Part of what helped John Harbaugh get the head coaching job in Baltimore was his experience with special teams, where he was able to work with pretty much every guy on the roster.
His special teams experience came in handy today, as the Ravens were holding onto a slim lead and were being forced to punt from inside their own 25-yard line with 11 seconds left.. However, while Baltimore came out in a punt formation, the pigskin never hit the punter's foot.
Instead, 10 of the 11 players on the field for Harbaugh grabbed a hold of the man across from them and held on as tight as they possibly could to allow time for the punter to wait around in the end zone before stepping out as time expired.
It's a brilliant use of a little-known rule by John Harbaugh and his staff.
Ravens win by holding Bengals intentionally and delaying safety, there's no time extension for the flags pic.twitter.com/cL9AdJaIwv
— Vikings Blogger (@firstandskol) November 27, 2016
As you can see from the video, flags littered the field all over the place. If they had more than one flag to throw, chances are they'd have thrown em all. Rule analyst Mike Pereira provided an update on why that was allowed, and why more time wasn't put back on the clock with the game ending in a penalty.
Very smart of Harbaugh and his guys to not hold in the end zone, and instead had the perfect opportunity to utilize this unique method to ensure they'd end the game with a win.