For the second time in three weeks, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh had to defend losing in crunchtime on a failed two-point conversion attempt. With 42 seconds remaining, Tyler Huntley's incomplete pass to Mark Andrews led to the team's 31-30 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. They're now 8-6 overall, and out of first place in the up-for-grabs AFC North.
Following the game, Harbaugh told reporters that his decisions are based on "mostly gut" over analytics, and numbers aren't perfect. But did they make a mistake by not kicking the extra point and trying to force overtime at home? Former Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta doesn't believe so. He was in favor of Harbaugh's aggressive, do-or-die playcall.
"I liked the decision. He's been consistent all year with these decisions, and I think that's how you have to be," Pitta told The Zach Gelb Show on Monday. "You can't second-guess yourself in these moments, he's been aggressive all year. Unfortunately, they haven't been able to convert them, but I don't fault the call at all. I think you have to stay aggressive... That's the last thing you want to do, is go play an extra quarter against the Packers.
"You put it on one play, you feel good about being able to get two yards in that situation with a mobile quarterback. And unfortunately, they just came up short. If I'm going to fault anything, I don't know that I loved the playcall, in particular... I would've loved to see somebody else in space if his No. 1 option in Andrews wasn't there, and unfortunately, I don't think that was the case."
Andrews, who racked up a monstrous 136 receiving yards against Green Bay, happened to be the intended target on both two-point attempts. Back in early December, Lamar Jackson's pass bounced off Andrews' hands in a 20-19 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and this time around, Huntley -- starting in place of the injured Jackson -- rolled to his right and had his pass deflected in traffic.
The gut-wrenching finish spoiled what was an impressive showing by Huntley. In his second career start, the 23-year-old undrafted free agent threw for 208 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, and also rushed for a team-high 73 yards with two scores on 13 carries. The Ravens have come up short on six two-point tries this season, tied for the most in the NFL.
Baltimore, which dropped down to eighth in the AFC playoff picture, will visit the rival Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) in a marquee Week 16 matchup on Sunday. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Ravens have a 57-percent chance to reach the playoffs and a 40-percent chance to win the division.
The entire Ravens conversation between Pitta and Gelb can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow The Zach Gelb Show on Twitter @ZachGelb and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.