OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Bengals players were just as confused as the rest of us when nearly every member of the Ravens punt coverage unit was flagged for intentionally holding on the final play of Baltimore’s 19-12 win over Cincinnati.
Ravens win by holding Bengals intentionally and delaying safety, there's no time extension for the flags pic.twitter.com/cL9AdJaIwv
— Vikings Blogger (@firstandskol) November 27, 2016
Ravens punter Sam Koch took the snap and shuffled around in the end zone for the remainder of the game clock, while his blockers were able to successfully corral the Bengals rushers for the duration of the play. The Ravens were flagged for holding, but the game was over.
“I don’t think they had any idea what we were trying to do,” Ravens fullback and special teamer Kyle Juszczyk said. “When I tackled my guy, I got a couple, well, I’ll just say he was yelling at me.
“I actually apologized to him during the play. ‘Sorry man. Just something we had to do. It will be over here in a couple of seconds.’ ”
Bengals players may have been confused, but Ravens coach John Harbaugh, a former special teams coordinator, says it’s a strategy employed around the NFL.
“It is pretty much a play that every special teams coach has in his playbook, so I do not think it is anything revolutionary by any stretch,” Harbaugh said after the game.
It’s not only in Harbaugh’s playbook, but Ravens players actually spend a significant time working on it, just in case.
“It’s something we’ve practiced every week since I’ve been here,” said special teamer Darren Waller. “But I don’t think it’s been done since the Ravens won the Super Bowl.”
On the penultimate play of Super Bowl XLVII, Harbaugh called the same play with his team up 34-29 on the 49ers with 12 seconds remaining. The Ravens blockers held long enough for Koch to bleed eight seconds off the clock before taking a safety.
Though it was on a bigger stage, the play did not get nearly the attention the one against the Bengals did, for one simple reason: The refs, inexplicably, did not throw a flag.
The Ravens also used the intentional holding strategy they used against the Bengals at the end of Super Bowl XLVII pic.twitter.com/uH5e1el3tt
— Steven Ruiz (@theStevenRuiz) December 2, 2016
They threw three last Sunday, not that it mattered. Because the penalty was called against the offense, the Bengals did not get an untimed down, as they would have if the final play resulted in a defensive penalty.
The NFL rule book allows referees to put time back on the clock if they find the penalized player to have committed a “palpably unfair act,” which Ravens players are coached to avoid when the play is installed.
“They tell us hold forever. And it’s like, what do you mean hold forever? What’s forever? What’s the time limit?” said special teamer Albert McClellan. “They tell us what to do and what not do. You can’t get a personal foul. It’s not like you can’t just go out there and tackle a guy. You have to be smart about it.”
The Ravens were smart about it. And the shrewd play-calling and perfect execution allowed Baltimore to pick up a pivotal win that put them on top of the AFC North standings.
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