The Baltimore Ravens entered the Week 16 game with utter desperation to win and keep their playoff dreams alive. Derrick Henry looked every bit like the difference-maker they needed. However, a late-game decision involving the running back played a major role in their 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots. The move raised questions about what might have been. Now, head coach John Harbaugh has owned up to the blunder and explained what actually happened.

“Looking back, would I rather have Derrick starting the drive? Yeah,” he said, via MR. MAKEITHAPPEN‘s post on X. “But Derrick was kind of ready for Keaton [Mitchell] to start that drive and he was planning on coming in next…We’re rotating those guys throughout the game as two backs. But yeah, game-winning drive, do I want Derrick Henry on the field? Sure, I do want him on the field.”

While speaking during the post-game conference, John Harbaugh acknowledged he would have liked to have handled it differently. He even admitted it was a mistake not to start Henry during the Ravens’ second-to-last drive. The coach explained what had gone down during his team’s last two drives.

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“He was coming back in the game,” he told the reporters. “…Keaton had started the other drive and then Derrick came in and finished it off, so it was part of that rotation.”

While it was all part of running back rotation, the move is weighing heavily on Harbaugh. During Sunday’s game, Henry looked unstoppable as he posted 18 carries for 128 yards and punched in two touchdowns. The second one came early in the fourth quarter with 12:50 remaining and pushed the Ravens up to 24-13.

However, his night went quiet after he went missing from the franchise’s very next possession of six plays that stalled and ended in a punt. In place of Henry, Keaton Mitchell took charge of the rushing duties. The decision soon backfired when the Patriots surged back to grab a 28–24 lead. When the Ravens regained possession with 2:07 remaining and all three timeouts in hand, Henry was still on the sideline.

They turned to Rasheen Ali on that critical drive, which concluded in two plays after wide receiver Zay Flowers fumbled. And with that, Henry never came back to the field, and the Patriots delivered the game-winning drive.

John Harbaugh calls for belief amid a fading playoff picture

While the loss against the Patriots hurts, John Harbaugh hasn’t given up on his team just yet. According to him, the Ravens’ mindset remains intact even if the playoff picture grows darker. In his latest message to the team, the head coach didn’t mince words in making his expectations clear. He still expects his team to keep fighting to win the remaining games, per Sarah Ellison’s post on X. 

“…We’ll come out fighting because that’s what we’ve done all year,” he added. “We’ve been in tough circumstances all year. It’s been a grind. And we’ve come out and fought every single game.”

However, the math remains unforgiving. The Week 16 loss blocked the Ravens’ path to the postseason as a wild-card team. Their only route into the AFC playoff field runs straight through the AFC North. The team must win both remaining games to stay in playoff contention, but even that may not be enough.

They must beat the Green Bay Packers in Week 17, and need the Pittsburgh Steelers to lose their next game. If the Steelers win over the Cleveland Browns, they will clinch the division and stop John Harbaugh’s team from advancing.