Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Hubbard's 98-yard fumble return lifts Bengals over Ravens

Sam Hubbard returned Tyler Huntley’s fumble 98 yards for a tiebreaking touchdown in the fourth quarter, helping Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens 24-17 in an AFC wild-card game

Jay Cohen
Sunday 15 January 2023 23:24 EST

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Sam Hubbard returned Tyler Huntley's fumble 98 yards for a tiebreaking touchdown in the fourth quarter, helping Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens 24-17 in an AFC wild-card game on Sunday night.

Facing third-and-goal at the 1 with about 12 minutes left, Huntley tried to go over the top of the line for the go-ahead score. But he was stood up by Germaine Pratt and stripped by fellow linebacker Logan Wilson.

The ball went right to Hubbard at the 2, and the defensive end took off down the field for the longest fumble return for a touchdown in NFL postseason history. It also was the longest go-ahead TD in the fourth in the postseason.

Moments after the play by the Cincinnati native, with the Paycor Stadium crowd of 66,399 still buzzing, Hubbard sucked on oxygen as he sat on the bench on the sideline.

Baltimore drove down to the Cincinnati 17 in the final minute, but Kevin Zeitler was flagged for holding and Huntley threw incomplete to the end zone on the final play.

Playing behind a patchwork offensive line, Burrow passed for 209 yards and a touchdown for the AFC North champions. He also had a 1-yard touchdown run a week after the Bengals beat the Ravens 27-16 in the regular-season finale.

Next up for Cincinnati (13-4) is a trip to Buffalo for a rematch of their Week 17 game that was canceled after Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field. With Hamlin watching from home, Buffalo advanced with a 34-31 victory over Miami on Sunday.

Baltimore (10-8) now heads into the offseason with questions about the future of star quarterback Lamar Jackson.

___

Follow Jay Cohen at https://twitter.com/jcohenap

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in