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Ravens beat Bengals with intentional safety (Video)

By Dave Stevenson

Nov 27, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Cody Core (16) is held by Baltimore Ravens safety Matt Elam (33) on the final play of the game, which resulted in a safety at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 27, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Cody Core (16) is held by Baltimore Ravens safety Matt Elam (33) on the final play of the game, which resulted in a safety at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Baltimore Ravens took a deliberate safety and held a lot of players for their last play to beat the Cincinnati Bengals. 

In the NFL, it’s extremely important to know the rule book. Not only can it help you play clean, at times you can find silly loopholes that let you do ridiculous things. John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens knows this well, especially after Baltimore lost to the New England Patriots in the playoffs back in 2014. So he took a page from Bill Belichick’s book by using a crazy loophole to beat the Bengals.

Leading the Bengals 19-12 in the final seconds of the game, Baltimore had no interest in letting Cincinnati get a miracle punt return. So instead of punting it, they wisely took a deliberate safety. Punter Sam Koch burned the time of the clock. And just to make sure he could burn it off, Baltimore’s players deliberately held just about every Bengals player.

There are some holds in there that the WWE would be proud of. So how was this legal? Because none of the holding penalties were in the end zone nor did they create the safety.

Technically, Baltimore played by the rules. They didn’t break or bend any regulations. However, the Ravens did take advantage of a grey area of the rulebook. The NFL must find a way to make it more black and white.

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San Francisco 49ers fans remember Baltimore profiting off this loophole before, as they did so in Super Bowl 47. Though that time, they didn’t run all of the time off the clock. Expect the NFL to close this loophole. But hey, if you take advantage of a loophole so blatantly that it causes the league to rewrite the rules, you probably did something right.

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