After stopping the Oakland Raiders on third down in the fourth quarter of a tight game Sunday, John Harbaugh made a decision that might have cost the Baltimore Ravens four points.
Instead of forcing Sebastian Janikowski to kick what would’ve been a 42-yard field goal on 4th-and-1, Harbaugh accepted a 16-yard unnecessary roughness penalty that set up a 3rd-and-17 for the Raiders. Oakland converted a first down after multiple tries and went on to score a touchdown, increasing the Raiders lead to 21-12.
“Looking back on it, it wasn’t the right decision,” Harbaugh said, via ESPN.com. “I didn’t really have a sense that many points were going to be scored down the stretch. It didn’t seem like it was going to be played that way. It seemed like it was going to come down to a field goal right there.”
Harbaugh’s decision proved to be costly as the Ravens lost 28-27 on Sunday, their first defeat of the season.
