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The Best of the Day: December 14th, 2020
See the best of the day in sports from December 14th, 2020 including a MNF classic between BAL and CLE, Haason Reddick's potential, and more!
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The ‘Best of the Day’ is a daily PSO original series showcasing the most significant highlights, facts, and stories going on in the land of the NFL, NBA, & MLB every day. Get a recap on EVERYTHING that happened on 12/14 here.
Monday Night Football’s game between AFC North rivals Baltimore and Cleveland turned into the game of the year as the visiting Ravens defeated the Browns 47-42 in an instant classic primetime shootout full of intriguing storylines. Both offenses put on a show, as the two teams combined for nearly 900 yards of total offense. Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, and Kareem Hunt all went off for the Browns, but the story of the game was Lamar Jackson, who gashed the Cleveland defense on the ground. His MVP-like performance kept Baltimore’s playoff hopes alive for the home stretch of the season.
Here is the best of the day from December 14, 2020:
Ravens beat the Browns in an instant classic on MNF
In a clash between two division rivals vying for playoff positioning, the Baltimore Ravens came out on top over the Cleveland Browns. Baltimore nearly let a 34-20 fourth quarter lead slip away when Baker Mayfield hit Kareem Hunt for a 22-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 42 with just over a minute left. However, Justin Tucker once again proved why he’s the best kicker in the NFL when he nailed the game winner from 55 yards-out with just two seconds left. A safety on the final play sealed the 47-42 victory for the Ravens.
Both offenses were explosive and moved the ball with relative ease, as Cleveland’s one-two punch in Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt went off. Chubb ran for 82 yards and two touchdowns while Hunt added another touchdown on the ground, but did most of his damage through the air, catching a team-high six balls for 77 yards and an the aforementioned game-tying touchdown. Baker Mayfield also had himself a day, as he threw for a season-high 343 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and ran for an additional touchdown that helped Cleveland eviscerate a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Despite CLE totaling nearly 500 yards of offense, Lamar Jackson’s incredible play proved to be too much to overcome, as his heroics may have saved Baltimore’s season. Jackson recaptured his MVP form, totaling 287 yards of offense, including rushing for a season-high 124 yards on just nine carries, with three total touchdowns (two rushing). The Ravens as a team ran for 231 yards and five touchdowns. Baltimore is now 8-5 and tied with Miami for the final playoff spot (MIA holds the tie-breaker due to a better record vs. AFC opponents), while Cleveland (9-4) stayed at the fifth seed.
JUSTIN TUCKER. FROM 55 YARDS OUT. AUTOMATIC. #RavensFlock #BALvsCLE pic.twitter.com/MbYBUbu8bw
— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2020
Lamar Jackson. Unbelievable. #RavensFlock
— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2020
📺: #BALvsCLE on ESPN
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/wVjLQzz43l pic.twitter.com/veKMEUtPdO
GUESS WHO'S BACK. @lj_era8 #RavensFlock
— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2020
📺: #BALvsCLE on ESPN
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/wVjLQzz43l pic.twitter.com/7ovsaDh4sv
47 seconds later... @BakerMayfield answers back!
— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2020
📺: #BALvsCLE on ESPN
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/wVjLQzz43l pic.twitter.com/N6q7jC0W1c
Lamar Jackson had the most RUSH YDS (124) by a QB on Monday Night Football since 1970 #BALvsCLE #Ravens pic.twitter.com/WAWRoPaSXb
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) December 15, 2020
Related: Games of the Day
Baker is playing his best football when the Browns need it
Despite the gut-wrenching loss, Baker Mayfield lit it up against a tough divisional opponent and showed he’s more than capable of leading his team to victory. Outside of tonight’s matchup, Baker also performed well against Cincy when he led his team with three 4th Qtr TDs and again against the Titans in an absolutely gargantuan showing of his skills. These types of gmes couldn’t come at a better time either as the season comes to a close and CLE needs as many wins as it can get right now. Mayfield’s continued success in high-pressure moments & games is also a great sign for his potential ability to lead Cleveland to their first playoff win since 1994.
Related: NFL Premium Reviews
#PlayerOfTheDay (12/14/20) - QB Lamar Jackson, BAL
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) December 15, 2020
FACTS TO KNOW:
- Most RUSH YDS (124) by a QB on MNF since 1970
- 2nd most career GP (8) of 100+ RUSH YDS by a QB
- Lamar & Gus only Ravens duo ever w/ 2 RUSH TD each
- 3rd highest scoring game in MNF history https://t.co/e3JApEMPSA
Related: Players of the Day
Baltimore Ravens (GW-FG) vs. Cleveland Browns
Related: Games of the Day
This MNF game was an old fashion instant classic.
Tonight's #Browns vs. #Ravens MNF game featured the most RUSH TD (9) in a NFL game during the Super Bowl era pic.twitter.com/W9KkjL9V8g
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) December 15, 2020
Related: Facts of the Day
PFF: NFL Week 14: PFF Team of the Week, Key Takeaways, Player Awards, and More
Best Read of the Day: Team of the Wk, Key Takeaways, & Awards for NFL Week 14 by @PFF_Anthony ⬇️ https://t.co/hqBa6N2buI
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) December 15, 2020
Most Valuable Intel: Haason Reddick showed his star potential in Week 14
New York Giants first-round pick Andrew Thomas was looking very impressive this season with strong PFF grades to show for it. He earned a season-high PFF grade in Week 13 against the Seahawks and has a solid overall grade on the season as a rookie. However, his hot streak ended on Sunday against the Cardinals when he was completely dominated by Haason Reddick. The 2016 first round pick set a Cardinals franchise record with five sacks against Thomas in Arizona’s 26-7 win over New York.
Reddick’s huge game resulted in him earning a substantial 97.1 pass-rush grade, which is the highest single-game grade by an Edge Rusher in the PFF era (2006-present). This performance is especially surprising considering that Reddick entered the game with a lackluster 58.7 PFF pass-rush grade on the season and had yet to even reach 80.0 in a single game. Not only that, his three previous seasons have been underwhelming as well, as he earned PFF grades of 54.0, 60.4, and 40.2 from 2017-19. This performance pretty much came out of nowhere but it proved the former first round pick still has star potential if it wasn’t just a one-game blip.
Related: What’s Hot
NFL Premium Review: Ravens vs. Browns in Week 14 by Matt DelDonna
Both offenses put on a show, as Lamar Jackson returned to MVP form and out-dueled Baker Mayfield in an instant classic with plenty of info fans should know.
- Lamar had 1 of the greatest showings of his career
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) December 15, 2020
- Baker delivered when the Browns needed him most
- Justin Tucker proved why he's the best in the game
Many more top takeaways, key facts, & entertaining highlights from the NFL Game of the Year ⬇️ https://t.co/3Nzp2oIvFz
Related: Latest PSO Content
FULL ARTICLE: Most Significant Sports History on December 14th
#TimeOut: The @LAClippers & the @hornets agree to a trade in principle. @CP3 and @blakegriffin to play together in 2011-2012 @NBA Season
— GMA Integrated News (@gmanews) December 15, 2011
YEAR: 1999 & 2011
SIGNIFICANCE: LAC set the record for fewest points in a half AND LAC acquired Chris Paul from the New Orleans Hornets
Related: Significant Sports History
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