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| Ravens quarterback Anthony Wright would complete 20 of 37 passes for 314 yards and throw four touchdown passes in the Ravens' comeback win over the Seahawks. |
For the 2003 Baltimore Ravens, those unlikely heroes came in the form of quarterback Anthony Wright and wide receiver Marcus Robinson who saved the Ravens' season in their Week 12 game with the Seattle Seahawks.
The Ravens entered the game with a 5-5 record, having lost their previous two games and needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
While the Ravens had their usual stout defense led by linebacker Ray Lewis and strong safety Ed Reed, the offense was not very explosive as rookie quarterback Kyle Boller had not provided the strong passing game Baltimore had been looking for as he averaged only 138.8 yards per game until he tore his quadriceps muscle in his left leg during the Ravens' 33-22 to the then St. Louis Rams.
Not impressed by backup Chris Redman's performance in relief of Boller, head coach Brian Billick named Wright the starting quarterback for the Ravens' next game against the Miami Dolphins.
Wright, who had started five games in his NFL career up to that point, lead the Ravens' offense to only two field goals in a 9-6 overtime loss to Miami, but still got the nod as the starting quarterback as the Ravens prepared to host the Seattle Seahawks.
The Seahawks entered the game with a 7-3 record thanks to an undefeated record at home and an offense which featured quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and running back Shaun Alexander.
Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren had his team in the thick of the NFC playoff race, but needed a win on the road to bolster their chances of a playoff spot.
Despite having lost three of their first four road game of the season, many experts believed Seattle could go into Baltimore and pick up the win.
For the Ravens to win, they needed a strong passing game to accompany running back Jamal Lewis and one player that they needed to have a big game was Robinson, who had been signed by the Ravens in the offseason but had only caught nine passes for 76 yards and zero touchdowns in the entire season.
That stood in sharp contrast to his 1999 season with the Chicago Bears where he caught 84 passes for 1,400 yards and nine touchdowns.
If the Ravens were to pull off the win, they would need the Robinson of 1999 to show up to help Wright and the struggling Ravens offense.
After a first quarter which saw both teams punt on every possession, the Seahawks began the second quarter with a 3rd & 4 at their 26-yard-line when fullback Mack Strong ran for nine yards and the 1st down.
That got the Seattle offense moving as Hasselbeck would hit his next three passes for a total of 43 yards to lead the Seahawks to the Ravens' 22-yard-line.
However, the drive would stall as Hasselbeck would threw two incomplete passes and be sacked by RAvens nose tackle Kelly Gregg for a five-yard-loss, forcing Seattle to settle for a 45-yard field goal by Josh Brown which gave the Seahawks a 3-0 lead with 11:54 left in the second quarter.
Following the Seattle field goal, the game went back into a punting contest until the Ravens' defense forced a turnover when Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs sacked Hasselbeck, which knocked the football loose for a fumble that was recovered by Suggs and returned seven yards to the Seahawks' three-yard-line to give Baltimore a 1st & goal.
However, the Ravens could not move the football on three plays and were force to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Matt Stover which tied the game at 3 with 3:36 left before halftime.
The Seahawks would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line when they put together their best drive of the game as Hasselbeck would complete four of his next seven passes for 54 yards to lead Seattle to the Baltimore 26-yard-line.
From there, the Seahawks went to Alexander who carried the ball three times for 24 yards, setting up Hasselbeck's two-yard touchdown pass to Darrell Jackson for the game's first touchdown and to give Seattle a 10-3 lead with 23 seconds to go in the first half.
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| Ravens running back Jamal Lewis would carry the ball 26 times for 117 yards. |
It seemed that the Ravens were going to go into the halftime break down a touchdown as they took over at their 36-yard-line with just 16 seconds to go.
But inexplicably the Ravens did not take a knee and decided to run the ball as Wright handed the ball off to Chester Taylor, who coughed up the football after he was hit by Seahawks linebacker Anthony Simmons, leading to a fumble that was recovered by cornerback Ken Lucas whose 24-yard-return gave Seattle the ball at the Ravens' 10-yard-line with just eight seconds left in the half.
That was enough time for Seattle to take a shot at the end zone which they did as Hasselbeck threw a pass to Bobby Engram, who made the catch for the Seahawks' second touchdown in 23 seconds to extend Seattle's lead to 17-3 with as the first half came to a close.
The Ravens would get the ball to start the second half, but it seemed that a 14-point lead would be a huge hill for Baltimore to climb especially since their offense had gained only 42 yards of total offense in the first half.
The Ravens gained eight yards on the first two plays of the half to set up a 3rd & 2 at their 37-yard-line when Wright went deep and connected with Travis Taylor for a 43-yard completion to the Seahawks' 20-yard-line.
Two plays later, Wright would hit Robinson for a 13-yard touchdown to trim the Seahawks' lead in half to 17-10 with 12:18 to go in the third quarter.
However, the Seahawks would respond quickly with a three-play, 56-yard drive that ended with Hasselbeck firing a 38-yard touchdown pass to Koren Robinson to push the Seahawks' lead back to 14 points at 24-10, just 89 seconds after the Ravens' touchdown.
The Ravens would go three-and-out on their ensuing possession and after Dave Zastudil shanked a 24-yard punt, the Seahawks had the ball at the Baltimore 29-yard-line.
The Baltimore defense would hold and not permit a 1st down, forcing the Seahawks to call on Brown to attempt a 46-yard field goal, which he made to extend the Seattle lead to 27-10 midway through the third quarter.
The Ravens would get the ball back at their 35-yard-line where it took them five plays to get back into the end zone as Wright connected with Robinson for another touchdown, this one for 50 yards to bring Baltimore back to within 10 points at 27-17 with 5:26 left in the third quarter.
It would only take the Seahawks 20 seconds to score again as Hasselbeck fired a deep pass for Jackson, who made the catch in stride and ran down the left sideline for a 80-yard touchdown to push the Seattle lead back to 17 points at 34-17.
All of a sudden the defensive stalemate that had occurred in the first half had turned into a up-and-down track meet and it wasn't over yet.
After Jackson's 80-yard touchdown catch, Lamont Brightful returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards to the Baltimore 48-yard-line, where it took the Ravens five plays drive down the field and score again as Wright and Robinson connected for their third touchdown of the quarter, a 25-yarder to once again make it a 10-point game at 34-24 with 3:18 left in the third quarter.
Following a 38-point third quarter, the Seahawks would score on the second play of the fourth quarter as Hasselbeck threw his fifth touchdown of the game as he found Engram for a five-yard touchdown to make it a 17-point game again at 41-24 with 14:16 left in the 4th quarter.
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| Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck would throw a career-high five touchdown passes on 23-of-41 passing for 333 yards. |
After an exchange of punts, the Ravens got the ball back at their 16-yard-line needed to put together a scoring drive quickly as they trailed by 17 points.
But the Ravens would be forced to punt the ball back to Seattle, only to get a break when Lucas muffed the punt, leading to a fumble that was recovered by Baltimore's Joe Maese at the Seattle 35-yard-line.
However, on the very next play, Jamal Lewis fumbled the football at the end of a six-yard-run, which was recovered by Seahawks safety Damien Robinson at the Seahawks' 32-yard-line.
The Ravens defense did not permit a 1st down and forced the Seahawks to punt the ball when Ed Reed struck as he blocked Tom Rouen's punt, then picked up the loose ball and ran it for a 16-yard touchdown to cut the Seattle lead to 41-31 with 6:41 to go in regulation.
The Seahawks would begin their next possession at their 25-yard-line where they drove to the Ravens' 31-yard-line until Ray Lewis made his presence felt as he forced and recovered a fumble after a run by Strong to give the Ravens the ball back at their 29-yard-line with 4:16 to go.
From there, Wright would lead the Ravens to the Seahawks' 39-yard-line until back-to-back sacks drove Baltimore back to their 35-yard-line where they faced a 4th & 28 as the two-minute hit.
Down 10 points, the Ravens had no choice but to go for it as Wright threw a deep Hail Mary pass that was deflected by Robinson and caught by Frank Sanders for an miraculous 44-yard gain to give Baltimore a 1st down at the Seahawks' 21-yard-line.
Three plays later, Wright connected with Robinson for a fourth touchdown as Robinson's nine-yard touchdown catch brought the Ravens to within a field goal at 41-38 with 1:12 to go in regulation.
Baltimore attempted an onside kick but it was recovered by the Seahawks' Alex Bannister at the Ravens' 42-yard-line.
Things seemed bleak for the Ravens to force overtime as they were only 71 seconds left and Baltimore had only two timeouts.
Alexander carried the ball for six yards on 1st down forcing Baltimore to burn a timeout with 64 seconds left to set up 2nd & 4.
That is when the Ravens got a break thanks to the referees.
As the Seahawks lined up for 2nd & 4, Seattle right tackle Floyd "Pork Chop" Womack lined up as an eligible receiver as Alexander ran the ball for three yards as the officials threw a flag for saying Womack failed to tell the referees that he was an eligible receiver when in fact he did.
The referees corrected the mistake and took back the penalty to set up 3rd & 1, but in the process forget to restart the clock as it had stopped with 58 seconds left because of the flag.
This resulted in the Ravens essentially getting an extra timeout but it didn't seem like it was going to matter as Seattle needed just one more yard to pull out the victory.
But Alexander was stopped inches short of the 1st down, setting up a crucial 4th & inches as the Ravens got to use their final timeout with 44 seconds left.
Holmgren decided not to punt or call on Brown to attempt a 50-yard field goal and instead went for the 1st down as Hasselbeck took the snap and tried to sneak it for the 1st down, only to be stopped short by Ravens defensive lineman Orlando Brown and Marques Douglas, giving the Ravens the ball at their 33-yard-line with 39 seconds left and a chance to drive into field goal range.
After an incomplete pass on 1st down, Wright went deep for Robinson on 2nd down where Robinson drew a 44-yard pass interference penalty on Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant to give Baltimore a 1st down at the Seattle 23-yard-line with 25 seconds left.
From there, Wright handed the ball off to Jamal Lewis, who picked up seven more yards, which was followed by Wright spiking the ball with four seconds left.
An illegal formation penalty would push the Ravens back five yards but it would not matter as Stover calmly made a 40-yard field goal to tie the game at 41 as time expired in regulation.
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| Marcus Robinson would catch seven passes for 131 yards and four touchdowns. |
The Seahawks would win the overtime coin toss and began their first drive of overtime at their 27-yard-line where a sack of Hasselbeck by Ravens linebacker Peter Boulware forced Seattle to punt the ball back to the Ravens who took over at their 21-yard-line.
From there, the Ravens would run the ball on four of their next five offensive plays with Jamal Lewis carrying the ball three times for 16 yards while Wright ran for eight yards on a quarterback scramble to lead Baltimore to the Seattle 46-yard-line.
But a pair of penalties and a five-yard run by Lewis forced a 3rd & 15 at the Ravens' 49-yard-line when Wright would find his favorite target, Robinson, for 19 yards to give Baltimore a 1st down at the Seahawks' 32-yard-line.
Lewis would carry the ball three straight times for eight yards before Stover was called on to kick the game-winning 42-yard field goal to give the Ravens a 44-41 overtime win and completing what was then the greatest comeback in team history.
But for Wright the win over the Seahawks would be the highlight of his day as later that night, his wife give birth to their second child, a girl named Trinity.
The Seahawks would recover from their heartbreaking loss in Baltimore by winning their final two games of the regular season to finish with a 10-6 record and earn a Wild Card spot in the NFC Playoffs, which ended with a 33-27 overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers after Hasselbeck's infamous declaration of "We're gonna score" when Seattle won the overtime coin toss, only to have Hasselbeck throw a pick-six in the extra period.
As for Wright, he would remain the starter for the Ravens for the rest of the 2003 season, leading Baltimore a 4-1 record over its final five games to earn them a 10-6 and the AFC North Division title.
However, Wright's magic carpet ride would in the Wild Card Round as the Ravens lost to the Tennessee Titans 20-17 on a 46-yard field goal by Gary Anderson with 29 seconds left.
Wright would miss the 2004 season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, but came back in 2005 to win the starting quarterback job back from Boller, only to be benched after posting a 2-5 record in his seven starts.
Wright would never start another NFL game again as he bounced around for three more years, being a third string quarterback on the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Giants before ultimately retiring following the 2008 season.
Meanwhile, Robinson would leave the Ravens following the 2003 season and sign with the Minnesota Vikings, where he would catch 107 passes for 1,553 yards and 17 touchdowns before he retired in 2008 as well.
While they may have not the greatest of careers, Wright and Robinson will always be remembered fondly by Ravens fans for their performances in their amazing comeback win over the Seahawks.
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