To go or not to go for two-point conversions?
2 go or not 2 go. That is the question.
It’s a query Ravens coach John Harbaugh has faced twice lately, and many times in the past. It’s one that fellow AFC North coach Mike Tomlin of the Steelers — yes, two of the NFL’S best sideline men — also has been asked a bunch.
There might not be a correct answer, regardless of what the charts and analytics say. Indeed, Tomlin was going for 2-point conversions in all sorts of situations even before analytics became a sports obsession.
“It’s part analytics, it’s part feel,” Tomlin says, recalling when he went for the deuce with the Steelers down late 29-20 against Minnesota. “Particularly in that instance, I wanted to be aggressive and go for the win, and so in an effort to do that, I think we needed two 2-point conversions.
The first two scores that we got, we kicked the extra point. The third score we got, we went for two in an effort to set up the potential to play for the win on the last one if necessary.
“It’s just the mindset I had in those circumstances. I thought we were too thin in the line of scrimmage to go into extra time, and so I did it with that understanding. But again, I never make those decisions based purely on one set of variables or one equation . ... It’s a multitude of variables and game circumstances, and that’s always the case.”
Ditto for Harbaugh, whose team is 2 for 8 on 2-pointers.
When he went for 2 against both Pittsburgh and Green Bay at the conclusion of key AFC North games, Harbaugh was recognizing what was left of his illnessand injury-ravaged Ravens. Baltimore’s secondary was such a mess at the Steelers that John