Justin Tucker

The Bengals went to the Super Bowl last year but have a losing 2-3 record through Week 5 in 2022.

However, each of their three defeats have seen Cincinnati lose by a field goal on the final play of the game, going down 23-20 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime in Week 1 and 20-17 to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2.

It was little surprise Justin Tucker similarly punished Taylor's team, with the Ravens kicker executing an NFL-record seventh game-winning field goal with time up.

Of those, this was the fourth – another record – to come with his team losing, as the Bengals failed to protect a late lead having been tied against both the Steelers and the Cowboys.

"It's tough," said coach Taylor. "We've lost three games now on the last play of the game, that's what I told the guys.

"We just have to keep taking our shots, and these things have a way of balancing out, and we are going to get some of these wins in these situations."

That the Bengals were within three points of winning was particularly painful given a hapless third-quarter series from which they failed to score any points.

Cincinnati had first-and-goal from the Baltimore two, but Taylor called two trick plays, seeing wide receiver Tyler Boyd sacked running the Philly Special on second down before Joe Burrow's attempted shovel pass up the middle to Stanley Morgan on fourth down was batted away.

"We felt good about some stuff we called, but obviously it didn't work," Taylor said.

He added: "I felt comfortable with our package going in. When it doesn't work, you wish you would have done something different."

Ja'Marr Chase, whose 12-yard catch brought the Bengals back to the two-yard line after Boyd's sack, said: "It's pretty frustrating.

"We've got to know how to execute coming into that and know which play is going to give us the right play. I don't think we did that."

Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon would later run in a touchdown from the one-yard line in the fourth quarter, but he was pass blocking on both the Philly Special and the shovel pass.

"I'm just running the play that's called," Mixon said.

Justin Tucker posted the game-winning kick from 55-yards with two seconds left on the clock after reigning MVP Jackson led an ice-cold 38-yard field-goal drive with just over a minute remaining and the scores locked at 42-42.

Cleveland conceded a desperation last-play safety to close a wild AFC North affair, which cranked up a gear when Jackson was forced off the field with cramps after he had expertly guided Baltimore to a 14-point lead at the back end of the third quarter on Monday.

While the Ravens' offence stalled under second-year passer Trace McSorley, the Browns picked up speed. Baker Mayfield had thrown a 21-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to Rashad Higgins before the Cleveland passer scrambled in from five yards to flip the scores from 34-28 to 35-34 in the home side's favour with six minutes to play.

When McSorley went down hurt, Jackson was dramatically sent out for a fourth and five with the game effectively on the line.

After scrambling right, Jackson threw a 44-yard dart for receiver Marquise Brown to score and JK Dobbins added the two extra points to give the Ravens a 42-35 lead.

Mayfield was still not finished and responded with a 47-second, 75-yard touchdown drive as Kareem Hunt ran in a 22-yard score to level up at 42-42 before Jackson delivered the final, remarkable twist and Tucker held his nerve.

It marked the first game in NFL history in which both teams rushed for four-plus touchdowns, per Stats Perform.

Jackson had been at his brilliant best with the ball in hand, running for two touchdowns and 124 yards from nine carries, before he dragged himself off the treatment table to complete five of six passes for 82 yards and a TD at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Mayfield also shined under the spotlight, throwing for 346 yards, two TDs and his first interception in six matches as the Browns scored 22 of their 42 points in a breathless fourth quarter.

Baltimore's five rushing touchdowns and Cleveland's four combines for the equal most in a single game in NFL history, according to NFL Research. The only other two games with nine combined rushing touchdowns happened in 1922.

A gut-wrenching home loss saw the Browns' four-match winning streak halted as they dropped to 9-4, while the Ravens made up ground on their divisional rivals, improving to 8-5 as the race for the NFL playoffs hots up with three games remaining.

There was no better man for the job, given Tucker's renowned accuracy, and the 31-year-old came through for his team, breaking the 42-42 tie to seal a 47-42 victory.

From 55 yards, and faced with a tricky wind, Tucker made no mistake. Two seconds remained on the clock.

His moment came after reigning MVP and star team-mate Lamar Jackson, who missed most of the final quarter having exited the field due to cramps, inspired the drive.

The Ravens (8-5) had let their lead slip with Jackson off the field, going from 34-20 ahead to 35-34 down before the nail-biting conclusion.

"The wind was definitely whipping around in there going towards the Dawg Pound end, pretty consistent right to left and of course left to right the other way," Tucker said.

"I'm not trying to talk about how hard the kick was, to make it seem like it was way sweet or anything.

