Tag: zay flowers fumble

Ravens WR Zay Flowers admits he hasn’t gotten over AFC Championship game fumble

Ravens WR Zay Flowers admits he hasn’t gotten over AFC Championship game fumble

In his second professional season, Zay Flowers will enter the year as the Baltimore Ravens’ No. 1 wide receiver.

He’ll have ample opportunities to try and make amends for his very costly error in the 17-10 AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Flowers said on Thursday that he still hasn’t gotten over it. And by “it,” he obviously means the fourth-quarter goal-line fumble that the Chiefs recovered for a touchback in the conference title game. This occurred after he was flagged for a 15-yard taunting penalty earlier on in the drive.

Asked by a reporter to re-open old wounds, Flowers said this mistake still haunts him to this day.

“Honestly, I still [haven’t] gotten over it,” Flowers is quoted by a transcript from the club.

“I still think about it, but I know next year, we have a chance to get back there and try to make it to the Super Bowl, so that’s why I’m working every day and going hard every day to get back to that moment.”

Flowers, 23, was the Ravens’ first-round draft pick in 2023, going 22nd overall out of Boston College. His rookie year saw him start 16 games, catching 77 balls for 858 yards and five touchdowns.

And while he made a couple of costly gaffes in the conference title game, he also scored the Ravens’ only touchdown that day while also racking up 115 receiving yards.

 

Zay Flowers’ horrible AFC Championship game somehow gets even worse

Ravens rookie receiver Zay Flowers’ horrible AFC Championship somehow got even worse when he was fined by the NFL.

Baltimore Ravens rookie receiver Zay Flowers came out of Boston College with the 23rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, and for the most part, he lived up to that investment in his first professional season. Flowers caught 86 passes on 116 targets in the 2023 season for 1,014 yards and six touchdowns, becoming a serious threat for Lamar Jackson at all levels of the field.

Unfortunately, in Baltimore’s 17-10 AFC Championship loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday, Flowers became a serious threat to his team at times. Not that he played badly — he caught five passes on seven targets for 115 yards and a touchdown — but things started to unravel exponentially in the game for Flowers, and for the Ravens.

With 49 seconds left in the third quarter, Flowers smoked Kansas City’s usually outstanding defense for this 54-yard catch.

That would have put the Ravens in prime position to get closer than the 17-7 deficit they had, but Flowers’ youthful exuberance got the best of him, and he was flagged for a rather obvious taunting penalty.

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That took the ball from the Kansas City 10-yard line to the Kansas City 25-yard line. Now, the Ravens were fighting for a field goal as much as a touchdown.

And THEN… at the start of the fourth quarter… Flowers had a shot at his second receiving touchdown of the game. Instead, Flowers fumbled the all just short of the end zone, encouraged by Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed.

But wait — there’s more! A frustrated Flowers then went to the Ravens’ bench, hit a bench with his hand in frustration, and injured that hand.

Just when you think things couldn’t get any worse for Flowers, he got a FedEx from the league regarding that taunting penalty. Flowers was fined $10,927 by the NFL for the incident.

Ouch.

“Everybody texted me,” Flowers said post-game of the support he received. “Everybody texted me that I know. You know how it is. It’s just a moment. It’s going to make or break you, and I don’t plan on letting it break me.” 

Nor should he. We all have those moments we regret, and based on the tape, Flowers has everything required to be one of the NFL’s best receivers over time.

If he can just keep certain things under wraps… and hold on to the ball.