It took the Baltimore Ravens just six seconds to turn the Week 3 game around and secure a 34-31 win against the Dallas Cowboys. And it’s all thanks to the NFL’s touchback rule, which lets the receiving team start at the 35-yard line after a touchback, without burning a single second off the clock.
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“Everybody nowadays with all the game management people throughout the league, like you’re aware of the time constraints on these situations and what you’re able to do,” Ravens’ head coach Jesse Minter said in the post-game press conference. “The touchback rule is huge. It’s the 35-yard line. We felt like the same way with their kicker.
“When they get the ball in the 35, like they’re 15 yards from being in field goal range. We felt like, again, one play that could take six seconds, kind of know the time that that route takes and the yards that we needed. Great execution by our guys and [they] came through.”
In such situations, the teams generally try to spend as much time as possible before scoring to prevent the opponents from turning the game around. After adding a five-yard penalty and an injury (Terence Steele), the Cowboys’ head coach Brian Schottenheimer called for a timeout with 14 seconds remaining on the clock.
Schottenheimer initially planned on going for a touchdown to end the game. But he called for a field goal after Dak Prescott recorded four incomplete passes at the end zone in the final minute. The field goal tied the score at 31-31 with just seven seconds remaining on the clock.
“We thought we were going to score a touchdown,” Schottenheimer told the media at the presser after the game. “And we moved the ball really well down there. We’ve got to find a way to punch it in. We’ve got to call some better plays to get it in. And then, of course, when [on] fourth down, we had to take the points. I’m so proud of this team, this group of young men. They laid it all on the line.”
Aubrey kicked a touchback for 65 yards, allowing the Ravens to start their final drive at their 35-yard line. The kick came after Schottenheimer decided not to kick off short of the goal in the final moments of the game. But it’s worth noting that Aubrey sent two kickoffs out of bounds. And that made the head coach hesitant to ask him for a shorter kickoff in the final seconds.
“Again, it happens occasionally,” Schottenheimer said. “It can’t happen twice in a game. We don’t expect that from Brandon. We know how talented Brandon is, but like I said, no one coaches or played a perfect game, and because of that, we ended up coming up short to a good football team and a team that played well tonight.”
The Ravens had just one play and seven seconds to exploit the Cowboys’ mistake. Quarterback Lamar Jackson completed a 27-yard deep pass to Zay Flowers and reached Dallas’ 38-yard line for another first down. And Tyler Loop ended the game with a 56-yard field goal.
Had the Cowboys decided not to let Brandon Aubrey kick the touchback and burned about two more seconds before the field goal, they could have managed to take the game into overtime. It would have been tough for the Ravens to score the goal in just five seconds.
The play reminded the NFL world of the 13-second game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs managed to secure a 42-36 overtime win with a 13-second drive in 2022. After Sean McDermott called for a touchback, the Chiefs got the ball at the 25-yard line. And Mahomes used the remaining 13 seconds to tie the game with a field goal. That was the turning point for the Chiefs to claim a victory.
Jesse Minter’s situational awareness turned seven seconds into an instant win. And it happened all because of the NFL’s touchback rule.