MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- John Harbaugh is at his best as a coach when his team faces adversity because he knows how to get the Baltimore Ravens in the right mindset.
Their 28-13 victory over the Miami Dolphins proved it again.
With last Sunday's fourth-quarter collapse and recent suspension of Haloti Ngata swirling around this team, nothing put the Ravens in a must-win mentality more than Harbaugh going for it on fourth down-and-1 in the third quarter from his own 34-yard line. Joe Flacco converted it with a quarterback sneak, and the Ravens were celebrating the go-ahead touchdown seven plays later.
The Ravens rallied to beat the Dolphins because of the momentum that came from Harbaugh's gamble. They're squarely back in the AFC playoff picture as a result of the confidence that his risky decision inspired.
Has there been a gutsier decision in Harbaugh's seven seasons as Ravens coach? Has there been a gutsier coaching call in Ravens history?
The Ravens were trailing 10-7 at that point. The prevailing thought was that the Ravens' playoff hopes would end if they lost.
As far as turning points go, this fourth down was it. In many ways, it was fourth down and the season.
Some will still say it was the wrong call. Others might call it a crazy one. Harbaugh, though, viewed it as an easy decision. Right after wide receiver Marlon Brown's third-down reception came up a yard short, Harbaugh was told by his assistants in the coaches' box that the metrics -- the statistics that calculate success rate and situations -- said the right call was to go for it.
"Still, in the end, it's about what your gut says," Harbaugh said.
The Ravens (8-5) are a half-game back of the first-place Cincinnati Bengals because they rallied from an early 10-point deficit and put together a 97-yard drive after Flacco threw an interception in the end zone.
The ultimate gut check was still Harbaugh's decision. With 10:48 left in the third quarter, none of the players had to ask Harbaugh what he was going to do on fourth down.
"He kind of has that go-for-it look," wide receiver Steve Smith said.
The Ravens have been the most aggressive team on fourth-and-1 this season, but they haven't been the most successful. Their 62.5-percent success rate (5-of-8) this season ranks 20th in the NFL.
Plus, the Ravens were stuffed by the Dolphins on two third-and-1 attempts in the first half. This was far from a sure bet.
"I didn't second-guess it," Harbaugh said. "I just wanted our guys to make it."
One of Harbaugh's strengths is that he isn't afraid to think outside of the box. His firing of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron about this time in December two years ago shows that.
How rare is it for a team to go for it on fourth down in their own territory in the third quarter? Tight end Owen Daniels, who is in his ninth season in the NFL, said he could count the number of times his teams have done it on one hand.
"It was there for us to take. That was the message that was sent to us," Daniels said. "They were putting it on [the offense]. Our defense is playing great, but we had to do something offensively to knock the door down."
Harbaugh loves sending messages to his players. He'll give them blue-collared shirts during training camp to promote their workmanlike attitude. He puts up signs throughout the facility like W.I.N. -- what's important now.
On Sunday, his latest message spoke volumes.
"We knew we had to be aggressive to win this football game," Flacco said. "The confidence that he had in us to stay on the field at that point was huge."