OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale expressed anger when the Bengals kicked a late field goal to avoid a shutout in Baltimore’s 27-3 victory Sunday.
With Cincinnati trailing 27-0, Bengals coach Zac Taylor chose to kick a 38-yard field goal with 37 seconds left in the game. It marked only the fifth time since the 1970 merger that a team kicked a field goal in the final minute to avoid a shutout, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Asked for his reaction when the Bengals kicked the field goal, Martindale said Thursday, “He knew what it was because it was awful quiet when I yelled it across the field. There are some people that take that as a victory. We’ll see. We’ll have plenty to talk about the next time we play them.”
The next meeting between the Ravens and Bengals is in Week 17 in Cincinnati. Baltimore was within seconds of its first shutout in two years.
There have been only two other instances in the past 50 years when a team kicked a field goal in the final minute to avoid a shutout while trailing by more than 20 points.
In 1970, Bengals coach Paul Brown chose to kick a field goal in the final minute of a 38-3 loss at the Detroit Lions. In 2006, Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden decided to kick a field goal with no time left in a 20-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh was more diplomatic Monday when addressing the Bengals’ meaningless field goal. He said the defense would have loved the shutout but that “it wouldn’t have been a factor” if Baltimore had stopped Cincinnati on either one of the fourth-and-1 situations on that final drive.
“I guess you have to look at it that way,” Harbaugh said. “I’ll just leave it at that.”
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