John Harbaugh tells classic story from Ravens’ Week 14 win over Browns

Kevin Oestreicher
·2 min read
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During the 2020 NFL season, many deemed the Baltimore Ravens’ Week 14 matchup with the Cleveland Browns the game of the year. A back-and-forth offensive showcase, the Ravens ended up winning the game 47-42, effectively saving their season as they kept their playoff hopes alive. However, the storylines in this game went far beyond the final score.

Baltimore only had two active quarterbacks available for the game in Lamar Jackson and Trace McSorley. Jackson went to the locker room with cramps in the fourth quarter, and while McSorley was trying to lead a valiant comeback, he went down awkwardly with an injury that would end up costing him the rest of the season. With no quarterbacks left and a 4th-and-5 staring him in the face, John Harbaugh had a massive decision to make. In an interview with Charles Davis, he recalled the moments before he had to give his final say:

There is plenty to unpack from this story, including the fact that Harbaugh was almost willing to let Justin Tucker trot out onto the field and attempt a 68-yard field goal. When McSorley went down, Cleveland was winning 35-34, so a successful try would have resulted in the Ravens going up by two points. Tucker also would have shattered the record for the longest made field goal in NFL history, a feat currently held by Matt Prater for kicking a 64-yard field goal in 2013.

While many people think that punter Sam Koch would be the emergency quarterback in a situation like Baltimore was facing, it was actually wide receiver Willie Snead who would have had to go into the game and try to lead Baltimore to victory. Snead played quarterback in high school, so he would have at least had a fighter’s chance at converting the fourth down.

Harbaugh detailed that Snead was confident, saying “this is my time to shine.” While we’ll never know if Harbaugh would have gone with Snead or Tucker, the whole situation makes for a great story, one that will go down in the history books.

You can watch the full interview here.