For a brief moment on Sunday, it looked as if the Baltimore Ravens were going to be take a second consecutive surprising loss. Less than a week after the Jacksonville Jaguars stunned the Ravens on “Monday Night Football,” the Arizona Cardinals jumped out to a huge lead at M&T Bank Stadium, scoring three touchdowns in a span of five minutes during the second quarter.
The second of those touchdowns came on an 82-yard punt return from rookie cornerback Patrick Peterson. The 5th overall draft pick out of LSU received the punt on Arizona’s 18-yard line and ran to his right. After he cut up field and broke an arm tackle, he was surrounded by three more Ravens defenders before he reached the 30. Peterson then left these pursuers behind as he broke to the outside. Dashing along the right sideline, Peterson ran behind his blockers and broke a few more tackles and before emerging from the crowd at Baltimore’s 40. Nobody came close to catching him from the point on as the Cardinals took a 17-3 lead.
Despite the healthy margin that Peterson’s score helped build, the game was far from over. The Ravens rallied from a 24-6 deficit and won on a last-second field goal by Billy Cundiff.
