The Baltimore Ravens moved into pole position in the AFC playoff race on Sunday after a Tylan Wallace punt return touchdown in overtime sealed a thrilling 37-31 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
Wallace’s 76-yard dash for glory into the end zone at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium helped the Ravens improve to an AFC-best record 10-3, boosting their chances of claiming top seeding in the NFL postseason.
“We knew we had to make a play,” back-up punt returner Wallace said after his winning touchdown.
“Shout out to the guys blocking for me, they made it happen for me. I’m just happy I was able to make a difference in the game.
“You never know when your moment’s gonna come, so when it does you just take advantage of it.”
The walkoff touchdown was the final act of a wild game that saw the lead change hands eight times in regulation.
The Rams forced overtime with a Lucas Havrisik field goal with seven seconds remaining that tied the score at 31-31 after the Ravens had snatched the lead late in the fourth quarter thanks to a Zay Flowers touchdown and a two-point conversion to make it 31-28.
Flowers’ touchdown had cancelled out a Rams score from Demarcus Robinson that put the Rams up 28-23 with 4min 41sec remaining.
The Rams meanwhile were left ruing the botched drive in overtime that led to Wallace’s winning score.
Needing only a field goal to win after forcing Baltimore to punt away their first possession, the Rams conceded a costly delay of game penalty to turn a 3rd & 4 conversion attempt into a 3rd & 9.
That proved beyond Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, and Los Angeles punted on fourth down to give Wallace his game-winning moment.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson finished the game 24-of-43 completions with 316 passing yards and three touchdowns with one interception.
Stafford threw three touchdowns with 294 passing yards. The Rams fell to 6-7 with the loss, denting their hopes of forcing their way into playoff contention.
In other early action on Sunday, the Detroit Lions crashed to an upset 28-13 defeat to the Chicago Bears in a divisional battle at Soldier Field.
Chicago quarterback Justin Fields threw for 223 yards with one touchdown and rushed for an 11-yard solo score late in the fourth quarter to set up the win.
Browns top Jags
In Cleveland, Trevor Lawrence shrugged off a high ankle sprain to start at quarterback for Jacksonville but had a mixed outing as the Jaguars (8-5) slumped to a 31-27 loss to the Browns, who improved to 8-5.
While Lawrence threw three touchdowns he was also intercepted three times and sacked on four occasions.
Cleveland meanwhile had veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, in for the injured Deshaun Watson, to thank for their win. Flacco made 26-of-45 passes while tossing for 311 yards with three touchdowns and not interceptions.
At East Rutherford, New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson shrugged off critics with two touchdowns and 301 yards in a 30-6 rout of the Houston Texans.
Texans rookie sensation quarterback C.J. Stroud had a day to forget, finishing with just 91 yards and no touchdowns. He was sacked four times and ended up in concussion protocol.
