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How the Quickest Game-Winning Drive in NFL History Happened

WR Zay Flowers
WR Zay Flowers

Every other comeback can step aside.

The Ravens now have the quickest in NFL record books.

Seven seconds. That's all it took for the Ravens to stun the Dallas Cowboys with a 27-yard pass from Lamar Jackson to Zay Flowers and 56-yard field goal by Tyler Loop as time expired.

It was also the first time in the Super Bowl ear that both teams kicked a field goal in the last 10 seconds of the fourth quarter.

Here's how it happened:

After Nate Wiggins was flagged for a questionable pass interference penalty, the Cowboys, who trailed by three points, had first-and-goal from the 2-yard line with 23 seconds left.

Wiggins was upset about the penalty and figured the Cowboys would go right back at him. He was right, as Dallas threw a fade to George Pickens on the next play, but Wiggins defended it perfectly for an incompletion.

On the next play, Cowboys tight end Luke Schoonmaker false started, which moved Dallas back to the 7-yard line and in pass-only mode.

On second-and-goal from the 7, Prescott dropped back to pass, but Marlon Humphrey and Jaylinn Hawkins took away what seemed like his first read on a quick slant to CeeDee Lamb. With the pocket collapsing under pressure, Prescott ran and Roquan Smith rallied quickly to stop him for a 2-yard gain.

Cowboys Head Coach Brian Schottenheimer instantly called a timeout with 14 seconds left, which ended up being huge for leaving Baltimore more time at the end.

With one more shot to score a touchdown before a field-goal attempt, the Cowboys again went at Wiggins with Pickens. Pickens ran a quick out to the pylon, but Prescott's pass sailed well over his head.

"I probably overcoached Dak on that one because we had the points," Schottenheimer said. "And I probably overcoached him on that because it had to go to -- with the time, no timeouts -- it had to go to [Pickens] or throw it away."

Prescott seemingly threw it away when he didn't see the coverage he wanted.

"I probably should have sat on it a little bit longer," Prescott said. "Sank on my back foot and just put it on the front pylon. Probably should have."

Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey booted a 23-yard field goal through the uprights to tie the game at 31 with seven seconds left.

The Ravens then got another underrated boost from the Cowboys and Aubrey when he booted a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, placing the ball at the Ravens' 35-yard line without using any time off the clock.

"At the end of the day, we just felt like, hey, let's boom it through," Schottenheimer said. "Let's put them out there, make them throw the ball short and we'll be fine. Play for overtime. That's what the plan was."

Starting at the 35-yard line, Ravens Head Coach Jesse Minter figured his team only needed about 18 yards to give themselves a shot at a game-winning field goal.

The Cowboys decided to use man-to-man coverage with a single-high safety. It matched up cornerback Reddy Steward, who was elevated from the practice squad for the game with Dallas' secondary banged up, against Flowers.

"I liked the call," Schottenheimer said. "We wanted to stay sticky. ... This is a play we run quite a bit of, and the bottom line is you have to make the ball go to the first [crossing receiver], not the layer that they hit to Zay Flowers."

Jackson rifled the pass to Flowers for a 27-yard gain and called timeout right as Flowers was touched down with one second left, ensuring that Loop had a chance to win the game.

"Zay ran a great route, and I just had to deliver the baby," Jackson said.

Jackson said that the offense had been practicing that situation a lot since training camp, but they didn't go over it this past week leading up to Sunday's game.

Thankfully for Jackson & Co., the practice that had already been done translated to a high-stakes moment.

"Everybody just did their job," Flowers said. "It was a one-on-one matchup with me and the nickel (cornerback), and I won… (Lamar) did a great job of taking his time and calling a timeout, too."

Loop took it from there, booming his first game-winning field goal to set off a raucous celebration in the NFL's first game in Rio de Janeiro.

The Kansas City Chiefs needed just 13 seconds to come back and tie the Buffalo Bills in the 2021 AFC Divisional game, sending an epic shootout into overtime.

But as far as fast game-winning drives go, Jackson, Flowers and Loop now hold the crown.

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