INGLEWOOD, Calif. — As Ravens running back Derrick Henry lined up behind Mark Andrews for the tight end’s first fourth-down tush push, he said, “I’ma push the shit outta you, so be ready to get this.”

And push Henry did. Sandwiched between Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum in the front and Henry and Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard in the back, Andrews went right past the first-down marker and picked up 2 yards on fourth-and-1.

“He said to me, ‘I felt you,’” Henry said. “I said, ‘Damn right.’”

It was the first of three fourth-down attempts John Harbaugh elected to go for Monday night. His daring set the tone: All three were a success, and all three were on touchdown drives (although the second and third came on the same drive) in a 30-23 win for the Ravens (8-4).

It was also the riskiest of the bunch. The Ravens were facing fourth-and-1 at their own 16-yard line, down 10-7 to the Chargers. Failing to convert would have given Los Angeles the ball with just under two minutes left in the first half and a chance to take a two-score lead with a touchdown.

“That’s the downside,” Harbaugh said.

In fact, quarterback Lamar Jackson did not think the Ravens were going to go for the first down after an initial attempt to draw the defense offside failed.

“Yes, I thought we were going to punt the ball, but he was like ... he wanted to go for it,” Jackson said. “... He was like, ‘It’s very short. We can convert it.’ I was like, ‘Let’s just do it.’ I have all the faith in my team.”

At least one analytical model said going for it was the smart move. Down three with two minutes to go in the half, the Ravens’ win percentage would be at 44% if they punted. If they went for it and found success, their win percentage would jump to 50%. And it estimated they had a 74% chance of success.

More than the numbers, Harbaugh’s gut feeling sealed the decision.

“But the upside and the thought was I really thought we’d get it,” Harbaugh said. “I thought Mark could get it with the quarterback sneak. I just thought he and Tyler and our interior offensive line — I mean [Patrick] Mekari coming off the ball the way he did, and Daniel Faalele coming off the ball the way he did — I just thought we’d get it.”

The Ravens have been practicing the play for weeks but had not used Andrews as the ball carrier. Henry has been the most common choice on fourth-and-1, although they also had tight end Charlie Kolar run one tush-push play.

Linderbaum said Andrews does a good job of staying low and that the pushers (Henry and Ricard) are critical to the play. They just hadn’t had a chance to use this particular tush push before.

“Everyone’s got their different versions of it,” Andrews said of the controversial play popularized by the Ravens’ next opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles. “We’ve been practicing, and it came through big in a big moment.”

Harbaugh was right on all accounts. The play was a success, and the swing in momentum was huge.

The Ravens continued down the field for 84 more yards and scored a touchdown to go in the half with a 14-13 lead (after the Chargers added a field goal on the last play of the second quarter). And they scored on the next four possessions as well.

Two possessions after the first fourth-down attempt, the Ravens went for it twice on one drive. They didn’t go to Andrews again. Instead, they went back to Henry, who picked up 27 yards on the first and 2 yards on the second. And then they scored a touchdown, a catch by Andrews.

Before Monday, the Ravens had gone for it on fourth down only seven times in 11 games, with four successful attempts.

“It was just gutsy,” Linderbaum said. “Credit to Coach for having trust in us to get the job done.”

Harbaugh long ago developed a reputation as one of the most aggressive coaches in the NFL when it came to going for it on fourth down, thanks in part to input from the team’s analytics department. But by last year he’d fallen to 31st in Aaron Schatz’s Aggressiveness Index.

John was not the only Harbaugh to be aggressive on fourth down. Jim Harbaugh also had the Chargers go for it twice on fourth down and found success both times. However, the Ravens kept the Chargers from getting in too many fourth-and-short situations, and only one of the drives resulted in a score, a field goal.

Not all of John Harbaugh’s aggressive choices paid off. The Ravens failed to convert on a 2-point conversion attempt for the second week in a row, but this came in a less pivotal situation.

But the daring calls emboldened his players and helped swing the game.

“Whenever you can convert fourth downs, it’s huge,” said Ricard, who was pushing Andrews from behind. “It’s like a four-point swing almost every time. So, when you do that, you got to make sure you keep driving the ball, because that’s a big play, so you want to get points with it. And we’re just happy that we’re able to do that.”