The Ravens went for it on fourth down three separate times in Sunday's loss to the New England Patriots.
After watching tape from the game, Head Coach John Harbaugh wishes he had also gone for it one other time.
The play in question came early in the fourth quarter with the Ravens trailing 20-0. They were facing a 4th-and-5 from New England's 19-yard line, and Harbaugh called on Justin Tucker to attempt a 37-yard field goal. Tucker missed the kick wide left, ending a streak of 33 straight successful field goals.
But even if Tucker made the field goal, the Ravens still would have needed three more scores to at least tie the game, which is why Harbaugh thought he should have tried to pick up the first down.
"If I had to do that one again, I would have gone for that," Harbaugh said Monday. "I would have gone for that one too. I would have gone for all four."
The decision to kick the field goal came just after the Ravens had come up short on another fourth-down try. Running back Ray Rice got stuffed on 4th-and-1 from the Patriots' 4-yard line on the previous drive, and the Ravens needed points to get back in the game.
Harbaugh indicated that the thought of getting some points on the board and generating a little momentum factored into the decision to try for the field goal.
"I think [that was] part of it. There are a lot of things that go through your mind," Harbaugh said. "[The thinking was], we'll get that field goal back, be within 17, we'll have a chance here."
The Ravens were aggressive throughout the second half of Sunday's game after falling in a 17-0 hole in the second quarter. Harbaugh tried for three fourth-down conversions, but the Ravens came up short on each attempt.
"If you look at the opportunities down the stretch, especially in the red zone, we had the opportunity to get back in the game especially on those couple of sequences there at the end of the third quarter, beginning of the fourth quarter," Harbaugh said. "But we didn't do it."
