Baltimore vs. Detroit
Tuck Rules! Record-Breaking Field Goal Boots Baltimore to Victory at Buzzer
Justin Tucker uncharacteristically missed a field goal try, indoors, from under 50 yards. Safe to say, by afternoon’s end he atoned for his mistake.
The Ravens’ iconic kicker shattered an NFL record by ricocheting a 66-yard attempt off and over the crossbar at the horn as Baltimore beat the Lions, 19-17, on Sunday.
“When it just went across the line of scrimmage and maybe it was 20 yards down the field I thought, ‘that’s got a chance,’” describes head coach John Harbaugh on when he knew the kick was good. “Then I thought it was going to clear it by three yards, then it hit the upright like slow motion. Then it bounced the right way, it got a little push. A supernatural push right there.”
The kick one-upped the previous benchmark of 64 yards, set by Matt Prater during his stint with Denver. In his last visit to Detroit eight years ago, Tucker hit a 61-yarder in a Ravens’ win.
“He’s a huge part of our game,” quarterback Lamar Jackson said of his kicker. “If we’re not getting it done, he’s going to come through and give us three points here, three points there. He missed one early and came back and won us the game. That’s legendary right there.”
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The kick was made possible thanks to an improbable 4th down conversion by Baltimore’s franchise quarterback After being sacked twice by Charles Harris and Romeo Okwara, Lamar Jackson faced 4th-and-19 from the Ravens’ own 16 with 26 seconds remaining. Detroit rushed only three linemen, giving Jackson time to find wide receiver Sammy Watkins for a 36-yard gain.
“I just tried giving (Watkins) a playable ball and he came through,” Jackson said. “I was hoping he’d go out of bounds though to get Tucker a little closer.”
The distance didn’t matter to Tucker and for the second straight week, Jackson rallied his team to victory in dramatic fashion.
“It’s the type of thing that will be remembered forever,” Harbaugh said of his quarterback leading fourth quarter, game-winning drives in back-to-back weeks. “That’s what you do, you build these things. It’s not what you say, it’s what you do. That’s how you’re remembered, by what you do.”
Jackson finished with 281 yards passing, a touchdown to Devin Duvernay, and an interception. His statistics could’ve been a bit gaudier if not for four drops by his receivers, including a surefire touchdown by Marquise Brown at the end of the first half. Jackson added 58 yards rushing on seven attempts.
Baltimore carried at 16-7 advantage into the fourth quarter, which didn’t hold up. Jared Goff’s efficiency and Jamaal Williams power running sparked a comeback and Ryan Santoso’s 35-yard field goal with 1:08 left in regulation gave the Lions a 17-16 edge. Tucker’s heroics kept rookie coach Dan Campbell in search of his first career victory as Lions head man.
GAME RECAP
Scoring was non-existent in the first quarter as the first three possessions ended with punts. Chuck Clark brought a resounding end to the Lions’ second drive with a 12-yard sack of quarterback Jared Goff.
The Ravens moved into field goal range on their second series thanks to a couple of Lamar Jackson completions to Mark Andrews and Marquise Brown. However, an uncharacteristic miss by Justin Tucker from 49 yards away kept the ballgame scoreless.
Sam Koch and Jack Fox would continue to get more work booting it away before Tucker finally got the goose eggs off the scoreboard with a 39-yard field goal to make it 3-0 Baltimore with 10:10 left in the first half.
Tavon Young forced yet another punt after getting to Goff on a corner blitz for a 13-yard loss. The Ravens would then finally find the endzone, going 65 yards in eight plays, spotlighted by a 37-yard pitch-and-catch from Jackson to Brown and capped by a dart to Devin Duvernay on 3rd-and-18 for a touchdown to make it 10-0.
Defense would force the Lions’ sixth straight punt, but the offense could not cash in, as a seemingly surefire touchdown toss to Brown was dropped just shy of the endzone and the score remained 10-0 at intermission.
Baltimore opened the third quarter with points though, as Tucker would split the uprights from 50 yards away to extend the lead to 13-0.
Detroit’s streak of empty possessions finally came to an end as Goff and company pieced together an 11-play, 75-yard, nearly seven minute drive punctuated by a D’Andre Swift 2-yard touchdown run to put the Lions on the board.
Baltimore would turn 13-7 into 16-7 on the following series as a 24-yard completion to Andrews set the stage for Tucker’s third field goal of the day, a 32-yarder with 46 seconds left in the third quarter.
Detroit countered with another lengthy drive that chewed up almost seven-and-a-half minutes of clock. Jamaal Williams’ 1-yard touchdown plunge brought the Lions within two, 16-14 at just over 8 minutes remaining in regulation.
Baltimore marched toward the outskirts of field goal territory, but Jackson’s 3rd down throw to Brown was off-target and intercepted by Amani Oruwariye at the Detroit 21.
The Lions would make it 3-for-3 on second half drives by putting up points on the ensuing possession. Completions of 19 and 22 yards to Kalif Raymond resulted in a 35-yard Ryan Santoso successful field goal try and a 17-16 Lions lead with 68 seconds left to play.
A Jackson incompletion sandwiched in-between a pair of quarterback sacks by Charles Harris and Romeo Okwara left the Ravens in dire straits, facing 4th-and-19 at their own 16 with 26 seconds to go. Facing little pressure, Jackson had time in the pocket and found Sammy Watkins for a 36-yard reception to keep the drive alive. Following a spike to stop the clock and a quick incompletion on a route that failed to develop, Tucker trotted out to attempt an NFL record field goal try. The 66-yard boot bounced atop the crossbar and over, providing the 17-16 final score in Baltimore’s favor.
UP NEXT
Baltimore (2-1) stays out on the road, venturing to the house of the unbeaten Broncos (3-0). Denver’s staunch defense has only allowed 26 points in its first three contests of 2021 including Sunday’s blanking of the New York Jets, 26-0.