With the Ravens trying to get their second-straight overtime victory, quarterback Joe Flacco turned to wide receiver Tandon Doss on third down.
Doss, who had made some key catches earlier in the game, had the tightly contested third-down pass bounce off his hands for an incompletion. The Ravens ended up having to punt, and seven plays later the Bears kicked a 38-yard field goal to give the Ravens a gut-wrenching 23-20 loss.
"I just have to starting making those plays," Doss said after the game.
Doss and Flacco both threw up their hands in protest after the play because they wanted a flag for holding or pass interference on cornerback Tim Jennings. There was contact down the field after Doss came off the line of scrimmage, but the officials kept their flag in their pockets rather than giving the Ravens the automatic first down.
"I came off the ball, and as soon as I crossed his face he just grabbed me," Doss said.
"I thought he got held, but that's just me in game time," Flacco added.
Before the overtime miscue, Doss also had a pass bounce off his hands earlier in the game. That play came on third-and-1 in the fourth quarter, as Flacco tried to hit Doss on a short out route. The high winds appeared to put some extra movement on the pass, but Doss still got his hands on what would have been a tough first-down catch.
The Ravens ended up punting on that possession, but eventually came back later in the quarter to tie the game at 20-20 to force overtime.
"You just have to adjust and start making plays, especially me being from the Midwest and knowing how the weather is," the Indianapolis native said. "You just have to make the play when your number is called, and we left some plays out there. We just have to make those plays."
The weather was a factor for both sides, as severe storms forced the game into a two-hour delay and the heavy rains made the field a mud pit. The rain and high winds created challenges in the passing game, but Doss did not want to use the conditions as an excuse.
"That's what we're here to do," he said. "I've never been on a field that messy and never played in a wind that bad – gusts from every direction – but I've got to make plays."
The late drops overshadowed what would have been a positive day for the third-year receiver. Doss had three catches for a team-high 37 yards. All three of those receptions went for first downs, and two of them came on third-down plays.
Despite those catches, Doss was still focused after the loss on the catch that he didn't make, and how that could have changed the outcome of the game.
"It was one or two plays on either side of the ball, I couldn't make the catch at the end to keep things going," Doss said. "We've got to figure out what we need to do to start getting some wins because we've got a long season ahead."
