The Ravens won an overtime thriller, 37-31, against the Rams when Tylan Wallace's 76-yard punt return for a touchdown ended the game in stunning fashion. Here's what the Rams had to say after the game:
Head Coach Sean McVay
Opening statement:
"What a hard-fought game by two teams. I thought that was two really good teams going at it. Credit the Ravens for making enough plays to be able to finish the game. But I love the way our group competed. There's a lot of things we can learn from. There were a lot of great plays made, a lot of resilience, a lot of grit, a lot of guts shown by this team today, and I'm looking forward to being able to respond with them. I love this team, love working with them. You give the Ravens credit for finding a way."
On the winning punt return:
"I saw a good return, you know, a lot of missed tackles. I have to go back and look at it. You credit [the Ravens] – they made the plays to be able to win the game today."
On the defense giving up 316 passing yards and two passing touchdowns:
"I'm not concerned about it. I think you can learn from it. I thought our defense battled. I thought they made a bunch of stops. I mean, you look at it, and it's one of the most complete teams in the league. They're as good as anybody on both sides of the football. They're excellent on special teams. They're coming off the bye with a great home crowd atmosphere. It's OK to hurt right now. That was a gut-wrenching loss. Guys put a lot out there, but we're not going to let the Ravens beat us twice. I can promise you that."
On the referee's explanation of the officiating decision with 1:28 to go in regulation:
"What they were trying to decide is whether they had already ruled him (Lamar Jackson) down, so they couldn't go back on that ruling. So, the clock wound on that, but we had plenty of time to get a call in. They came out in a loaded four-by-one formation. We were in a call that we liked, and it didn't go down for us. You credit Zay [Flowers] for making that play and Lamar for being able to stand in there and make the throw."
On whether he had been a part of a game which was lost on a punt return touchdown:
"No, I've never been a part of that. That's a tough way to go down after the way the game went, but it was two teams going back and forth. Being able to go toe to toe in a championship-caliber game late in December. Let's see how we respond. I think you're going to be proud of the way that this group responds. This was a tough, hard-earned win for the Ravens today. We're going to come back swinging."
QB Matthew Stafford
On the end of regulation:
"It's tough to go 75 [yards] in 1:10 and score. We obviously got into a good spot. We didn't want to go backwards from there, obviously, knowing that we had a chance to make a field goal from that position to tie the game. I threw one up to 'D- Rob' [Demarcus Robinson] trying to see if we [could] get one or a PI [pass interference] down there or a chance to go up and get it. Obviously 44 [Marlon Humphrey] was in a great spot and made a nice play, and we were a little bit behind after we had to burn that timeout. [We] got into overtime; our defense did a great job getting us the ball back, and we weren't able to get anything going there."
On the Ravens' second half-defense against the run:
"We just didn't execute well enough in the second half. Again, [it was a] close football game. We're not going to be perfect. Conditions weren't perfect. I don't know what [the Ravens] are – No. 2 defense in the league? They're going to have some say in it, as well. I thought our guys were steady all game, continued to trust each other and trust the process, go battle and play physical, and we obviously had a chance. We just didn't get it done."
On if he has ever been involved with an ending like this before:
"You're going to have to check. I don't think so."
DT Aaron Donald
On if he had ever been a part of a game that ended like that:
"I don't think so. It happens. I wish it didn't happen like that, but we get ready for next week now."
On his almost sack of Ravens' QB Lamar Jackson:
"Just elusive, man. He's so hard to get to. He just did a good job."
On the emotion on the sideline after the Ravens' punt return to win:
"Just shock. He (Tylan Wallace) made a play and found a way to score. There's nothing you can do about that. It's just a good play by him."
LB Ernest Jones IV
On if the Rams defense was trying to take away short plays:
"I think our mentality coming into the game was to stop them in all facets of the game, whether it be to stop up, stuff short and get ready for the deep ball. Regardless, Lamar just progressed all the way through to those deep balls, and they made a few plays on them and a few they didn't."
On if the defense made a concerted effort to stop the Ravens' running backs:
"Yeah, we come into the game the front four, plus the linebackers. We ain't allow you to just run the ball, especially with the backs. So, that's our mindset every week we come in."
WR Cooper Kupp
On the adjustments the Ravens made after halftime:
"They kind of got into some softer zone stuff. I don't know if it was three deep or what they were doing exactly, but I thought that they did a good job making us drive down the field. We were pretty efficient there in the first half, and then we got behind the sticks a couple times during the second half, and we weren't able to capitalize on a few drives. We have something going, and then, we could kind of stall out."
