BALTIMORE -- Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh held nothing back when asked about the decision to throw the ball late in the fourth quarter Sunday while deep in Philadelphia Eagles territory.
"All-time worst call ever," Harbaugh said.
The Ravens held off the Eagles for a 27-26 win, but Baltimore's offense made it much more of a nail-biter than it had to be.
Baltimore led 27-17 with 6 minutes, 21 seconds left. With first down at the Eagles' 11-yard line, it seemed like an obvious running situation to everyone except offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco was picked off, and the Eagles converted that turnover into a field goal to make it a one-possession game. That mistake nearly cost the Ravens their season, especially if the Eagles make that two-point conversion in the final seconds.
"I'll take responsibility for it. I should have vetoed it right away," Harbaugh said. "I like an aggressive mindset, but that was way too aggressive. It's the worst play call we've had, and it's my fault. It should have never happened. We should have never been in that situation [with Philadelphia having a chance to win] as a result of that."
It was three weeks ago when Flacco criticized Mornhinweg for being too conservative. Now, Mornhinweg has gone to the opposite extreme. But Flacco didn't think about changing the play to a run and chip away more time off the clock.
“To be honest with you, my thought was, 'Shoot, Marty is going to give me a third touchdown pass on the day,'" Flacco said. "I was kind of happy about it at that point, I mean, being selfish, but you've got to just to take care of the football and it's a non-issue."
The decision to throw is even more baffling considering the Ravens were having their best rushing game of the season. Baltimore totaled 151 yards on the ground, which were 21 more yards rushing than it's had in a game in 2016 and nearly matched Flacco's passing yards (206).
Still, wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. wouldn't sign off on that being the "all-time worst call ever."
“I've played a lot of football so I've seen a lot of worse decisions," Smith said. "I've witnessed a lot worse, so I'm not getting into that."
Since the Ravens fired Marc Trestman and promoted Mornhinweg, the offense has averaged 352.1 yards and 21.8 points per game. Both are ranked No. 15 over that time.
But considering the harsh assessment from Harbaugh, it sounds like the Ravens will be making another change at offensive coordinator at the end of the season.
