The Bills pulled off a remarkable comeback victory against the Ravens on Sunday, but it didn't come without Baltimore committing several blunders and questionable decisions to give Buffalo the opportunity to win the game.

The Ravens held a 15-point lead over the Bills with under five minutes remaining in the game. Bills quarterback Josh Allen led a touchdown drive, and Derrick Henry fumbled, allowing Buffalo to close in on their lead. The Bills followed Henry's fumble with a touchdown, but missed the two-point conversion, meaning the Ravens still held a 40-38 lead.

The Ravens got the ball back with under two minutes remaining, but were unable to get a first down. They got into 4th-and-3, on their own 38-yard line. If they went for it and succeeded, the Ravens would be lining up in victory formation. But if they failed, the Bills would take over possession already within field goal range. Baltimore ultimately decided to punt, hoping their defense could get the one more stop they needed. Instead, the Bills got the ball back and capitalized by driving down the field for the game-winning field goal.

"I did think about going for it. Fourth-and-3, if you don't get it, they're in field goal range," coach John Harbaugh said of the decision after the game. "I think punting is probably what most people would do there."

Quarterback Lamar Jackson did note after the loss that normally he would have pushed to go for the fourth down, but he was cramping.

It would have been risky for the Ravens to go for the fourth down since they were at their own 38-yard line, but giving the ball back to Allen is also incredibly risky, especially when Allen had momentum after just leading the Bills on two successive touchdown drives. In addition, the Ravens had a two possession lead because the Bills could barely stop Henry or Lamar Jackson at any point of the game. Why not put the trust in the hands of their two-time MVP-winning quarterback?

The analytics side also suggests the Ravens should have gone for fourth down. Per Brian Burke of ESPN, Baltimore had an 8.1%-higher chance of winning had they attempted to convert that fourth down.

There were a number of mistakes that led to the Ravens' devastating loss—from Henry's fumble to the defense giving up nearly 500 yards of offense. Going for that fourth-and-3 potentially could have prevented the Bills' win, but the Ravens opted to play it safe, and it burned them.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as John Harbaugh Explains Controversial Decision to Punt on Final 4th Down.