Chris Moore has never had a game with as sharp of extremes as he did in the Ravens' season-ending loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Add it to the list of lessons learned by the second-year wide receiver, who will be an intriguing player to keep an eye on this offseason.
"Not ups and downs like that," Moore said. "That's the NFL. I'm not shocked by it at all."
Moore gave the Ravens life when he returned a kickoff 87 yards in the final minute of the first half, then scored on a 6-yard touchdown catch over the middle on the very next play. That cut the Bengals' lead from 17-3 to 17-10 going into halftime.
"When I caught it, I saw the hole and just tried to hit it as fast as I could," Moore said. "I saw Vince Mayle leading the convoy on the sideline. I was tired, I know that."
The Ravens came out of halftime with their best offensive drive of the game yet. They were on the brink of the red zone when quarterback Joe Flacco tried to hit Moore on a crossing route that should have put the Ravens at about the 10-yard line.
The throw was a bit behind Moore and he tried to reach back with one hand to bring in the catch. Instead, he ended up juggling it (five separate touches), and it was picked off by the Bengals'* *Darqueze Dennard and returned 89 yards for a touchdown.
Moore took a brutal hit from Bengals safety George Iloka at the end of the play. Moore ultimately was ruled out of the game with a concussion, which added more sting to his season finale.
Moore said he's watched the juggling replay "a few times."
"It's just one of those wild plays. I did all I could," Moore said. "I watched that [kickoff return] more though. I watched that a few more times."
Just as Moore would rather focus on the positive, the way he finished his sophomore year is something he'll lean on this offseason.
The fourth-round pick out of Cincinnati had seven catches for 46 yards as a rookie. He finished this season with 19 grabs for 248 yards and three touchdowns, including four starts as the team leaned on him when Jeremy Maclin was injured.
He went from being a standout special teams player to a standout special teams player/offensive weapon who caught 12 passes for 152 yards and two scores over the Ravens' final six games.
"It was nice just to get some reps and start getting a good feel of what I can do in the NFL," Moore said. "It didn't end the way we wanted, but I started feeling like I was hitting my stride."
The Ravens have a lot of question marks at wide receiver this offseason. What's Maclin's future after a challenging, injury-riddled season? Will pending unrestricted free agents Mike Wallace or Michael Campanaro be back? Will Breshad Perriman finally break out?
That leaves Moore as perhaps the most known entity in the receivers room.
"I need to keep working hard and come back earlier in the season," Moore said. "I have to continue this pace. I feel like I was on a good climb and I can keep going."
