Baltimore vs. San Diego
Ravens Comeback From Down 10 Late for Improbable Overtime Road Win at San Diego
If will likely go down in Baltimore Ravens history as “The 4th and 29 Game.”
After being down 10 points in the final five minutes, the Ravens rallied to tie the game at the end of regulation and won with a Justin Tucker Field goal in the extra session to defeat the San Diego Chargers, 16-13, in a stunned Qualcomm Stadium.
The key play in a several-minute span full of them was an unbelievable passing play from Joe Flacco to Ray Rice on 4th and 29 with the game on the line. After scanning the field and seeing no deep threats, Flacco dumped the ball off to Rice, who had nothing but green grass in front of him. He avoided three defenders a few yards shy of the marker and was taken down just past the line to gain to keep the drive alive with just over a minute remaining.
It led to a 38-yard field goal by Justin Tucker as time expired to tie the game at 13 at the end of regulation, and Tucker hit another 38-yarder in overtime to secure the victory.
“Check down, ‘Hey Diddle Diddle, Ray Rice up the middle.’ It was just total will,” Rice said after the game in recalling the play. “Once I made the first guy miss when I cut back across the grain, I actually saw the defense had to flip their hip and I kept eyeing the first down. I looked and said, 'Should I keep running to the sideline or should I just keep trying to get up field?' And that's what I did. I just kept getting up field.”
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The Chargers were defending the deep pass, and Flacco said Torrey Smith was his first option, who was covered. He then saw Rice available for the dump off.
"I thought it might be our best shot at the time -- give it to Ray -- and Ray made a great run and got a little lucky and it worked out perfect," Flacco said.
Smith said that saw Rice racing downfield. "I had a great view. ... That's probably one of the best plays I've ever seen. You won't see too many plays like that. He was the perfect guy for it."
Head coach John Harbaugh said he wasn’t too optimistic when he saw Rice catch the ball.
“Then I thought to myself, ‘Can Ray Rice actually convert this?’ Because it’s Ray Rice,” Harbaugh explained.
The Ravens (9-2) found some good fortune against a Chargers (4-7) team that’s struggling mightily to win games after a 3-1 start.
Rice’s conversion was just one of many plays Baltimore needed to go their way in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.
At 13-3, Flacco found Dennis Pitta for a touchdown to trim the Chargers’ lead to 13-10 with 4:19 remaining. After the defense held Philip Rivers to a three-and-out, Baltimore got the ball back at their own 40-yard line with 3:09 remaining.
An offensive holding penalty and a sack led to 4th and 29 from the Baltimore 37. After the incredible first down, Baltimore advanced the ball to the 20-yard line with three seconds remaining. Tucker, a rookie but cool under pressure, nailed the kick to head to overtime.
With the ball at midfield on 3rd and 10 with 2:27 remaining in the extra period, Flacco found Smith deep for a 31-yard catch to get the ball to the 16 of San Diego.
"Torrey's exactly the one to take a shot to. I figured I just had to give him a chance," Flacco explained.
"Joe threw a great ball. He threw the ball where I could get it," said Smith, who finished with seven catches for 144 yards. "I just turned around and made the play."
After a couple of kneel-downs to eat clock and get into the middle of the field, Tucker drilled another 38-yarder for the win.
"I just know we have a football team that has the biggest hearts I've ever seen," Harbaugh said. "I don't want to go overboard here, but how can you not? Have you ever been a part of a game like that? Have you ever seen a game like that? I never have.
"There's something going on with this football team that is just really, really special and miraculous."
Pitta’s touchdown was Baltimore’s first trip into the end zone by the offense since the third quarter of the Week 10 blowout over Oakland—a span of over eight quarters. Despite that, the offense put up some big numbers today.
Flacco was 30-of-51 for 355 yards and the touchdown pass to Pitta. Rice ran for 97 yards and had 67 more on eight catches. Smith’s 144 yards not only included the 31-yard catch in overtime for a 54-yarder as well.
Tucker, the rookie out of Texas, has been a boon for the Ravens’ kicking game this season. He’s perfect on extra-point attempts and after a 3-for-3 day on field goals, he’s now made 19 of his 21 tries this season and remains perfect from 39 yards or closer.
Neither team turned the ball over in the contest, but the Ravens did sack Rivers six times. Arthur Jones had a game-high two of them.
UP NEXT
While the Ravens pulled out the improbable win, the Pittsburgh Steelers were upset by the Cleveland Browns. With Baltimore three games ahead of the Steelers, a win over their AFC North rival next week would eliminate Pittsburgh from division title contention. A Ravens win and Cincinnati loss in Week 13 would just about wrap up the AFC North for Baltimore. The Ravens host Pittsburgh this coming Sunday, which is just two weeks after their Sunday Night Football matchup that Baltimore won 13-10 at Heinz Field.