Baltimore vs Denver
Tyler Huntley Rallies as Ravens Escape With Win over Broncos Following Lamar Jackson’s Injury
For 59 minutes and 32 seconds on Sunday, it was looking like the worst-case scenario for the Baltimore Ravens as they hosted the lowly 3-8 Denver Broncos. It was 9-3 Broncos, Lamar Jackson was out of the game, and the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Kansas City Chiefs, so the Ravens’ hold on the AFC North lead was slipping away.
Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley, however, engineered a 16-play, 91-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard QB keeper to tie the game in the final minute, and Justin Tucker’s extra point provided the clincher for the 10-9 victory in Week 13 at M&T Bank Stadium. In the final seconds, Russell Wilson was able to get Denver to midfield, but Brandon McManus’s 63-yard field goal attempt at the buzzer fell short.
The win allowed the Ravens (8-4) to remain in a first-place tie with Cincinnati, but by virtue of a head-to-head win over the Bengals earlier this season, Baltimore is technically still in first.
After the game, there were no apologies from head coach John Harbaugh after the nail-biter.
“That was a great win. In December football, you have to find a way to win the game, and I'm proud of our team,” Harbaugh said to the media. “I'm proud of every single guy; I'm proud of every single guy in that room there, player, coach, manager, trainer – everybody. That was the kind of win that you have to get in December, and I feel great about it.”
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With the win salted away, all attention turns to the status of Jackson, who left the game after being sacked by Jonathon Cooper on the final play of the first quarter. From coach Harbaugh’s postgame comments, it sounds like the team may be without Jackson for a handful of games due to a knee injury, but he will be back before the end of the season.
“It’s not a season-ending type of knee [injury],” Harbaugh explained. “It's going to be a number [of] days to weeks. We'll see; we'll see if he can go back this week. If not, it'll be some time after that shortly."
Denver’s poor season has been due to a surprisingly ineffective offense. Their defense has been mostly strong, as it was today. Jackson only accounted for 20 yards of offense in the first quarter. In relief, Huntley was a solid 27-of-32 for 187 yards and an interception through the air. He led the team in rushing with 41 yards and the game’s only touchdown. Neither team amassed over 300 yards of total offense.
Huntley said he was able to draw on his experience from last year when he started several games toward the end of the season to help lead the Ravens down the field in crunch time to win the game.
“We were all talking to each other telling us, 'Hey, we need points here. That's the only way we're going to win this game.' So, all of us stayed calm, focused on the play that was call at that time, and we just started executing the best way that we can,” Huntley said.
After a stinging loss last week at Jacksonville on a touchdown and two-point conversion in the final minute, the Ravens defense came out strong today, only allowing three field goals and keeping the Broncos out of McManus’s range on the final kick that decided the game.
“Our defense stepped up [and] matched them blow for blow. At the end, [it] won the battle. Our defense was incredible throughout the game, then to get the stop at the end as much as we had to. So, I was proud of those guys,” Harbaugh said.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Ravens dodged a bullet when linebacker Patrick Queen was diagnosed with just a thigh bruise. He had been carted off the field in the fourth quarter, but X-rays were negative.
GAME RECAP
The Ravens won the coin toss but elected to defer, giving the Broncos the ball first. Denver ran the ball heavily, setting up a 52-yard field goal that McManus hit to make it 3-0 after the opening drive. The teams traded punts for the rest of the quarter, which ended with Jackson’s injury.
After each team punted once in the second quarter, the Ravens were able to move the ball for the only time in the half. The big play was a 22-yard pass from Huntley to Mark Andrews, but the drive stalled at the Broncos’ 8-yard line. Tucker kicked in a 26-yarder to tie the game at 3.
With less than a minute before halftime, Wilson found Jerry Jeudy for an 8-yard completion that gave Denver a first down at the 22-yard line, but a replay review changed the spot of the ball, which was not enough for a first down. A McManus field goal made it 6-3 at the half.
In the second drive of the third quarter, Huntley had a pass picked off by Justin Simmons and returned to the Ravens’ 40-yard line. The defense did a good job of holding, however, and Denver had to settle for another field goal, making the score 9-3.
It stayed that way until the Ravens’ final drive of the game. The Ravens converted on fourth down twice on the drive—once on a 1-yard run by Mark Andrews and a second time on 4th and 2 when Huntley kept it himself to move the chains. Two plays after that, Huntley ran into the end zone for the winning score.
UP NEXT
The Ravens face chief AFC North rival Pittsburgh at Acrisure Stadium (the new name of Heinz Field) this Sunday at 1 p.m. After a win at Atlanta today, the Steelers are 5-7 but have won three of their last four games. Their defense has kept teams to fewer than 20 points in six of their last eight games, so it will be a challenge for Huntley if he gets the start.