BALTIMORE — Tylan Wallace wasn’t even supposed to be back there. Before this game, he had never returned punts in the NFL. But when Devin Duvernay left with a back injury, the Ravens turned to Wallace, and he delivered what he called a “once in a lifetime” moment.
Wallace spun out of a tackle, found a seam, then broke another tackle, stumbled, regained his footing and raced 76 yards for a walk-off, punt return touchdown in overtime to lift the Ravens to a thrilling 37-31 win over the Los Angeles Rams at soggy M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 10.
The winning score came after the teams traded the lead like a tennis volley during the first 60 minutes. Seven times the lead went back and forth, with the Ravens taking a 31-28 edge on Lamar Jackson’s 21-yard touchdown pass to Zay Flowers with 1:16 left.
But that left the Rams (6-7) enough time to march downfield and tie the game, which they did when kicker Lucas Havrisik hit a 36-yard field goal with seven seconds left.
The Ravens (10-3) went three-and-out on the opening possession of overtime, but the defense, which had yielded the quick scoring drive at the end of regulation, and looked imposing but also vulnerable at points throughout the game, stiffened. Matthew Stafford threw a pair of incompletions and the Ravens forced a punt.
Wallace settled under it at the Ravens’ 24-yard line. He cut to the left, got a block from Charlie Kolar, spun out of a tackle, then got another block from Ronald Darby and Daryl Worley and found a seam. Wallace avoided a shoestring-tackle attempt near midfield, stumbled, then regained his balance and outran everyone down the left sideline for the game-winning score.
By the time Wallace flew into the end zone for his first career touchdown, the entire team was trailing him for a wild end-zone celebration that included head coach John Harbaugh.
Coming off their bye, the rested Ravens certainly did enough to lose. They gave up a safety when a snap caught quarterback Lamar Jackson by surprise and sailed into the end zone. Jackson kicked it out of the end zone for a safety. With safety Kyle Hamilton sidelined during the game by a knee injury, the Ravens No. 2-ranked defense yielded long scoring drives. They also committed a few costly penalties. Yet after all that, the Ravens still found ways to win and remain in the running for the AFC’s No. 1 overall seed.
Here are five quick impressions of the win, which moves the Ravens to 13-3 immediately after the bye under Harbaugh:
1. Tylan Wallace was ready for his moment.
For players down the depth chart, the milestone moments can be fleeting. Tylan Wallace has spent most of his three-year career waiting for that chance. He has not found his footing as an NFL wide receiver, with just six career catches in three years. This season, he has hardly played on offense.
Yet Wallace has plowed ahead, steady and focused, as one of the team’s top special teams players, usually as a punt-team gunner, speeding down to make a tackle. And each week in practice, he settles under a half-dozen or so punt returns, just in case.
When regular punt returner Devin Duvernay went down with a back injury, “just in case,” became “now.”
“I appreciate [the coaches] for believing in me and putting me back there to make plays for the team,” Wallace said.
The big-play potential has always been there for Wallace, as evidenced by more than 3,400 yards and 26 touchdowns in a decorated career at Oklahoma State. Yet before this game, Wallace had never returned a punt in an NFL regular-season game. (He had done so a few times in preseason play.)
Head coach John Harbaugh said the coaches had considered using Zay Flowers on punt returns, but they opted for Wallace. Harbaugh called Wallace a “veteran guy who’s kind of been through it. … You just felt like, ‘He deserves it. He’s ready for that moment.’
“Did I think he’d take it back to the house? No,” Harbaugh continued. “But I thought he’d catch it, maybe make a guy miss.”
It was also a bit of redemption for Wallace, who earlier in the game had been called for a crucial penalty when he lined up offside on a Rams punt, giving the Rams a first down and extending a Rams drive that ended with a touchdown.
A roar went through the Ravens locker room when Wallace arrived after on-field interviews, and it was easy to understand why. From the top of the roster to the bottom, players appreciate seeing a grinder like Wallace get his just rewards.
“There are 53 guys on the roster, and 16 guys on the practice squad,” tight end Charlie Kolar said, noting that with Wallace, so much of his contribution is “the dirty work. … To see him get his moment, it was incredible.”
2. The Ravens neutralized Aaron Donald.
Earlier this week, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald might be the best to ever play the game at that position. Donald is a three-time Defensive Player of the Year and a seven-time All-Pro.
Donald entered the game with 43 tackles, six sacks and 21 quarterback hits. Against the Ravens he did not record a tackle or a quarterback hit. The only time he registered on the stat sheet was when he got a hand up and deflected a pass.
On the Ravens’ first offensive snap, fullback Patrick Ricard came in motion and helped tackle Morgan Moses deal with Donald. At other times, the Ravens doubled him with two offensive linemen. Center Tyler Linderbaum and left guard John Simpson handled him at times. Guard Kevin Zeitler got involved. The Ravens also rotated in backup tackles Patrick Mekari and Daniel Faalele to try to keep fresh legs on the field.
