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The Pittsburgh Steelers were victorious over the Baltimore Ravens last week thanks to a failed two-point try by Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. Aside from securing them a victory, here's how the Steelers sneakily benefited from the failed two-point attempt.
Baltimore's decision to go for two had an added benefit for the Steelers, who avoided playing up to 70 minutes in the late-afternoon Sunday window before a Thursday night game. https://t.co/xQB1m6AsyM
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) December 9, 2021
That makes perfect sense. Not only did the Steelers win against the Ravens but they avoided playing overtime football, which could have stretched the game out an extra 10 minutes.
It doesn't sound like much, but injuries could have struck in that overtime period, or the Steelers could have been left with far less time to prepare for the short turnaround against the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football. Of course, the same could be said of the Ravens, who sustained a tough injury in the game.
Teams' preparation time, as noted by Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, was a factor in the NFL's decision to reduce overtime periods, as they didn't want players complaining about the short turnaround to Thursday. Which brings us to an interesting point brought up by Florio.
Should the Ravens have considered just kicking the field goal, even though they were short on cornerbacks, to make the Steelers play more football knowing that they had a short week coming up?
No. The Ravens were thinking about one thing and one thing only: winning the game. They weren't, and shouldn't be, making their in-game decisions based off of the Steelers' schedule.
Still, it's interesting to think about, especially now that the sneaky way in which the Steelers' benefited from the Ravens' failed two-point try is out in the open.
