Heartbreak for the Texas Outlaws, Jubilation for the Baltimore Blitz as a once-in-a-lifetime play gives Baltimore a stunning victory in Summer Bowl 2014, when all onlookers anticipated overtime. With only 9 seconds left to play, Baltimore eschewed the kneel down to head to overtime and called a play fake that should have been easy to defend had Texas believed at all that Ben Roethlisberger would put the ball in the air. They didn’t, he did, and history was made.
In a matchup that largely lived up to the hype of the past week, Summer Bowl 2014 saw two teams with outstanding offensive game plans battle back and forth until the final seconds. Both quarterbacks played well, but it was yet another 400-yard day from Ben Roethlisberger that won him the Playoff MVP to go along with his win as the MVP of the season, and brought the Blitz the first title in franchise history. Roethlisberger would complete 18 of 25 passes, averaging 17.4 yards per completion in a display of vertical passing that netted him 435 yards and 3 touchdowns, including the stunning game winner.
Joe Flacco also had a strong day, throwing for 293 yards, and got help from his run game as NFL import Chris Johnson rushed for 91 yards and a 5.1 YPC average. The game saw three receivers top the 100-yard mark: Marques Colston for Texas (119), Javon Walker (123) and Darrius Heyward-Bey (145) for Baltimore. In a game with no interceptions thrown and only 1 fumble per team, it was all about the offense, and, in a bit of a cliché, about who had the ball last.
Big plays were the key for Baltimore all game long, beginning in the first quarter when they scored on a 76-yard completion on their opening possession. Texas had gone 3-and-out to open the game, and Baltimore responded with a drive that only lasted 4 plays. After taking the punt at their own 15, the Blitz garnered a first down on a pair of running plays, one each to Dixon and Cedric Benson. The third attempted run cost Baltimore a key weapon in the game, as on his very next carry Anthony Dixon went down with an ankle injury that would keep him out of the rest of the game and force Baltimore to go with Benson as their primary back. On a 2nd and 9, the Blitz rolled the dice, faking the ball to Benson and Big Ben found Walker in single coverage. The slot receiver, who is rumored to be seeking a free agent deal this fall, took in the arcing Roethlisberger pass and raced down the sideline for the first points of the game. The deep ball proved to be the first of several important big plays for the Blitz passing game.
Texas would recover, though it took 2 more drives before they added points to the scoreboard. Early in the second an Outlaw drive that had seen Chris Johnson bust a 23-yard run, fizzled in Baltimore territory, forcing the Outlaws to settle for a 31-yarder from Kai Forbath to get on the board at 7-3. Baltimore got the ball back and looked in rhythm as they drove down to the Texas 27, but on a basic off-tackle run, Benson fumbled when hit by Texas LB Vontae Burfict, and when Clyde Adams recovered the ball, the Outlaws had momentum and a chance to take the lead.
Texas would march the ball into Baltimore territory, mixing effective off-tackle runs by Johnson with short to medium passes by Flacco, including a beauty of a catch on a low ball by Brandon Marshall. Just outside the red zone, Coach Landry called a double move to Colston, who had been staying short on most of his routes. The misdirection worked and Flacco found Colston in the corner of the endzone for 7, putting the Outlaws up for the first time.
The lead would not hold as Baltimore was able to equalize the score with a late Nick Folk kick from 57-yards out, a boomer for the veteran and his longest kick of the year, thanks in part to the artificial turf and controlled environment of the Georgia Dome. The two teams would head into the locker rooms feeling pretty good about the first half. Both had proven able to move the ball, and aside from the one Benson fumble, the game had been a clean one for both teams.
With the clubs in the locker room, the fans at the Dome got to enjoy a halftime show headlined by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. The teams came out fired up to keep the ball rolling in the second half, and Texas wasted no time reasserting that they were a 1 seed for a reason, connecting on another nice pass from Flacco to Colston to go up 17-10. It was a play-action made possible by the solid running of Johnson throughout the first half. The safeties bit on the run fake and that small hesitation was all that Colston needed to get behind the defense. Flacco had a good pocket and put up a high arcing ball that came down just as Colston crossed the end zone. The lanky receiver brought the ball down in stride, dragged his toes, and fell out of bounds with another score.
Baltimore would take barely 3 minutes to respond, with Big Ben creating chunk plays, with long gainers to both Brian Hartline and Antonio Gates. Within 7 plays Baltimore had evened the score when a defensive PI called on SS Terrance Holt gave Baltimore the ball on the 1. Benson, who was not finding much room in the open field, had more success in the big formation and goal line offense, rumbling behind the left guard to take it in for 6. All tied up with 9:44 left in the 3rd quarter.
