Ravens at 13-10 advantage.
The defense forced another three-and-out by the Browns, and this time it was Forsett getting the drive off to a good start, rushing 27 yards to get into field goal range. After milking around three minutes off the clock, Flacco found Aiken from two yards out to cap the scoring at 20-10.
UP NEXT
For the fourth time in franchise history, the Ravens will play their chief rival in the playoffs. Each of the previous three meetings have all been at Heinz Field, and Baltimore is 0-3 in those games. The teams split the season series this year with each team winning at home.