TAMPA, Fla. - It was a clean run.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Todd Yoder came virtually untouched through the middle of the Ravens' line to block Kyle Richardson's punt, which set up Doug Brien's 24-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.
The play was one of many miscues by the Ravens' punt team, which, heading into last night's 22-10 loss to Tampa Bay, was one of the league's best.
Against the Bucs, though, everything seemed to go wrong when the Ravens attempted to punt.
The Ravens were called for holding three times (two of them were declined by the Bucs), gave up a 30-yard return by Karl Williams, and were hit with a 15-yard fair-catch interference penalty by Adalius Thomas. Richardson also had a 29-yard punt go off the side of his foot and out of bounds.
The block was the most glaring mistake, as Yoder slipped right through the center and guard to take the punt off of Richardson's foot. Brien's field goal gave the Buccaneers a 9-7 lead, and they never trailed again.
It was the first time the Ravens have allowed a punt to be blocked in the regular season since Nov. 14, 1999, against Jacksonville.
"I guess things were spiraling, but you've got to put a hole in the water jug and stop it up," Richardson said. "They got in, had some pressure ... Obviously we had some breakdowns that we have to correct. We'll look at in on film and then go from there."
Yoder went right around long snapper Joe Maese, who has been bothered by a knee injury the past couple of weeks.
"It was a perfect play," Yoder said. "I had been lining up over center pretty much the whole game. I was just able to come through scot-free and get a perfect jump on the ball. I am just happy it turned out to be a big play that led to a score."
Maese gave Yoder credit for making the big play.
"The knee was a factor but I'm not making excuses," Maese said. "I got my [butt] kicked. I had a hard time blocking No. 80. Next week I'll be a lot stronger."
Said Ravens coach Brian Billick: "He's been dealing with an injury that doesn't keep him out, but it limits him and makes it tough. He's battling away."
The Ravens, meanwhile, could get only three punt returns from Jermaine Lewis for 16 yards.
He fared much better on kickoffs, but again was one man away from scoring touchdowns twice . Lewis had returns of 31 and 38 yards in the second quarter.
"I thought we weathered the storm pretty good," Billick said. "It was just too much to overcome when we make the errors we did."
