Now down 28-21 just 13 seconds into the half, Flacco moved the Ravens on the next drive before getting stripped of the ball by Keith Brooking near midfield. The Ravens got their own strip and fumble recovery four plays later on Manning when Suggs and Kruger got pressure on Manning and Lewis swallowed the ball. The play was negated by a Cary Williams penalty for illegal use of the hands in coverage and the Broncos would instead punt.
Manning moved the Broncos once again before Pernell McPhee broke into the backfield and smacked him, knocking the ball loose for Kruger near midfield. This time, Rice blazed through the middle of the Broncos defense for a 32-yard run and was chased down at the 1. Two plays later, he went into the end zone to once again tie the game, 28-28.
After two more possession changes, the game of field position got even tighter into the fourth quarter, and the Broncos had the ball at the 12 with 12:09 remaining. Manning then burned five minutes off the clock and drove Denver 88 yards on 10 plays in the shotgun, ending the drive with an 18-yard TD catch and run by Damaryius Thomas, a play where Lewis and Reed both missed clears shot at him en route. Mr. Hyde?
With 7:11 remaining, the Ravens needed Flacco to rally and he did, moving the offense from the 25 into Denver territory. Jacoby Jones then dropped a third down pass at the 25, and Flacco missed Pitta on fourth down across the middle, turning the ball over to Manning with 3:12 and two timeouts remaining. Harbaugh burned them immediately, trying to get the defense off the field, but Manning managed one first down before surrendering the ball via a Britton Colquitt punt to the 23 two minutes later.
Down 35-28 and with just 1:09 remaining and no timeouts, Flacco had few options because the team needed to go all 77 yards. The Ravens would need a miracle on this offenseive possession to continue their season.
Flacco missed Pitta on first down, saving precious clock. On second down, while trying to make a play, Flacco scrambled into the middle of the field for a 7-yard gain and quickly got the players to the line for a 3rd & 3 snap.
With Jacoby Jones lined up right and knowing he had blazing speed, Flacco stepped up comfortably into the pocket while Jones stopped his route and then began to sprint toward the Rocky Mountains. Flacco took two full steps and heaved a rainbow of a throw that Jones zeroed in and kept running for as safety Rahim Moore desperately tried to get to where the ball was going from the center of the field to no avail. Jones turned as the ball fell gently into his arms at the 20, and he raced away from the fallen coverage and easily into the end zone to shock Denver and the rest of the NFL.
Jacoby Jones blew a kiss into the Denver sky as the crestfallen crowd was eerily silenced. After the game, Jones had a black shirt on with plain white letters.
It read: FAST AS _ _ _ _
“I told myself Joe might throw it to me if I haul my butt off the line,” Jones said. “I saw the corner stop and I just drove through it. Hey, Joe threw it. I just ran and caught it. That’s why I call him smoking Joe!”
When asked if he was surprised that he could so easily get behind Moore and the defense he faked being startled and said, “Didn’t you read my shirt?”
“I started stepping up and I could see the safety just sitting there,” Flacco told his teammates on the bench. Vonta Leach told Flacco the obvious: “You got a strong ass arm, boy!”
Just 41 seconds from extinction and 70 yards from the end zone, Flacco had completed a miracle pass to Jones that would be known as the “Mile High Miracle” or the “Rocky Mountain Rainbow.”
