In a week where some college football conferences are deciding to go for it as others punt, I wanted to take a look at the NFL teams that stood out — either good or bad — in terms of fourth-down decision-making in 2019.
The difficult part about these analyses is that sample sizes are low and situations matter. The Baltimore Ravens trailed less than any team in the NFL in 2019, meaning that they likely had less motivation to go for it on fourth down late in games. Additionally, the decision to go for it on fourth-and-2 from the opponent’s 23-yard line is an easier decision to make than fourth-and-4 from the 34, so we need a way to measure how good a decision was.