Texas and Baltimore both traded 3-and-outs after that drive, both hindered by holding calls on the O-line. And on Texas’s next possession, the turnover count was evened as this time it was Baltimore’s Dre Moore forcing a fumble as Felix Jones coughed the ball up trying to stretch on a 3rd and 3 play. The ball popped from his hands and Moore was able to fall on it, getting credit for both the forced fumble and the recovery. Baltimore would turn that takeaway into 3 points on a Nick Folk field goal and the third quarter ended with the score Baltimore 20, Texas 17. But everyone watching knew this game was not over.
In a fourth quarter that saw 24 combined points scored, both teams largely abandoned the run and looked for mismatches in 3, and occasionally, 4-receiver sets. Texas struck first, with Flacco finding Marshall on a 41-yard that initially looked like a touchdown, but was ruled out of bounds on the 2 after review showed the receiver’s foot touch the sideline before his final lunge into the end zone. It would take the Outlaws only 2 inside runs to first halve the distance and then punch it in, with Terrance West doing the honors. Texas now led 24-20 with just over 8 minutes to play.
Baltimore, not to be outdone, answered with a 9-play drive that saw Darrius Heyward-Bey catch his 5th ball of the day and his first score. It was a short, 3-yard inside move that got him open and Roethlisberger threw a low ball that only his receiver could get. DHB made the catch, rolling along the turf, and held the ball up to prove it was in his control. The referee verified the catch on instant replay and Baltimore moved out in front once again, 27-24. With 4:31 left, Texas would have a chance to win the game, or at the very least kick a field goal to send this game to overtime.
The ensuing Texas drive was a bit erratic, with Baltimore turning up the heat against Flacco, hoping to either force a mistake or a missed 3rd down. They would get neither. The Outlaws wanted 7, but when their drive bogged down at the 20 yard line, a last attempt at a touchdown went out of the end zone without finding a receiver. With 17 seconds left, Kai Forbath came out to tie the game and send it to overtime, or at least that was the idea.
Forbath’s kick was good, the game was tied at 27 and everyone, from the announces, to the fans in the Dome, to the beer and peanut venders all expected a couple of kneel downs from the Blitz and a coin toss for overtime possessions. What they got instead was a play that will live in either glory or infamy, depending on who you are dealing with. For Blitz fans this play will forever be the one that finally won them a title, but for Outlaw fans it was an inexcusable lack of focus that cost them a chance at their first title as a franchise.
The play was simple, Baltimore lined up with 2 receivers, 2 tight ends, and Cedric Benson in the backfield, a pretty standard inside run formation. It was clear that Roethlisberger was not going to take a knee, but would hand off to Benson. At least that was the expectation. When Big Ben did not hand the ball off, but faked it and then proceeded to drop another 3 yards back in the pocket, Texas was stunned. Their safeties had crept too close to the line to recover, cornerback Nathan Vasher was fast, but Heyward-Bey was faster and soon had a step on his lone defender. The Outlaws had not put in a shell or prevent defense, they had so assumed the game would end on a kneel down, that they were caught in man coverage.
Roethlisberger’s pass down the sideline was perfect, a long arcing ball that dropped right into DHB’s hands at full speed. He pulled away from Vasher, the Texas fans in the stadium screamed in disbelief, the Baltimore fans in sheer joy. As Heyward-Bey crossed the end zone, he raised his hands in the air, dropped the ball and then dropped to his knees in sheer celebration. It would take nearly 6 seconds for any other Blitz players to reach him in the end zone, but when they did the celebration was on. The referees and Baltimore coaches had to clear the field for kicker Nick Folk to deliver the extra point to make the final score 34-27. Folk would then kick the ball, squibbing it to a Texas up receiver, who tried to lateral it only to have the ball roll out of bounds. The game was over and the Baltimore Blitz had stunned everyone with one of the most memorable plays in USFL history.
Ben Roethlisberger would be named game MVP. He and coach Caldwell would receive the John Bassett trophy from the Commissioner, holding it aloft before passing it around to the team. Fans in the dome stayed to celebrate with them, at least the Baltimore ones. It was the kind of game that none of them wanted to end. No one wanted to go back to their cars, hotels, or homes. It was an amazing game between two very worthy adversaries, both of whom played a very solid, well-planned game, and both of whom had their magic moments, but the sheer spectacle of the game’s final play from scrimmage is what will be remembered in the annals of the USFL, perhaps the greatest single play in Summer Bowl history.
Good to see another charter franchise win their first SB. Hope Texas can run it back next year though