Monday night’s game included five important fourth-down decisions. The Lions handled all of theirs perfectly. The Ravens did not.
Three times, Detroit went for it on fourth down under situations that required coach Dan Campbell to show (as Troy Aikman said during the broadcast) “big onions.” Campbell did it on the opening drive of the night, facing fourth and three from the Baltimore 11, on the first play of the fourth quarter, facing fourth and one from the Baltimore four, and at the two-minute warning, facing fourth and two from the Detroit 49.
Three key fourth-downs. Three decisions to go for it. Three conversions, thanks to flawless execution by Campbell’s players.
The Ravens confronted two critical fourth-down calls. The first came at the Detroit two, late in the second quarter. With quarterback Lamar Jackson already showing frustration after a pair of runs on first and second down didn’t work, the Ravens dialed up another rushing attempt on third down. It also didn’t work. Then, they rushed to the line to call a play that any defense with decent film study would have been anticipating — Jackson sprinting to the right, and looking to throw a pass to the front corner of the end zone.
The Lions, despite scrambling to get set, blew it up. Linebacker Jack Campbell forced a fumble that looked for an instant as if it were going to be a potential scoop and score.
The second critical fourth-down decision came in the fourth quarter. Down 31-24 with 4:32 to play, the Ravens faced fourth and nine from their own 42. And they punted the ball back to the Lions, in lieu of rolling the dice on extending the drive.
Was the decision to kick influenced by a desire to avoid a 38-24 final score? Regardless, other coaches would have tried to extend the drive.
We don’t know that with absolute certainty. But the question in that moment for Harbaugh was simple — do you trust your offense more than you trust your defense? While a fair response, based on last night’s game, may have been “neither,” the defense was more of a problem than the offense. And even though Jackson was bottled up all too often, he also had made more than a few great plays.
And Jackson is a two-time MVP. Why not let him try to add to his Monday night legacy by making a key conversion?
At least one coach would have done that: Dan Campbell.
