BALTIMORE - Eight yards deep in the end zone when he caught the kickoff, Jacoby Jones had an instant to decide: take a knee or run.
He ran - all the way into the record book.
"You know when you get that itch? I wanted to scratch it," Jones said. "So I took it."
Jones tied an NFL record with a 108-yard kickoff return, and the Baltimore Ravens held off the Dallas Cowboys 31-29 Sunday for their 14th straight regular-season home win.
Jones' return tied the mark set by Ellis Hobbs of New England in 2007 and tied in 2011 by Randall Cobb of Green Bay.
"To set the National Football League record for a kickoff return, in what was the difference in the game, is pretty special," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.
The score was essential to the Ravens, who mustered only 1 yard on three offensive plays in the third quarter.
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Injuries
• The Ravens had two costly injuries - to linebacker Ray Lewis and cornerback Lardarius Webb. Lewis, the Ravens' emotional leader, hurt his triceps in the 31-29 win over Dallas. Webb banged his knee in a first-quarter collision with Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant. Harbaugh said the injury could be to Webb's ACL.
• The Jets lost two running backs in four plays. Joe McKnight was hurt on a 61-yard run, three plays after Bilal Powell was lost with a shoulder injury. Both McKnight and Powell were scheduled to have MRI exams today.
Extra points
• Falcons coach Mike Smith improved his career record to 49-21, tying Dan Reeves as the winningest coach in team history. Atlanta extended its record to 6-0 with a sloppy 23-20 victory over the Oakland Raiders.
• Safety Madieu Williams, formerly with the Vikings, returned an interception 24 yards for Washington's fourth defensive touchdown of the year. The Redskins scored only 43 points off turnovers last year; they already have 49 this year.
• Sunday was the seventh time in 49ers quarterback Alex Smith's career that he threw three interceptions in a game and first since a 27-13 loss at Philadelphia on Dec. 20, 2009.
• Seattle Hall of Fame DT Cortez Kennedy had his No. 96 retired during a halftime ceremony. He joins Steve Largent (No. 80), Walter Jones (No. 71) and Seattle's 12th Man crowd (No. 12) as the only retired jerseys in team history.
• A.J. Green, Bengals, had seven catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns in Cincinnati's 34-24 loss to Cleveland. His 108 catches and 13 TDs are the most in NFL history through a player's first 21 games
He said it
"A big weight was lifted off our shoulders. It felt like we won the Super Bowl. We just didn't give up." - Browns cornerback Joe Haden after Cleveland beat Cincinnati 34-24 for its first win of the season that also ended an 11-game losing streak.
