The Ravens’ entire offensive possession that led to fourth-and-3 has also been a hot topic. Baltimore needed just one first down to ice the game but didn’t get it.
Derrick Henry was held to a one-yard gain on first down. Before the next snap, Henry went to the sideline and was replaced by Justice Hill.
On second down, Zay Flowers was stopped for no gain on a jet sweep. The decision to run Flowers instead of Henry or Jackson may have looked curious and has been second-guessed. However, Harbaugh said the second-down play was a read option for Jackson, who elected to hand off to Flowers.
“You’ve seen Lamar keep that going forward before,” Harbaugh said. “We took Derrick off the field because that’s a Zay-Justice type play. Derrick doesn’t really run those plays those much.”
On third down, Jackson threw to DeAndre Hopkins for a six-yard gain, leading to the fourth-and-3. The Bills used their final timeout, Baltimore punted, and the Ravens didn’t stop Allen from marching downfield quickly.
Harbaugh has been aggressive on fourth down in other situations, but he didn’t sense Sunday night’s late-game situation was the right time for that. He said the Ravens must live with the result and learn from it.
“Offensively and defensively, generally speaking, we try to be as aggressive as we can be,” Harbaugh said. “Did we call the right plays? Hindsight, no, it didn’t work. I’m not just saying that to blow it off.
“We’re trying to keep a lead against Josh Allen or any of these great quarterbacks in this league. What’s our mindset on defense? How are we going to approach this? How are we going to talk to one another on the sideline to try to find a way to get the win? It becomes kind of a situation, a game scenario, that we need to be really intentional about going forward.”
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