ExtremeRavens Posted 10 hours ago Posted 10 hours ago John Harbaugh isn’t ignorant of the allegations that, when it comes to fourth-quarter collapses, the Ravens are in a league of their own. During his Monday news conference following an agonizing 41-40 defeat at Buffalo that prompted a late night of crunching film to figure out where his team went wrong, the Ravens’ longtime coach alluded to a number courtesy of The Athletic’s Mike Sando: Since 2022, seven teams have led at least 20 games by 9-16 points in the fourth quarter. Baltimore has played in 31 and lost six of them, four more than the next most. “That’s too many,” Harbaugh said, an acknowledgment of concern furrowing his eyebrows. “I don’t care how many two-score leads you have.” Here are those six fourth-quarter, double-digit crumbles: Week 2 vs. Miami in 2022; Week 6 at New York Giants in 2022; Week 12 at Jacksonville in 2022; Week 10 vs. Cleveland in 2023; Week 2 vs. Las Vegas in 2024; and Sunday night’s Week 1 loss in Orchard Park, New York. Half of them came in 2022. They’re averaging one per year since. According to the Associated Press, under the second-longest tenured coach in the NFL, the Ravens have squandered 17 double-digit, second-half leads. That’s the most for any coach since at least 1991. Harbaugh acknowledged the need for some semblance of change. “I do believe that we need to be really thoughtful on how we decide that we’re going to approach those situations going forward,” he said. “Let’s give it some thought. Let’s give some thought to our play calling. Let’s give some thought to our defensive play calling. Let’s give some thought to our mindset, like how we’re going to talk to one another.” On Sunday night, the Ravens clung to a 15-point lead in the game’s final four minutes — a figure that will be rehashed ad nauseam all week, if not longer. That’s because Buffalo then scored 16 straight points in three scoring drives against a sputtering defense while playing keep-away from the Ravens’ stalling offense. Harbaugh said Sunday night, “We’ve had situations where we have done that in the past, but there have been too many of them.” He added on Monday morning: “We’re two scores up. 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? History will remember this comeback for the snowball of Ravens errors that left the door open for Buffalo to come crashing through. There was rookie kicker Tyler Loop’s errant extra-point try that he chalked up to “bad timing.” Then, cornerback Chidobe Awuzie dropped what would have been a game-altering interception. On the next Bills possession, they moved the sticks on a pair of third downs and scored a touchdown on fourth down. Derrick Henry fumbled the ball back on the ensuing possession. A Bills touchdown, then Ravens three-and-out in 32 seconds, preceded Buffalo cruising into field goal range to put the game to bed. “We’re banging our heads on the wall about it at this point,” safety Kyle Hamilton said. “We just need to figure out how to win games. We are winning them for 45 minutes, but you have to win for 60 minutes.” What’s Harbaugh’s philosophy when his team holds a lead in the fourth quarter, consciously or subconsciously, knowing their past propensity to cough it up? “My philosophy always, on offense, is the best way to burn clock is to get first downs,” Harbaugh said. “That’s the best way to burn time.” A Ravens offense that finished the night averaging 8.6 yards per play — nearly a first down every snap — moved the chains just three times in the fourth quarter. On their final three drives, a fumble sandwiching two punts, Baltimore moved the chains only once. Pundits will take a microscope to Harbaugh’s conservative choice to punt rather than go for it on fourth-and-3 on the Ravens’ 38-yard line as a bullet point in the argument for poor decision-making, although that choice wasn’t an obvious decision, even in hindsight. Ravens coach John Harbaugh defends late 4th-down decision vs. Bills Defensively, the Ravens couldn’t do much to slow down the often-mystifying quarterback play of Josh Allen. He threw for 251 yards in the fourth quarter alone. Harbaugh said they “tried everything.” They went man, zone, blitzed, burst off the edge, showed one thing and dropped to another. None of it worked. It left Baltimore vulnerable to a double-digit fourth-quarter unraveling. No. 6 since 2022, in part defining their shortcomings. “It becomes a game scenario,” Harbaugh said, “that we need to be really intentional about going forward.” Have a news tip? Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn. READER POLL: Does Ravens’ collapse vs. Bills alter your expectations for the season? View the full article Quote
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