ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Seven-and-a-half months after one of the most heartbreaking defeats in franchise history, the Ravens returned to Highmark Stadium with new and interesting ways to lose a winnable game. Their specialty Sunday night: the small stuff.

Ball security? Running back Derrick Henry lost a fumble in the fourth quarter. Special teams? Kicker Tyler Loop missed an extra point, inside linebacker Trenton Simpson mishandled a punt into the end zone, and tackling was suspect throughout. Situational execution? Buffalo went 48 yards before halftime in 30 seconds for a field goal without a timeout, and cornerback Jaire Alexander tackled wide receiver Keon Coleman rather than letting him stroll into the end zone on the Bills’ decisive go-ahead drive, a white flag that might’ve given the Ravens one last shot at reversing their collapse.

Coach John Harbaugh had control of only so much in the Ravens’ season-opening 41-40 loss. But his decision to punt late in the fourth quarter, with the Ravens leading 40-38, facing fourth-and-3, and 93 seconds on the clock, might’ve been as important as any trigger point in the team’s latest implosion.

It was, in the moment, a tough call. The Ravens’ offense, unstoppable for much of the night, had suddenly run aground in the fourth quarter, averaging just 2.8 yards per play over its final three drives. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was cramping. A fourth-down failure from their 32-yard-line, and the Bills would have taken over in field goal range, or close enough to it.

“I did think about going for it,” Harbaugh said. “If it’s fourth-and-3, if you don’t get it, they’re in field goal range. So I think punting it is probably what most people would do there.”

But most teams don’t have Jackson, Henry and an offense that averaged 8.6 yards per play overall. Most teams don’t have to worry about stopping the NFL’s reigning Most Valuable Player in his home-field fortress. Quarterback Josh Allen had led the Bills to touchdowns on three of their previous four drives. The Ravens’ defense was getting weaker, not stronger. Ninety-three seconds was plenty, even for a Buffalo team that had spent its last timeout.

According to ESPN sports data scientist Brian Burke, the Ravens’ win probability with a punt on fourth-and-2 — the play was officially charted as a fourth-and-3 — was 73.2%. ESPN’s modeling showed that going for it was by far the smarter decision; their win probability would’ve shot up to 81.4%. Burke tweeted that there was a “strong” recommendation for the Ravens to go for it up to 4 yards, and that the differences in the team’s win probability with a punt were “marginal” up to 6 yards.

The Ravens hadn’t found themselves in many short-yardage jams all night. But they had found their way out of nearly every one. On their first scoring drive, they converted two third-and-3s. On their first touchdown drive, they converted another third-and-3. On their last scoring drive of the first half, they converted a third-and-5. Their lone mishap in third-and-manageable came before the snap on that first scoring drive, when right tackle Roger Rosengarten was flagged for a false start.

Maybe Jackson’s cramping was so painful that Harbaugh couldn’t be convinced otherwise — “If I wasn’t [cramping], everybody in here knows I would’ve been trying to go for a fourth-and-3,” Jackson said afterward — but the Ravens at least had options. They still had three timeouts available. They had a warhammer in Henry, who finished with 169 rushing yards (9.4 per carry). They had a play-caller in offensive coordinator Todd Monken who’d routinely bamboozled Buffalo with presnap motion and personnel wrinkles.

The decision ultimately fell to Harbaugh. Years ago, early in Jackson’s ascendance, he was a champion of fourth-down aggressiveness, a folk hero among NFL wonks. The Ravens’ 2021 win over the Chiefs — their only win in six games against Kansas City during the Patrick Mahomes era — was sealed under similar fourth-down circumstances. The Ravens, leading 36-35 with just over a minute left, had the ball at their own 43-yard line and needed just a yard.

But Harbaugh’s boldness, perhaps tempered in some seasons by an elite offense or an elite defense or elite special teams, has faded in recent years. In 2019, according to the now-defunct Football Outsiders, Harbaugh was by far the NFL’s most aggressive coach. Last season, he ranked 17th on FTN in the same Aggressiveness Index metric. The year before, he’d ranked 31st among 35 coaches.

On Sunday, Harbaugh believed his defense would make one last stand. That trust was misplaced. After Jordan Stout punted, the Bills needed just five plays and 33 seconds to get into field goal range. After their sixth play, they were in gimme territory for kicker Matt Prater, who nearly had his 32-yard game-winner blocked by safety Kyle Hamilton as time expired.

All the small things had added up to one big problem, an epic collapse, a once-every-blue-moon loss.

“You have to make plays,” Harbaugh said. “You have to make plays on the ball. You have to get sacks. You have to turn the ball over. They got four downs, so it’s kind of hard just to play even. You’ve got to come up with a turnover somewhere. You’ve got to knock the ball out, get a stop. … You have to make a play and get off the field. You’ve got to extend, stay on the field.”

Maybe at their next fourth-down crossroads, the Ravens will stay on the field. On Sunday night, they jogged off and headed for the sideline. It was the offense’s last time with the ball. It would be the Ravens’ last time with the lead.