The Harbaugh Bowl — John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens (7-4) vs. Jim Harbaugh’s Los Chargers (7-3) — on “Monday Night Football” appeared primed to bring some bravado to the gridiron.
That’s exactly what happened late in the first half. Baltimore faced a fourth-and-1 on its own 16-yard line after Los Angeles stuffed a run by Derrick Henry for no gain. The Ravens stunningly kept their offense on the field to go for it inside their own 20 while trailing 10-7, but then they let the clock hit the two-minute warning. Surely they wouldn’t still be going for it after the break, right? Well, that’s exactly what they did, and their quarterback sneak by tight end Mark Andrews, who took the snap under center, picked up two yards to move the chains.
How rare of an occurrence was that fourth-down conversion inside of a team’s own 20-yard line? Well, it was the deepest in a team’s own territory this season, and it was the first fourth-down conversion inside a team’s own 20 in the first half of a game since the 2012 Rams on a fake punt, per ESPN Stats & Info.
“I just felt like we could make it,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told ESPN’s Lisa Salters. “No guts, no glory.”
Just like Harbaugh said, glory shortly followed for his Ravens. Five plays later, Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson uncorked a 40-yard bomb of a throw to wide receiver Rashod Bateman for a touchdown even though the Chargers committed a pass interference penalty.
This sequence of events allowed John Harbaugh’s Ravens to take a 14-10 lead, and they maintained a narrow 14-13 edge at the half.