They always knew where No. 99 was, and they never let him get to Jackson.
“It seems like Lamar had all day to throw, set his feet, make his reads, run for yards if necessary,” Ricard said. “Definitely credit to the offensive line. … Really solid job by them.”
Jackson finished 24-for-43 for 316 yards and three touchdowns, and he had all the time he needed for his deep passing game to develop. Jackson also finished with 11 carries for 70 yards. More than once, Donald slowly picked himself up from the turf and walked toward the new line of scrimmage after Jackson had eluded pressure and run or thrown for positive yardage.
Donald has been a game-changer from his interior position like few players in the last decade. The Ravens simply never let him be that player.
3. The Ravens’ deep passing game remains a work in progress.
Lamar Jackson’s first two touchdown passes in this game went 54 yards to Isaiah Likely and 46 yards to Odell Beckham Jr., as in both cases Rams defenders simply lost the Ravens in coverage. Likely was left all alone on the left sideline as he hauled in the longest catch of his career, and Beckham used a double-move to juke Rams safety Jordan Fuller and find open space deep.
Jackson’s pass was off target, but Beckham was so open that he could turn, adjust to the ball, and catch it as he slid into the end zone for the score.
Jackson took multiple other deep shots in this game, and several other times Ravens receivers got behind the defense and Jackson simply missed the target. He underthrew an open Rashod Bateman on a ball that was intercepted. He sailed a deep pass beyond an open Beckham, and he missed Zay Flowers deep down the right sideline as the ball sailed out of bounds.
The plays were there to be had, and Jackson knew it.
“I wish I had those other few,” Jackson said. “I feel like I got too excited ‘cause I saw [the receivers] just flying. I should have just kept my poise and delivered them like I did earlier in the game, and the game probably would have been over faster.”
Granted, the Ravens got away with them in this one thanks to Tylan Wallace punt-return heroics. But down the stretch, and into the postseason, the margin for error is going to shrink, and the Ravens probably can’t afford to miss those opportunities.
4. Zay Flowers is replacing Mark Andrews as the Ravens’ go-to target.
Lamar Jackson and Zay Flowers might not have the telepathic connection that Jackson and injured tight end Mark Andrews, but it’s looking as if the rookie first-round pick is becoming Jackson’s go-to guy in crunch time in the way that Andrews normally has been.
Flowers had 10 targets in this game — tying Odell Beckham Jr. for the most on the team — and made two of the biggest plays of the game when he caught a 21-yard touchdown catch that put the Ravens ahead 29-28 with 1:16 left, then also caught the ensuing two-point conversion.
Flowers finished with a team-high six catches for 60 yards, and three of them came on that final touchdown drive. (Flowers did have one pass bounce off his chest that he surely wants back.)
Through 13 games, Flowers leads the Ravens with 64 catches for 673 yards. His average of 10.5 yards a catch is the lowest of the Ravens’ receivers, but that hardly matters. As he has shown since pretty much the first week of practice, he has an innate ability to get open in areas of the field where Jackson is best, and his ability to juke defenders and get extra yardage adds up.
When the All-Pro Andrews went down with a serious ankle injury, the immediate question was how would the Ravens compensate? Who would become that “trust” receiver that Jackson looks for in the most crucial moments? As he hauled in Jackson’s third touchdown catch in the closing minutes of regulation, and then the ensuing two-point conversion, Flowers was providing the answer.
5. The drive for the No. 1 seed remains alive, but the division race isn’t over.
The Ravens surely needed this one if they hope to remain in the hunt for the AFC’s No. 1 overall seed. The Ravens have a rugged four-game homestretch to end the season with upcoming games at Jacksonville (8-5) and San Francisco (10-3) before closing the season at home against Miami (9-3) and the suddenly reeling Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6).
The Cleveland Browns (8-5) beat Jacksonville to remain two games behind the Ravens, so while the Ravens are positioned to compete for the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC — and the bye that goes with it — they remain in a battle for the division lead, too.
Unlike the Steelers, the Browns — led by Joe Flacco, who threw three touchdown passes to beat the Jaguars — aren’t going away. And the Cincinnati Bengals (7-6) behind backup quarterbacks have delivered a couple of surprising wins.
The Ravens have earned their spot in the driver’s seat in the division. If the Ravens win out, they will be the AFC’s No. 1 seed; they would be 14-3 and would have handed Miami a fourth loss.
Given how the upcoming schedule shapes up, this game was one the Ravens had to have. There’s a lot of football left to be played, but Tylan Wallace’s punt return to rescue this one could become an even larger part of the narrative over the final month of the season.
This story has been updated since its original publication.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox