Ravens' Harbaugh: Huntley was supposed to go low on costly QB sneak fumble
The Baltimore Ravens were in position to take the lead in the fourth quarter of Sunday night's wild-card matchup before Tyler Huntley's costly goal-line fumble led to a 98-yard go-ahead touchdown for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said postgame that Huntley was supposed to go low instead of attempting to go over the top of the pile on the play, according to Jonas Shaffer of The Baltimore Banner.
"We just didn't execute right," Harbaugh said.
Huntley had the ball knocked out of his grasp and into the hands of Bengals defensive lineman Sam Hubbard, who returned it for a touchdown to give Cincinnati a 24-17 lead it would never relinquish.
The Bengals' go-ahead score increased their chances of winning from 46% to 88%, per NFL's Next Gen Stats.
"I just tried to make a play," Huntley said after the loss, per The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec.
He added: "I'm going to be thinking about that the whole offseason - how (with) just one play they won the game. … That's going to motivate me to just grind hard, work hard."
Huntley was making his fifth start of the 2022 campaign in place of the injured Lamar Jackson, who missed the last six games with a PCL sprain. He finished the contest with 226 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. He also added 54 rushing yards on nine carries.
The 24-year-old didn't play in the regular-season finale due to a shoulder injury.