In a matter of minutes, Jarret Johnson went from goat to hero.
The linebacker atoned for a costly penalty by sacking Kansas City's Brodie Croyle during a late possession by the Chiefs; the play contributed to the Ravens' 38-24 victory at M&T Bank Stadium in the season opener for both teams.
After quarterback Joe Flacco connected with wide receiver Mark Clayton on a 31-yard touchdown strike with 2:06 left in the fourth quarter to give the Ravens a 31-24 lead, Johnson sacked and stripped Croyle on the first play of Kansas City's ensuing possession.
Although officials ruled that Croyle was down by contact, the Chiefs were in a deep hole and their series ended three plays later when defensive end Trevor Pryce also sacked and stripped Croyle on fourth down.
"It felt pretty good," said Johnson, who led the defense with a career-high two sacks and made three tackles. He also played at Alabama with Croyle. "It's kind of weird. I'm very good friends with his parents, and I know they were sitting in the stands. They're probably not going to be real happy about the personal foul."
That roughing-the-passer penalty nearly tainted Johnson's performance. On second-and-2 from Kansas City's 28, Croyle threw an incomplete pass. But Johnson was whistled for a blow to the head while trying to sack Croyle. Five plays later, Croyle tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Sean Ryan that tied the score at 24 with 5:21 left in the game.
Johnson said he talked to referee Gene Steratore during a television timeout and understood his reasoning.
"That's the way it is, and we have to be cautionary as defenders because if you come close, you're going to get a penalty," Johnson said. "It's not wrong, and it's not bad. It's just the way it is. It [stinks] we got the penalty and it opened up the drive and they scored, but we came back and played hard."
Welcome back
Clayton's return was well worth the wait.
After missing all four preseason games with a strained left hamstring, the wide receiver marked his journey back by catching five passes for a team-best 77 yards, including the game-winning touchdown.
The doctors "told me, 'It may be like six weeks, I don't think you're going to make it to the first game,' " Clayton said of the initial recovery process. "... I wasn't worried about it at all. I knew I'd be back in time."
Injury report
Linebacker Tavares Gooden said initial tests show that he sprained his right knee and did not tear any ligaments.
