BALTIMORE, Md. – The Detroit Lions fell behind the Baltimore Ravens 20-0 and never recovered en route to a 44-20 setback in a battle of 6-5 squads at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Ravens entered the game as 2.5-point favorites over the Lions.
On Sunday, Detroit and Baltimore traded possessions until Justin Tucker’s 38-yard field goal with 5:57 to go in the opening period gave the Ravens a 3-0 edge. That score stood until the initial break.
Baltimore tacked on its first touchdown with 11:52 remaining in the first half when quarterback Joe Flacco hit tight end Benjamin Watson with a 1-yard scoring strike to put the Ravens up 10-0.
Soon thereafter, Lions signal-caller Matthew Stafford fumbled the ball away and Baltimore was soon up 17-0 after Flacco connected with rookie fullback Patrick Ricard for a 3-yard touchdown with 6:54 left until intermission.
The Ravens then went ahead 20-0 when Tucker booted a 46-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
The Lions came right out of the locker room, drove and scored on a 4-yard run by Theo Riddick to close to within 20-7 at the 12:11 juncture of the third period.
Detroit then trimmed the margin to 20-13, Baltimore scored to take control 27-13 and the Lions came right back to slice the bulge to 27-20 in the final frame. Another Tucker field goal set the deficit at 30-20 with 6:54 to go.
Stafford suffered a hand injury during the finale and left the game for good. He was replaced by former Michigan quarterback Jake Rudock.
The Ravens got on the board again for a 37-20 advantage with exactly 4:00 showing on the clock.
Rudock then threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown to set the gap at 44-20 with 2:26 remaining. That also wound up being the final score.
The Lions are now 6-6 going into a trip to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday afternoon.
The Ravens now stand 7-5 entering a road game with the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday night at Heinz Field.
EARLIER STORY:
http://fox17online.com/2017/12/03/lions-trail-baltimore-ravens-20-0-at-halftime/