Forget championships. It was defense that won the AFC wild-card game for the Cincinnati Bengals against the archrival Baltimore Ravens.
With the Ravens knocking on the door at the 1-yard line with a chance to take the lead a couple minutes into the fourth quarter, a group of Bengals defenders teamed up for the decisive play of the game. Baltimore quarterback Tyler Huntley tried to sky toward the end zone and reach over the goal line, but he was met by linebackers Germaine Pratt and Logan Wilson, who jarred the ball loose into the backfield for Sam Hubbard to collect, rumble and score 98 yards later.
"Credit to Logan Wilson punching it out," Hubbard said about the play in his postgame news conference. "Then just being at the right place at the right time, got a few blocks along the way. And I was just worried about getting tracked down. I'm glad I made it to the end zone."
Hubbard's magnificent return transformed a game on the precipice of becoming a seven-point Ravens advantage into a 24-17 Bengals lead that held for the rest of the game.
As Hubbard weaved down the field for the score, followed by a convoy of three fellow Bengals that finally tripped up a quickly closing Mark Andrews at the 20-yard line before he could attempt any Steve Tasker-inspired dramatics, Cincinnati's win probability jumped from 46% to 88%, according to Next Gen Stats.
"Yeah, I was watching on the big screen," Hubbard admitted. "I was like 'He's coming, somebody block!' I'm like please, please don't get caught. That's all I was thinking about."
Hubbard's play was the longest fumble return for a TD in postseason history, as well as the longest go-ahead score by any player in the fourth quarter of a playoff game, per NFL Research.
Even disregarding the immediate circumstances of facing a goal-line possession, the Bengals badly needed Hubbard's heroics.
Joe Burrow was efficient but unspectacular, throwing for 209 yards and a score to Ja’Marr Chase, who was peppered with 12 targets for nine catches and 84 yards. The offense was ultimately held in check by the NFL's third-ranked scoring defense and trailed, 10-9, at halftime before entering the fourth quarter tied.
"He's kinda what this whole thing is built on," Burrow said about Hubbard. "Toughness, hard work, leadership, those are the kind of guys we try to bring in here. And he's one of my best friends and he comes up with big plays over and over and over again. He's a great leader, gets his work done, constant positive attitude in the locker room, exactly the kind of guy you want on your team."
Thanks to Hubbard, a Cincinnati native, the offense has a chance to right itself next Sunday in the Divisional Round against the second-seeded Bills.
If the Bengals emerge from Buffalo with a win and add two more victories to their season after that, Hubbard's sprint will go down in the annals as the spark that lit Cincy's first-ever Super Bowl title run.
"You can't replicate a feeling like that in life," Hubbard said. "It's really special."
