There’s long been a movement to encourage football coaches to go for it on fourth down and one or fourth-and-two, something that’s often seen some good results. And Baltimore Ravens’ running back Mark Ingram provided one of the best possible results from that kind of call Sunday. Up 23-13 in the fourth quarter, the Ravens drove to the Texans’ 35 and faced fourth-and-one, a spot where many coaches might attempt a field goal or settle for a punt. But Baltimore’s John Harbaugh opted to go for it, and the Ravens got that one yard and much, much more on a direct snap to Ingram:
Oh he GONE
@markingram21 TOUCHDOWN
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/3S2OSeVYzS— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 20, 2020
Of course, not all fourth-and-one plays are going to result in a conversion, much less a touchdown. But there’s little to disincentivize going for it, especially in enemy territory (if you fail, the other team doesn’t get great field position). And as the stat in that clip shows, Baltimore has been very good on fourth-down conversions recently, converting 70.8 percent of those attempts (best in the NFL) last year. This was yet another fourth-down gamble that worked out for them, and one that paid off in quite spectacular fashion.
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About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.