The Baltimore Ravens barely lost against the Kansas City Chiefs after putting on an incredible fourth quarter. There were some risks that didn't pan out for the team, but John Harbaugh said that none of those risks came from his gut feeling.
He shared with Jeff Zrebiec that the 2-point tries the Ravens attempted during the game were backed up by data and studies by the team's analytics specialists.
Harbaugh said analytics supported decision on all three two-point tries. Reiterated team is not going to play scared.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 22, 2019
Analytics has become an important part of the league, so much so that it's become hard to deny its existence any more. Almost every NFL team is using it at this point, seeing the benefit it does bring to the team's on-field performances.
However, Harbaugh's insistence that the team won't play scared. In fact, he reiterated in the post-game presser that he's proud of the way his players carried themselves throughout the game:
“Our guys fought like crazy. Always proud of the way they fight and play hard. If we get a bit better, we'll win games like this. That's where we're at.”
However, his team's passion doesn't make up for the fact that their play was terrible throughout the first half. They aided the Chiefs with their penalties to give them a considerable lead by halftime. Though they managed to pull back by the game's dying embers, the effort was too late.
What John Harbaugh needs to do is to shore up the entire team. They must stop making simple mistakes that cost them the game and play efficient football. While analytics can definitely help point out points of improvement, it's still on the field where the changes must be made.
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