"But the field was chewed up by that point of the game, so it was about getting studs in the ground with my plant and seeing the ball spotted, which is much easier when you have Morgan Cox throwing it back there and Sam Koch spotting it quickly and efficiently.

"The ball kicks itself when everything is working the way we expect it.

"The ball was trailing right to left pretty significantly throughout the flight path, so I was glad it stayed and we were able to make the play to win the game."

Tucker is the most accurate kicker in the history of the NFL, of all those to have played 20 games or more.

He boasts a 90.9 per cent success rate over his career, making 298 of 328 attempts.

From 50 yards or more, his accuracy dips to 70.5 per cent, landing 43 of 61 shots from such a distance.

The three-time Pro Bowler gave an insight into the mentality of the kicker.

"There’s a lot of emotion, a lot of feeling, that goes into any field goal but especially one that is going to be the difference in the game," he said in a post-game news conference.

"Your feelings are unimportant. You have to focus on the action of kicking the ball, not the consequence."

The game was the first in NFL history in which both teams rushed for four-plus touchdowns, per Stats Perform.

Tucker said he felt "way more nervous now after the fact", having spoken about the moment when the game hinged on him and heard others discuss what it meant.

"What the world saw on Monday Night Football is a Ravens team that played with faith and guts - faith in each other, faith in God and faith in ourselves," Tucker added.

"I'm a pretty emotional kind of person and wear my emotions on my sleeve, except for when there's two minutes left in a football game – I don't have the time or the energy for that.

"I don't think anybody really needs me to be emotional – they need me to be poised, stoic.

"They're my team-mates, and everyone in the organisation needs me to do my job in that moment."

Jackson fuelled the Ravens, who rallied past the Browns 47-42 in a see-sawing contest on Monday that boosted Baltimore's NFL playoff hopes.

Justin Tucker converted a 55-yard field goal with two seconds remaining after star team-mate Jackson – who missed most of the final quarter having exited the field due to cramps – inspired the drive during the closing stages.

The Ravens (8-5) surrendered their lead in Jackson's absence, going from 34-20 ahead to 35-34 down before a nail-biting conclusion against the Browns.

"I was still coming out no matter what," reigning MVP Jackson replied when asked if he would have returned had backup quarterback Trade McSorley not been injured.

"It was crunch time. It's win or go home for us right now."

"I was trying to come back," Jackson said. "I was stretching… I was getting ticked off cause I seen it wasn't going our way . . . then I seen my guy [Trace McSorley] go down. I was ready to come back on the field, I got ticked off, and there it was."

"I had everything in me," Jackson, who was 11-of-17 passing for 163 yards and a touchdown, while he rushed for 124 yards and two TDs on nine carries, said. "I got back to myself. I was cramping. I got that right.

"I was cramping, and I had to get some IVs in me."

It marked the first game in NFL history in which both teams rushed for four-plus touchdowns, per Stats Perform.

Baltimore's five rushing touchdowns and Cleveland's four combined for the equal most in a single game in league history, according to NFL Research. The only other two games with nine combined rushing touchdowns happened in 1922.

On Tucker's last-gasp heroics, Jackson added: "Making my job a lot easier and the offense's job a lot easier. We don't have to score a touchdown.

"Some coaches don't trust their kickers, we put all our faith in ours. We just had to get him in position to kick the field goal and then automatic Tuck -- he did the rest."

Arguably the best kicker of his generation, Tucker converted all four of his field-goal attempts in the contest, also hitting from 25 yards, 37 yards and a 58-yarder in the third quarter to take the lead out of the halftime break.

Things were tied at 10-10 at the midpoint after touchdown catches from both featured tight ends, with Baltimore's Mark Andrews benefitting from a busted coverage to walk in with an easy 11-yard score, before Hayden Hurst answered right back with a 19-yard touchdown reception for the Bengals later in the second quarter.

There would be no more touchdowns until Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow converted a goal-line sneak in the first play out of the two-minute warning to take a 17-16 lead, leaving the Ravens one minute and 58 seconds to drive down into field-goal range.

After struggling to move the ball all night, the Ravens made their last drive look easy, with a couple of catches for Andrews followed by a 19-yard run by Lamar Jackson to push their way to the 25-yard line, where they would run down the clock for the final kick.

After nailing the kick, it improved Tucker's record on game-deciding field goals (in the final two minutes or overtime to tie or take the lead) to 25 out of 26 (96 per cent).

Jackson finished up completing 19 of 32 passes for 174 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while also leading the Ravens in rushing with 12 carries for 58 yards.