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Last week, offensive coordinator Cam Cameron got ripped for throwing the ball with the Ravens leading the Steelers by four with under three and a half minutes left in regulation.
People wondered why Cameron wasn't running the ball and milking the clock in that situation, especially when the Baltimore defense had dominated throughout the game and hadn't allowed Pittsburgh to reach the end zone all night.
In last night's win over the Texans, Cameron found himself in a very similar situation - leading by a one-possession margin late in the fourth quarter. Again, he opted to throw the ball, this time on a third-and-two with just over three minutes left to play.
The strategy failed again, but this time, I don't have as much of a problem with the decision to let Flacco air it out late in the game.
The Texans were moving the ball at will, and had shredded the Baltimore defense in the second half. They had scored on four straight possessions at that point, and while it would've been nice to milk another 40 seconds off the clock, it wouldn't have left Houston in much more of a difficult spot.
Let's say Ray Rice gets a handoff and doesn't pick up the necessary two yards for a first down. Matt Schaub and the Houston offense still would have had about two minutes to engineer a game-tying drive.
The way that offensive unit had played in the second half, the Ravens had to feel that was more than enough time for Schaub and the Texans to get the job done.
With the Baltimore defense struggling to keep the Texans in check, the Ravens' coaches opted to go for the killer blow, having Flacco look for Anquan Boldin on a quick out route right at the sticks.
Boldin's an incredibly physical receiver and excels in those types of situations. This time, he didn't get the job done, but I still like the decision to try and put Houston away instead of leaving it up to your exhausted defense to make a play and hang onto the lead.
"We had a conversation about [running on third down] and Cam felt strongly," head coach John Harbaugh told reporters after the game. "I wanted a first down there. It wasn't so much about the clock. It was about getting the first down and our offensive coaches felt that that was the play.
"You know what, we had a chance and we just didn't get it done. You know you can run and get stuff too. We need to convert. Offensively we need to stay on the field and convert and all that stuff."
Cameron deserves some of the blame for the Ravens' collapse in the second half, that's for sure. When an offense puts up 21 points and 182 total yards in one half and then doesn't score a single point and manages just 71 yards after halftime, some of that certainly falls on the guy calling the plays.
But I don't fault Cameron for going for the knockout blow late in the fourth quarter when the Texans - as well as the Ravens' defense - were on the ropes.
