BALTIMORE _ It turned out that the Ravens' rally from 11 points down with just over five minutes to play simply delayed the inevitable.
Chicago Bears kicker Connor Barth made a 40-yard field goal with just over two minutes left in overtime as the Ravens fell, 27-24, in front of an announced 70,716 at M&T Bank Stadium that arrived late and left early, missing some late-game fireworks. The Ravens fell to 3-3 despite getting two return touchdowns, including a 77-yard punt return score by Michael Campanaro, which coupled with Nick Boyle's two-point conversion catch tied the game with 1:37 to go.
Bears running back Jordan Howard set up the game's decisive points with a 53-yard run in which he broke out of a tackle attempt by Eric Weddle. The Ravens, who struggled offensively all day, had one overtime possession and started at their own 40, but they couldn't score, a drive that was emblematic of a very poor day for their offense.
The Ravens let a major opportunity slip through their hands Sunday, thanks to a mistake-prone offense that failed to find the end zone and essentially set up two Bears scores. The Ravens turned the ball over three times and watched Baltimore native and former Calvert Hall standout Adrian Amos return an interception 90 yards for a touchdown to give the Bears a 24-13 lead.
However, a 50-yard field goal by Justin Tucker with 1:19 left made it 24-16. The Ravens then forced the punt and Campanaro got the corner, tight-roped the sideline and returned it 77 yards for a touchdown. When Boyle made a one-handed catch of a pass by Flacco for the two-point conversion, the Ravens had tied a game that they appeared to have lost on Amos' touchdown.
Flacco threw another interception in the first half that bounced out of the hands of Breshad Perriman and was caught by Bryce Callahan, who returned it 52 yards to set up rookie running back Tarik Cohen's halfback option 21-yard touchdown pass to Zach Miller. A fumble by Ravens tight end Maxx Williams deep in Bears territory also cost the Ravens.
Mitchell Trubisky became the first rookie quarterback to beat John Harbaugh's Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in 12 opportunities. The Bears (2-4) didn't ask Trubisky to do much as they depended on their ground game, which the Ravens never stopped. Trubisky was just 8-for-16 for 113 yards and a touchdown.
Chicago added to their seven-point halftime lead when Trubisky found tight end Dion Sims in the back of the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown. The Ravens were selling out on stopping the run and Sims got behind safety Tony Jefferson, who had a rough afternoon.
The touchdown gave the Bears a 17-3 lead, which seemed insurmountable with the way the offense was struggling. But Bobby Rainey, the veteran running back who was picked up off the waiver wire Tuesday after Terrance West went down, returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. Rainey went down, got back up without being touched by a Bears defender, and sprinted down the field for the NFL's first kickoff return touchdown of the season.
Rainey's touchdown was reviewed, but it was ruled that the Bears' Joshua Bellamy did not get a hand on Rainey before he went to the ground.
The Ravens got another break as Cohen was stripped of the ball by Weddle and Michael Pierce recovered. The Ravens took over at the Bears' 39-yard line, but they settled for a 31-yard field goal by Tucker that made the score 17-13. Flacco found Mike Wallace in the end zone, but the touchdown was called back because the Ravens quarterback was two yards over the line of scrimmage.
Anybody who hoped that last weekend's clean and balanced performance on offense in a victory over the Oakland Raiders was a sign of things to come learned differently in the first half.
The Ravens got off to another slow start offensively and were in danger of getting shut out for the third time in the first half in the past four games until Tucker's 27-yard field goal three seconds before the break. That cut the Bears' lead to 10-3.
Relying on their running game and the Ravens' mistakes, the Bears got on the board first on a 24-yard field goal by Barth. The key plays on that drive were a facemask penalty by Jefferson and a 19-yard run by Trubisky on third-and-5.
The Ravens seemed ready to answer as Alex Collins, who got the start with West injured, started the ensuing possession with a 30-yard run. Buck Allen powered up the middle for 12 yards on the next play. But after making what should have been a third-down completion, tight end Maxx Williams was stripped of the ball by Christian Jones and Danny Trevathan recovered it.
Adding injury to insult, Williams, who had missed the previous three games with an ankle injury, limped off the field and to the locker room and did not return.
The Ravens turned the ball over again on their next possession as Perriman juggled what should have a first-down catch down the sideline. Callahan made a diving snag of the ball and then got up and returned it 52 yards to the Ravens 20-yard line. Perriman suffered a concussion on the play and did not return.
Two plays later, Cohen took a pitch and then looked downfield where he found Miller in the back of the end zone. Jefferson bit on the run and Cohen threw to Miller for the 21-yard touchdown reception and a 10-0 lead.
Flacco didn't play poorly in the first half, completing 14 of 22 passes for 94 yards and the interception. But the Ravens were victimized by mistakes. There was Williams' fumble and Perriman's bobble that led to the interception. Campanaro and Watson also both had drops on potential key plays.
