NASHVILLE - The 2020-21 NFL Postseason got underway on Saturday, with Super Wild Card Weekend. This year there was an extra wild card game added into the mix in each conference. Let’s take a look at the five seed, Baltimore Ravens, facing off against the four seed, Tennessee Titans. This game was highly anticipated with the Titans knocking the Ravens out of the playoffs in the divisional round last year. The two teams faced off in week 11 this season. The Titans took that game by a score of 30-24.
This game started off like any other, Justin Tucker kicked the ball to the Titans. The first drive by each team resulted in a three and out. The Titans hopped on the scoreboard on their second drive of the game with a 10-yard pass from Ryan Tannehill to AJ Brown, Titans lead 7-0.
On the next Baltimore drive, Lamar Jackson dropped back and threw a pass intended for Miles Boykin which was picked off at the Tennessee 28. The Titans managed to work their way down the field but were eventually forced to kick a 45-yard field goal, putting them up 10-0.
The subsequent Ravens drive saw them march down the field in 12 plays but fall to the same fate as the Titans’ last drive, Justin Tucker nailed a 33-yard field goal. This brought the Ravens to within a touchdown, 10-3 for the Titans.
With their first possession of the second quarter, the Titans had to punt after just four plays. The Ravens started the drive at their own 18. After six plays the Ravens were up to midfield where Lamar Jackson scrambled out of the pocket on third and nine running it all the way into the endzone for a 48-yard touchdown to tie the game at 10. Each team had one more drive in the half but neither of them resulted in anything.
The Ravens received the ball to start the second half. On a 10-play drive burning up just shy of six minutes, the Ravens took their first lead of the game from a four-yard touchdown run by the rookie, J.K. Dobbins, putting the Ravens ahead 17-10. A few drives later, the Titans started with the ball on their own 42. They were driving down the field but were stopped after seven plays for 36 yards, and and held to only three points on the drive.
Ravens went up 17-3. On the ensuing drive, Baltimore took the ball down the field but were eventually stopped, forcing Justin Tucker to come out and attempt a 52-yard field goal. Tucker hooked it wide right keeping their lead at four.
The Titans went five plays before facing a fourth and two at the Baltimore 40. With only 10 minutes remaining in the game, Mike Vrabel decided to punt the ball away instead of going for the first down. Baltimore started at their own 15 and moved the ball up to the Tennessee 34 yard line, in just eight plays for 62 yards and burning over half the remaining clock. On the ninth play of the drive, Tucker had a chance to redeem himself with a 51-yard field goal, and he did not miss again, putting Baltimore up 20-13 late in the fourth quarter. The Titans had one more drive to tie the game up, and possibly send it to overtime. Tennessee was moving the ball well when on the sixth play of the drive Ryan Tannehill drops back and throws a pass deep to the right for Kalif Raymond when Marcus Peters intercepts the pass putting the game on ice.
After the pick, the Ravens defense all celebrated in the middle of the field on the Titans’ logo, some of them even stomping on it. This was a result of the Week 11 game where most of the Titans' players huddled on the Baltimore logo.
The refs penalized the Ravens for taunting, but it didn’t matter, the Ravens just ran out the remaining 1:50 left on the clock. After Lamar Jackson took the final knee to end the game, he ran off the field before the clock even hit :00 without shaking any hands due to the bad blood that has been growing over the past two seasons between the teams. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens got their revenge on the Titans. This was Jackson's first career playoff win.