With a little help from Ravens safety James Ihedigbo, the Bengals scored a stunning hail mary touchdown to force overtime in the latest clash between these AFC North rivals .
The scoreboard showed a 17-10 lead for the Ravens when Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton lofted a high arcing pass toward the end zone on the final play of the fourth quarter. As the ball came down amid a pack of players near the three-yard line, someone tipped the ball away from the crowd. Before it could harmlessly drop to the turf in the end zone, Ihedigbo, inexplicably, batted the ball up with his left hand. With the ball now up for grabs, wide receiver A.J. Green, who hadn't even made a play on the pass initially, grabbed it for an improbable 51-yard touchdown.
"I was just looking for someone to tap the ball so I could catch it," Green told reporters after the game, via The Associated Press.
After Mike Nugent booted the extra point, the score was level at 17-17 and fans at M&T Bank Stadium were treated to some free football that they would've preferred not to see.
"It looked like Ihedigbo was playing volleyball," marveled CBS announcer Dan Dierdorf.
Luckily for the under-fire safety, the Ravens prevailed in overtime 20-17. Until that final play of the fourth quarter, Ihedigbo had been having a day to remember for much better reasons: The sixth-year safety twice intercepted Dalton before this gaffe.
