Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh has been a big proponent of football analytics over the last few years. As Baltimore has built up a stable of math wizards to help them determine the best course of action in games and in other areas, Harbaugh and the Ravens have been more frequently going for it on fourth down. But in Week 5 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Harbaugh might have been a little too adventurous.
In the second quarter of Sunday’s game, Harbaugh chose to go for it on a fourth-and-six from Cincinnati’s 46-yard line. Quarterback Lamar Jackson’s pass fell incomplete and the Bengals got the ball back with great field position.
On Monday, Harbaugh admitted he “got a little too cute on that one.”
“The players are telling me, ‘No, don’t worry about it. We’re glad you went for it.’ But I’m second-guessing myself on that one, too,” Harbaugh said. “I understand that we might have been just as well off to punt it down in there, pin them back and then try to get them to punt in a three-and-out. So, believe me; the same concerns you had on that one after that play, I was kind of asking myself the same questions.”
We’ll see if this miscue is enough to push Harbaugh into being a little more conservative with his fourth-down calls or if we see the same results as last year. After converting 17-of-24 attempts last season, Harbaugh and the Ravens are a little down in numbers this season. Through five games, Baltimore’s offense has attempted just six fourth-down conversions, which would average out to less than 20 on the year if they continue at this pace.
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