OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh wants to make sure everyone understands that calling the fake field goal in Thursday's 23-20 win in Pittsburgh went beyond a gut feeling or hunch.

Trailing 20-14 in the third quarter, the Ravens went for a fake field goal on fourth-and-2 instead of kicking a 37-yard field goal to make it a one-score game. Tight end Nick Boyle took the pitch from holder Sam Koch and got dropped for a 3-yard loss by Steelers linebacker Sean Spence.

While others can second guess the decision, Harbaugh does not.

"There are analytics involved. There are percentages involved," Harbaugh said. "The percentages were in the favor of going for it. We even felt -- beyond that -- it was skewed in our favor, because we felt we had a great chance to convert on that. We thought we had an excellent chance to make that play work. It was close. Pittsburgh made a really nice play on it -- give them credit -- and they stopped it. It was the right call.”

It's a close call on whether to go with the trick play or take the points, according to ESPN's senior analytics specialist Brian Burke. Assuming the league average success rates on fourth-and-2, Baltimore would have a 33.7 percent chance of winning by going for it and a 33.1 percent of winning by attempting the field goal.

There aren't enough examples of fake field goals for good estimates of success rates, but Burke said the Ravens would need a better than 54 percent chance of success for it to make sense.

"At the very least, it was a defensible call," Burke said.

Harbaugh said he also factors in expected point total in his decisions on whether to settle for a field goal or try to extend a potential touchdown drive.

"We felt like we needed more than three points there," Harbaugh said. "It’s pretty hard to predict that your defense would pitch a shutout the rest of the way, or the field goals would be missed or whatever. That’s not something that you’d anticipate."

Harbaugh then added, "Foresight, right call. Hindsight -- if you know you’re not going to make it -- yes, you’re kicking the field goal.”