Quarters
1 - Both offenses came out firing, trading all-but-uncontested touchdowns on the first three possessions of the game. The ground game was at the forefront, with Alfred Morris rolling up 46 yards on the Redskins’ opening drive and Ray Rice matching that total on his second run from scrimmage alone. But the Redskins’ 14-7 edge at the end of the quarter came thanks to Robert Griffin III getting in sync with his receivers a bit more effectively than Joe Flacco did, including key completions to Santana Moss, Leonard Hankerson and Joshua Morgan on the second TD drive.
2 - Flacco got rolling in the second as the Redskins sputtered, slicing up the woeful Washington secondary for a pair of TD passes. Most egregious was Anquan Boldin burning DeAngelo Hall for the second time in the game, this time for a 31-yard score. Washington’s offense stalled, with Morris fumbling deep in Redskins territory to set up a Flacco-to-Dennis Pitta TD and Griffin and Morris botching an option pitch to end another drive.
Play of the game: Kirk Cousins’ first two passes after stepping in for RG3 resulted in a pass interference call and a completion that put the Redskins on Baltimore’s 11 with 36 seconds left. It was his third that will be on season highlight films, an arcing toss to Pierre Garcon in the corner of the end zone that made it 28-26. Cousins’ run for the two-point conversion put the game in OT.
3 - Kai Forbath accounted for all of the scoring, as the offenses continued to regress. Forbath connected from 48 and 49 yards to follow up a pair of Flacco turnovers. First was a fumble forced and recovered by Rob Jackson; later came a London Fletcher interception prompted by pressure from Ryan Kerrigan.
4 - After Rice extended the Ravens’ lead to 28-20 with just under five minutes to play (thanks in large part to Boldin torching Hall once again), the Redskins got the rally they needed to stay in the playoff hunt. But a devastating hit on the end of a 13-yard RG3 scramble could determine the course of the rest of the Redskins’ season.
OT - Baltimore got the ball first but couldn’t do anything offensively. Richard Crawford returned the ensuing punt 64 yards and the Redskins started their possession already in field-goal range. An offside penalty put Washington at the Ravens’ 19, and Morris ran twice before the Redskins turned it over to Forbath on third down. His 34-yarder sailed through easily and the Redskins had their fourth consecutive win.
• Marc Lancaster can be reached at mlancaster@washingtontimes.com.
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