At some point early in the third quarter of Thursday night’s great game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens, I started to believe it just wasn’t the Ravens’ night. The game was like many other Baltimore losses in recent years: poor defensive play, a lethargic offense, a lot of unforced penalties. Additionally, star safety Kyle Hamilton went out with an ankle sprain and Lamar Jackson stretched his apparently ailing throwing hand on the sideline. It was 21-7 in favor of the Bengals at the time, and it looked like things were only going to get worse.

But good teams make their own luck, and a Bengals fumble in Ravens territory set up a touchdown drive with yet another “Lamar Jackson does something great against Cincinnati,” and also sparked an offense in which the Ravens scored on every drive for the rest of the game. If not for some broken coverage from their very broken defense, the Ravens might have been able to pull away in the same way the Bengals threatened early on. But this is the AFC North, where things get shaky and close anyway.

This leads us to the Bengals’ final drive. Trailing 35-28, Joe Burrow marches off the field, scores and then head coach Zac Taylor calls for two. They’ve decided they’re going to win or lose in regulation at this point. They don’t get it. The play certainly could have required a face mask or defensive holding, but the whistles were silent. The game ends, 35-34. The Ravens win and continue the good vibes of a team with Super Bowl aspirations, while the Bengals lose and continue the bad vibes of a team that’s capable but not quite good enough. The question at the end of the game is of course: should Taylor have gone for two?

Football really is a father’s sport. That has always been the case. And just like your dad, football likes its routines and doesn’t like having to change. Football loves the green Salvation Army vest. Football loves the big armchair at the end of the living room. Football loves beer after work. And it better be his brand, the brand that has been drinking football since he was a boy. No matter how many analytical sons or scientifically advanced daughters tell it differently, football loves the old ways.

The old ways would say that, in the situation they found themselves in after that final touchdown, the Bengals should have taken the PAT and played for overtime. But going for two in such a winning situation is always good, and all great teams know that. Harbaugh, who sometimes frustrates me with his conservatism, understands this better than anyone. If Isaiah Likely’s toe had been an inch further in that game against the Chiefs, he would have gone for two and the win. You have one of the best quarterbacks in the entire league – of course you go for two. People only ask you questions when you don’t understand, and that’s not a good reason not to do the right thing. The Bengals did the right thing by going for two on Thursday, but were unlucky because, despite all of Burrow’s heroics, they are a bad team with a disappointing coach who, other than this decision, left a lot to be desired in both areas. games against the Ravens this season.

Another thing I believe in is not imposing bailout penalties in game-winning situations. It’s football. Not everything can or may be called. The Bengals put the chips on the table and lost. That’s what sport is, whether you play it safe or not. And you might as well play it dangerously – dangerously and rightly.