Ravens set rushing record in final seconds of Sunday's game

While everyone else in the football world had their attention focused on Sunday's Belichick-Brady reunion, the Baltimore Ravens nonchalantly decided to go out and set a league record.

Up 23-7 in the final seconds of a Sunday matchup against the Denver Broncos, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh had quarterback Lamar Jackson run five yards instead of taking a knee and running out the clock. Those five yards allowed Baltimore to record its 43rd straight game with 100 rushing yards, tying an NFL record the Pittsburgh Steelers set in the mid-1970s.

"Whenever you're in the record books, it's important," Ravens wide receiver Marquise Brown said via ESPN. "So, it's great to get that done."

Baltimore had recorded 97 yards with under a minute left to play and really didn't need to run the ball at all given their lead. But Harbaugh had that rushing record on his mind.

"It's one of those things that's meaningful," the head coach said. "It's a very, very tough record to accomplish. It's a long-term record. So, I'm not going to say it's more important than winning the game, for sure. It's certainly not. But, as a head coach, I think you do that for your players and you do that for your coaches, and that's something they'll have for the rest of their lives."

ESPN reported that the Elias Sports Bureau did not have a record of a team over the past 25 years gaining yards on a play that began in the final five seconds while leading by at least 10 points. 

As for Jackson, he had no idea what Harbaugh had planned when he was asked to run the ball instead of taking a knee.

"I'm not going to lie. I (don't) really care about the record," the 24-year-old signal-caller said. "I wasn't thinking about that. I was thinking about winning the game."