Tylan Wallace goes from little-used backup to game-winning hero with punt return TD for Ravens

BALTIMORE – Tylan Wallace had six career catches entering Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.

By the end of it, that number hadn’t changed. But the Baltimore Ravens’ third-year backup receiver scored the most important six points of his life – and perhaps of his team’s season.

Wallace, not even the team’s primary punt returner, took Rams punter Ethan Evans’ 50-yard boot 76 yards back the other way – darting, stumbling and finally flipping into the end zone – to give the Ravens a walk-off 37-31 victory and maintain Baltimore’s standing as the one of the leading threats for the top seed in the AFC.

“You could say ‘once-in-a-lifetime moment,’” Wallace said after the game.

In 2021, Wallace’s rookie season, he returned two kickoffs. He had never fielded a punt in a NFL game prior to Sunday despite working on it during practice every week. And on a rain-soaked afternoon, Wallace found himself deep three times after primary returner Devin Duvernay left with a back injury. Rams returner Austin Trammell had struggled to rein in the football, the slippery conditions not helping, and dropped two punts before recovering both. Wallace noticed, and it was in the back of his mind. He knew he had to secure the ball for any chance to win.

“I was prepared to go back on the field,” said quarterback Lamar Jackson, adding: “He went crazy. That was like a movie. He just showed his tail. … That was just a spectacular return.”

Jackson and others on the sideline were yelling that Wallace had time and space to corral the football. Except Wallace couldn’t hear a thing. All he saw, out of his periphery, was that the blocks were lining up and that there was a crease.

Wallace caught the ball in the middle of the field. One Rams gunner overran the play, and Wallace broke left. Tight end Charlie Kolar appeared to get away with an uncalled illegal block in the back, and Wallace then spun out of one tackle. Three more Rams dove at him, but it was too late, and suddenly Wallace had daylight up the left sideline, where Ravens players frantically started pointing toward the end zone.

“It was wide open,” he said. “I saw the crease, and I just took it. It just feels great to be able to make a difference in the game and help the team win.”

The anticipation within M&T Bank Stadium increased. Rams defensive back Shaun Jolly had the last, best chance at bringing down Wallace near midfield, and he tripped Wallace at the 40-yard line. The Oklahoma State product stumbled between the sideline and his teammate, Justice Hill, who was holding off Evans. Wallace kept his balance and sprinted the rest of the way for the win.

“He wanted it – bad,” said Odell Beckham Jr., who caught four passes for 97 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Wallace wasn’t the only one running that way. Soon enough, practically the entire Ravens joined him in the corner, including head coach John Harbaugh, whose legs began cramping when he realized he had to shake Rams coach Sean McVay’s hand.

For Wallace, the touchdown represented his rendition of redemption. In the second quarter, Wallace lined up offsides on a Rams punt, earning a penalty that gave Los Angeles a first down and elongated a drive that ended with a touchdown to give the visiting team a 17-14 lead. Wallace said he should have checked with the line judge that he was lined up properly.

“I knew I was having a rough game on special teams early on,” he said. “So to be able to come back and wipe that all away and make a play like that – on special teams, at that – it means the world to me.”

When Duvernay went out, Harbaugh and the coaching staff decided between Wallace and rookie receiver Zay Flowers, who was listed as the backup returner on the depth chart. They considered Flowers, who caught the go-ahead touchdown and two-point conversion in regulation before Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford engineered a game-tying drive.

“Tylan, here’s a veteran player, (third)-year guy who’s kinda been through it,” Harbaugh said. “You just kind of felt like, ‘He deserves it. He’s ready for that moment.’

"Did you think he’s going to take it back to the house? No.”

Harbaugh had a good feeling Wallace would catch it and maybe make a guy or two miss to give the Ravens favorable field position.

Next thing he knew, Wallace was sprinting down the sideline.

Once the Ravens’ celebration dissipated, Wallace sat on the bench because, for one, he was out of breath. But he also wanted to take in the moment.

“That’s the beauty of this whole thing,” Harbaugh said. “That’s why we’re riveted by the game, by the players who play their game, their stories. I just love it.”

Jackson – who finished with 316 passing yards (24-for-43), three passing touchdowns and 70 rushing yards on 11 attempts – said the game had a “playoff atmosphere.” If a lot of Ravens games have felt that way this season, it’s because every opponent gives Baltimore its best punch, he added.

“I feel like I just returned it,” Jackson said. “I’m more excited than Ty.”

The Ravens’ post-game joy could be heard from their locker room through two cinder block walls.

“Quite a burst of emotion there,” right guard Kevin Zeitler said. “In this league, you have to win however you can.”

With whoever you can.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tylan Wallace: Ravens' little-used WR is game-winning hero vs. Rams