Baltimore Ravens escape with win against Bills
The Baltimore Ravens did everything in their power to avoid losing ground in the AFC race by defeating the Buffalo Bills in overtime on Sunday by the score of 37-34. For the second straight week, four
quarters weren’t enough to determine the outcome for the Ravens, having lost in week six against the New England Patriots in extra time.
But Baltimore learned a thing or two from their previous game against the Patriots and put themselves in perfect position to win the game by forcing a turnover at the beginning of OT. This allowed kicker
Billy Cundiff to drill a 38-yard game-winning field goal and give Baltimore their fifth victory of the 2010 regular season.
“It's hard to win when you turn it over four times," Bills coach Chan Gailey said. "I think we took a step forward in some respects. But we didn't play smart in some areas."
The 0-6 Bills are the only winless team in the NFL, but they sure came close to pulling off the upset. Buffalo had the ball in overtime, but tight-end Shawn Nelson fumbled the ball and gave the Ravens’
offence excellent field position.
Sunday’s game was highlighted by the return of Baltimore’s free-safety Ed Reed, who made his first start of the year after nursing his surgically repaired hip for the first six weeks of the season.
"Oh man, it was beautiful, just getting back out there with the guys," said Reed, a six-time Pro Bowler. "Coming out here and knowing the fans were going to be how they were, that was just a dream come
true. It was like being a rookie all over again my first year here."
At first, Reed’s first game back had little impact on the Bills passing attack as Buffalo’s Steve Johnson went over the 100-yard receiving mark in just four receptions in the first half. Johnson led all
receivers in the game with 158 yards. But Reed showed signs that he is almost fully recovered form his injury and intercepted quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick after the ball was tipped by Ray Lewis.
The Ravens’ offensive coordinator Cam Cameron did not hesitate to dial up some trick-plays and called a flea flicker which saw Joe Flacco connecting on a 34-yard touchdown pass to receiver Anquan Boldin
to put the Ravens up 27-24. Boldin’s touchdown grab not only made it 17 unanswered points for the Ravens, but placed the Pro Bowler with over 8,000 receiving yards in his career.
Boldin finished the game with six receptions for 92 yards while Flacco completed 16 of 31 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns.
Tags: