Griffin convinced Glenn to revive the segment last season after a hiatus from the program for a few years, and it’s relatively simple how it works: on Tuesdays following Sunday’s game, we will sit down and map out the Five Plays That Told The Story Of Sunday’s Game.
It’s as simple as it sounds, if the Ravens lose, we’ll pick the five plays that we perceived embodied the loss, not all necessarily scoring plays, sometimes no scoring plays. And of course on the inverse, when the Ravens win, the five plays that most embodied the win.
The Ravens have dropped out of first place in the AFC North and outside the AFC Playoff picture altogether after an extremely frustrating 27-22 loss to division rival Steelers. Hard not to blame the refs but here are the Five Plays That Told The Story of Sunday’s game according Glenn Clark and Griffin Bass:
Glenn’s Five Plays That Told The Story of Sunday’s Game:
5. 1:25 – 4th (2nd & 14 at BAL 22) (No Huddle, Shotgun) L. Jackson pass short middle to Z. Flowers to BLT 26 for 4 yards (P. Queen; J. Pierre).
Why would I include this utterly unimportant play? Because I have to pick something that reflects what happened on the final drive. The Ravens started with the ball at their own 26 with 1:56 to play. After this short gain, they would run their next play with :55 seconds left…from the 26 yard line. They gained zero yards and 61 seconds came off the clock. You might argue the Vorhees penalty should be here, but the clock still wasn’t a problem after the Vorhees penalty. The inability to get chunk yards and snap the ball quickly created that.
4. 2:32 – 4th (3rd & 2 at PIT 5) (Shotgun) D. Henry up the middle to PIT 8 for -3 yards (A. Highsmith). ** Injury Update: PIT-P. Queen has returned to the game. Penalty on BLT, Illegal Formation, declined.
As John Harbaugh acknowledged, this was a complete mess and there should have been a timeout. It proved to be killer. I also don’t understand why, when you absolutely NEED a touchdown, you don’t just run your tush push play twice and make sure you get your two yards and go from there.
3. 13:41 – 4th (3rd & 4 at PIT 10) (Shotgun) L. Jackson pass incomplete short left to R. Bateman.
They had lots of offensive momentum after scoring a touchdown on the previous drive and moving the ball down the field. They spent the rest of the game chasing points after not cashing in here.
2. 2:47 – 4th (1st & 10 at PIT 13) C. Bullock reported in as eligible. L. Jackson pass short middle to I. Likely for 13 yards, TOUCHDOWN. The Replay Official reviewed the pass completion ruling, and the play was REVERSED. C. Bullock reported in as eligible. L. Jackson pass incomplete short middle to I. Likely (J. Porter).
I hate even putting this on the list because I still, after reading the rule multiple times, believe they got this wrong. But alas, you can’t tell the story without it.
1. 3:30 – 3rd (3rd & 4 at BAL 38) (Shotgun) A. Rodgers pass short right to J. Warren for 38 yards, TOUCHDOWN. C. Boswell extra point is GOOD, Center-C. Kuntz, Holder-C. Waitman
Just never overcame this. Proved to be back breaking.
Griffin’s Five Plays That Told The Story of Sunday’s Game:
5. Interception. 9:31 – 2nd (Shotgun) L.Jackson pass short right intended for R.Ali INTERCEPTED by J.Pierre at BLT 45. J.Pierre pushed ob at BLT 36 for 9 yards (T.Linderbaum). 3rd & 4 at BAL 32
Really bad interception from Lamar, led to an easy 3 points for the Steelers.
4. 7-yd Penalty. 6:13 – 2nd. C.Boswell 32 yard field goal is GOOD, NULLIFIED by Penalty, Center-C.Kuntz, Holder-C.Waitman.PENALTY on BLT-T.Jones, Unnecessary Roughness, 7 yards, enforced at BLT 13 – No Play. 4th & 1 at BAL 13
BS penalty on Jones. Unbelievable call, 4-point swing in favor of Pittsburgh after a massive defensive stop, and now they’re down 17-3.
3. 38-yd Touchdown Pass. 3:30 – 3rd (Shotgun) A.Rodgers pass short right to J.Warren for 38 yards, TOUCHDOWN. C.Boswell extra point is GOOD, Center-C.Kuntz, Holder-C.Waitman. 3rd & 4 at BAL 38
Horrendous from the defense because the Steelers ran this same play like three times on this drive too. And even worse was that the offense just scored, brought you back within 20-16 and the defense couldn’t get a stop to keep it a one score game… But I disagree with Glenn because there still a lot of time left and the defense then held Pittsburgh to three straight 3-and-outs in the 4th quarter totaling 3 yards.
2. Incompletion. 13:51 – 4th (Shotgun) L.Jackson pass incomplete short left to R.Bateman. 3rd & 4 at PIT 10
The Bateman drop. Horrible. And the awful blocking is on display here too, Faalele nor Ali picking up the blitz.
1. -3-yd Run. 2:32 – 4th (Shotgun) D.Henry up the middle to PIT 8 for -3 yards (A.Highsmith). ** Injury Update: PIT-P.Queen has returned to the game. Penalty on BLT, Illegal Formation, declined. 3rd & 2 at PIT 5
You absolutely could not lose three yards here and you did. Plus, Vorhees lined illegally. This was a disaster from the start, needed a timeout and it was detrimental. This was two plays after the Likely overturn and that’s why the Likley play isn’t on my list, because they still had chances (plural!) to overcome that.
You can listen as the boys break it down here:
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox
