DENVER -- There are a lot of plays the Broncos wish they could have back.
After the 38-35 double-overtime loss to the Ravens in the AFC Divisional Round, safety Rahim Moore addressed perhaps the biggest of them all.
"The worst part about it is we're going home off a play I could've made, and I'm here to make," Moore said of the Ravens' game-tying 70-yard touchdown. "I'm taking the blame for it. I lost the game for us."
With less than a minute left in the game, the Ravens had the ball, trailing by a touchdown with no timeouts left. Quarterback Joe Flacco heaved a deep, high pass down the right side of the field. Moore backpedaled as he eyed the ball in the air, with wide receiver Jacoby Jones a few steps past him. Moore leaped to swat the ball away, but it sailed over his outstretched arm as Jones made the catch and ran into the end zone. The score tied the game and eventually sent it to overtime.
"We just misplayed the ball," Head Coach John Fox said. "They made the play instead."
Moore tried to shoulder the blame for the loss, but his teammates knew better.
"It's not his fault at all," wide receiver Brandon Stokley said. "That's just one play in a long game. We had opportunities offensively to put the game away. We had the ball, we got one first down. If we get two, the game is over. Simple as that. It's not his fault at all."
Moore said his teammates were there for him after the play happened and after the game.
"Some of them came up to me and they said, 'Don't let that define who you are,'" he recalled.
Cornerback Champ Bailey expressed that his confidence in Moore won't waver after the misplay. He believes Moore makes that play "99 times out of 100." The 14th-year cornerback added that a ball as high as Flacco threw can be hard to judge.
"We didn't play one snap tonight, we played about 70," Bailey said. "He can't take all the blame. We all made mistakes in that game and we all wish we could have some plays back. That's why they won."
Moore will try to grow from it, but he said it will be one of the hardest lessons of his life.
"This is what motivates you for the offseason, what motivates you for (the) future," he said. "At the end of the day, it was a great season. I'm sorry it ended like this, but next year, it won't."
"There are no excuses. When the opportunity comes again, I will make it."