Getty Ravens QB Tyler Huntley played a role in the team's best, worst, and most clutch plays in Week 13 against the Broncos on December 4, 2022.
The Baltimore Ravens got back in the win column in Week 13 with an ugly 10-9 victory over the Denver Broncos on December 4. Games are often won and lost as a result of a handful of key plays that turned the tide in one team’s favor over the other.
This AFC matchup featured several pivotal plays that were impressive, incredibly clutch, and some that nearly cost them dearly. Here are the best, worst, and most clutch plays from the Ravens this past Sunday:
Best Plays
The clear and obvious choice for best play of the game was the one that won the game for the Ravens and capped off an incredibly clutch 19-play drive that started at their nine-yard line. Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley used his arm, legs, and impressive poise to march the offense down the field and took matters into his own hands once they got down to the two-yard line and punched the ball across for the lone touchdown of the game.
D-O-DOUBLE G❗️
Tune in on cbs!
While Huntley was the player that scored the go-ahead touchdown, veteran right guard Kevin Zeitler played a pivotal role in paving the way. He impressively managed to block three defenders on the play including a pair of combos before making the third on his own.
Game-winning touchdown. Watch Kevin Zeitler block THREE Broncos players, working in tandem with Morgan Moses and Tyler Linderbaum. Think Linderbaum was pumped about this TD?
Another great play from the fourth quarter was the defensive stop that ended the Broncos’ first possession of the final period. Facing third and 10 from the Denver 36-yard line, the Ravens rushed five players, and as the pocket collapsed around Russell Wilson who had used his mobility to escape several near sacks throughout the game to that point was finally brought down by second-year pro Odafe Oweh for a drive-ending sack.
.@DafeOweh 😤
Tune in on CBS
Not only did the play result in a five-yard loss and forced the Broncos to punt, but it also marked Oweh’s second sack of the season and first since Week 4. The 2021 first-round pick had a lot of hype and high expectations for him coming into this season after a strong rookie campaign in which he recorded five sacks, 15 quarterback hits, and made several splash plays.
He said he felt such a “rush of emotions” that he couldn’t even think of a unique celebration to do after making the play and believes that it can be the start of a strong finish to the season as a pass rusher.
“My mentality was that I just wanted to go out there and show all of my abilities,” Oweh said in his postgame comments on December 4. “When I get more opportunities to rush the passer, hopefully, in the next games, I’ll hope to carry that on.”
Worst Plays
The absolutely worst play was one in which the Ravens lost their MVP-winning quarterback, Lamar Jackson, for the remainder of the game and potentially for the next 1-3 weeks. He was under duress for much of the first quarter and was sacked twice. The second time he got taken down behind the line of scrimmage would end up being his last snap of the game.
The offense was facing a second and long from their own 33-yard line when Jackson dropped back to pass and was slammed down to the field for a six-yard loss by Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper. They had attempted to block the edge defender with a pair of tight ends including a chip from Mark Andrews before going out into a route but Josh Oliver wasn’t able to maintain his block and an unsuspecting Jackson was blindsided while rolling to his left.
One of the other worst plays was Huntley’s only poor decision and throw in what was an otherwise highly efficient and impressive outing for the third-year pro. On the Ravens’ second possession of the third quarter, he turned the ball over after the offense had picked up first downs on back-to-back chunk plays by throwing an ill-advised pass that looked like it was directly to Broncos safety Justin Simmons.
.@jsimms1119 will take THAT.
📺: CBS
As bad as Huntley’s lone turnover of the game was, the team’s second of the day was way worse. It occurred on a trick that looked like it was doomed from the beginning because the Broncos’ defense which had six defensive backs on the field wasn’t getting fooled by any of the Ravens’ pre and post-snap motion.
After marching 49 yards in 11 plays to the Denver 32-yard line in what was the offense’s best drives of the day up to that point, offensive coordinator Greg Roman dial up a play that featured a pair of pitches in the backfield and resulted in third-year wide receiver James Proche throwing a pass into quadrupole coverage and not surprisingly getting intercepted by Simmons for his second layup of the game on back-to-back drives.
At that point in the game, the Ravens were trailing by just six and were already well within Tucker’s range for another field goal if the drive stalled. Head coach John Harbaugh admitted that he wished Proche hadn’t thrown the ball but doesn’t hold him entirely accountable for the disastrous play and outcome.
“Everything broke down; it was just a bad play I’d say,” Harbaugh said in a press conference on December 5. “It’s one we’d probably want back. It just wasn’t a good time for it. It seemed like a good idea I guess at the time in some ways; there were reasons for that, but in hindsight [it was] just not a good call. Trying too hard maybe to make something happen with a trick play. Really at that time in the game, it was probably time just to grind. I think it turned out to be a grind game, and that was a finesse idea that it wasn’t time for that, for sure.”
Most Clutch Plays
In addition to making the best play of the game for the Ravens in this game, Huntley was also responsible for making the most clutch plays for the team in their hard-fought victory. The first came on his second pass attempt after coming in for an injured Jackson in the second quarter.
He dropped back on second down from the Baltimore 34-yard line and delivered an accurate pass to All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews who was wide open down the left sideline. It got the offense across midfield into Denver territory and sparked what would be the first and only other scoring drive for the unit before their game-winning possession late in the fourth quarter. Even though it stalled out in the red zone and they had to settle for a 26-yard Justin Tucker field goal, the points proved to be essential to the final result as the final margin of victory was a single point.
Huge pickup by @Mandrews_81❗️
Tune in on CBS!
The Ravens’ most clutch plays of the game came on the two that proceed to the game-winner. Facing a fourth-and-short from the Denver 18-yard line and needing just two yards for a fresh set of downs, Huntley kept the ball on a QB-power-read play and followed his blocks for a three-yard gain.
On the next play, he made a great improvisation when Drake was initially covered by Broncos linebacker Baron Browning coming out of the backfield by executing an excellent pump fake to fool the defender that could’ve brought pressure off the edge and lofted an accurate pass to his running back who got tackled just shy of the goal line.
Tyler Huntley is a luxury. As a backup QB, he made WINNING PLAYS in the final minute. Ridiculous pair of plays back-to-back here, executing QB Pwr Read then finding Drake after the pump fake to set up his GW TD run.
#RavensFlock #Ravens #BaltimoreRavens #RavensBroncos
If it weren’t for these three aforementioned plays, the Ravens very well might have suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season and they would’ve surrendered first place in the division to the surging Cincinnati Bengals. There was also the fourth down conversion with one yard to gain on the Baltimore 18-yard line on the game-winning drive by Andrews that kept alive with a clutch quarterback sneak. Thankfully, they were all made and are positives that they can build on moving forward as they try to right the ship down the stretch.
Comments
Best, Worst, Most Clutch Plays From Ravens Win Over Broncos