The Baltimore Ravens’ season is over after a 24-17 wild card loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night.
Like the Miami Dolphins earlier on Sunday, they had their season wrapped up after baffling clock mismanagement cost them.
The Ravens faced a rush situation in the final minutes of the game as they tried to claw back a seven-point deficit. However, they let precious time run out on the clock and ended the game with a timeout that they cannot take with them into the next season.
Why didn’t Ravens call a timeout?
Facing a first-and-10, the Ravens advanced to the Bengals’ 17-yard line on a completion from Tyler Huntley to J.K. Dobbins. The officials blew the play with 1:09 remaining after Bengals defenders tackled Dobbins just after the first-down marker. See the article : 8 beautiful video games with complex fantasy worlds. The clock continued to run. The Ravens had two timeouts, but chose not to use one.
The Ravens offensive lineman then huddled and lined up to pass. They ended up punting the ball with 33 seconds left, allowing 36 seconds to burn on the clock. After that, they ran four more plays, including a run that led to an offensive penalty. Fourth and 20. Cincinnati’s Hail Mary 27 fell incomplete and the game was over.
John Harbaugh refused to call a timeout because of valuable playing time. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
They didn’t leave with both timeouts remaining in the holster. They burned one with the clock already running after an incomplete pass on third-and-20 to set up the final play. That one timeout went unused as the Ravens wasted most of the final minute of regulation.
Harbaugh’s explanation
After the game, Harbaugh explained the decision to reporters. To see also : Ubisoft has delayed the shutdown of online services for some older games. He said the Ravens wanted to score without leaving time on the clock for the Bengals and blamed the holding penalty for thwarting his plan.
“We wanted to save timeouts for the red zone,” Harbaugh said, per Touchdown Wire. “The thing that killed us was the detention. It brought us down…
“We wanted to score without turning the ball over. We think we’re going to get in the red zone, we think it’s going to be a certain number of plays and we’re going to work until the end of the game. Instead of scoring with 30, 35 seconds left, you give them a chance to score at the end field goal.”
It’s a contingency that requires a lot of things to go exactly right in a high-pressure playoff situation with a backup quarterback leading the offense. Instead of calling one of the two remaining timeouts when the clock is against you. It’s a classic case of overthinking the situation.
Not surprisingly, the plan failed. It’s hard to say if that had any effect on the outcome of the game after it ended with an unsuccessful play on fourth down. It certainly added unnecessary pressure to a situation the Ravens could have controlled. Add that to the list of Baltimore offseason woes that includes figuring out what’s going on with Lamar Jackson.
