Rob Shields and I had similar ideas after Sunday’s game. For a similar, but slightly different, take on Harbaugh, check out his piece here.
We’ve all heard the old platitude, sometimes (mistakenly) credited to Albert Einstein, that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
As we sit here disappointed at the end of another football season, the Baltimore Ravens’ 16th under John Harbaugh, and the 15th of which has culminated in similar depression (though few that can compare to this), I find myself thinking about that phrase a lot.
Whenever you talk about Harbaugh, you have to get a few things out of the way first, lest you be accused of being ungrateful, of not appreciating everything the man has accomplished as a head coach. So, let’s do that…
Starting with the facts:
- Harbaugh is now the NFL’s second-longest tenured head coach.
- His team won Super Bowl XLVII.
- He’s amassed a career regular season record of 160-99, winning the AFC North crown five times (2011, 12, 18, 19, 23).
Next, we can get to the less tangible things you have to say about the old ball coach, which include the likelihood that, were he to become available, teams would be falling all over themselves to sign him to be their next head coach.
I’ve had my problems with Harbaugh during his tenure, but there’s no need to rehash all of that here. Most recently, back in 2018 I was ready to see him be on his way. But then, midseason, he made the bold decision to switch quarterbacks, from the veteran Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco to rookie Lamar Jackson. That team, with Jackson at the helm, won six of their final seven games to finish 10-6 after a 4-5 start, take the division crown, and earn a home playoff game.
Though that team lost to the Los Angeles Chargers in the postseason, I was genuinely impressed with the seemingly hard-headed Harbaugh’s ability to change, adapt, and embrace a “New Era” of Baltimore football. The future was bright, and the Flacco-Jackson pairing was just getting started.
I don’t want this to turn into a long-winded history lesson. We all remember what happened next. A dominant 14-2 campaign followed by an embarrassing flameout to the Tennessee Titans in the Divisional round.
Then came the weird COVID year, a revenge playoff win over those same Titans in Nashville, and a loss in horrid conditions to the Buffalo Bills. That was followed up by a couple seasons that Jackson didn’t finish, an 8-9 2021 and a 10-7 2022. One of John Harbaugh’s greatest assets – his ability to get his guys to fight and play up to better competition – really shone through during those seasons. That the Ravens were perhaps a goalline fumble away from defeating the defending AFC champs in their house with Tyler Huntley at the helm speaks to Harbs’ motivational abilities.
Harbaugh’s capacity to raise the level of outmanned teams has been evident since he lost Hall of Famers like Ed Reed and Ray Lewis following the glorious 2012 season. He had some lesser talented Ravens teams during those mid-10’s, and we fans still tuned in every Sunday because we knew the chances of being blown out, no matter who was on the schedule, were slim.
That characteristic of Harbs teams again rose to the surface during the aforementioned injury-plagued 2021-22 seasons.
In 2023 though, the Ravens were far from outmanned. They also enjoyed the kind of injury luck they hadn’t since at least 2019 (other than at the running back position). Jackson put together what’s likely his second MVP season, and played in 16 of the 17 regular season games, only missing the meaningless finale in Week 18. The defense was tops in the league in takeaways, points allowed, and sacks. The advanced metric DVOA consistently ranked the Ravens as one of the best teams OF ALL TIME over the latter part of the year, even putting them as the BEST DVOA team EVER following the Divisional round as recently as last week.
That dominance could likely not have been accomplished without the family culture that Harbaugh instills at 1 Winning Drive. Veteran players like Jadeveon Clowney, Kyle Van Noy, and Odell Beckham Jr. spoke glowingly about the atmosphere here in Charm City. Former players like Steve Smith echo this admiration.
That’s John Harbaugh. No doubt in my mind. And, because players of that stature say those things, it will make enticing other free agents to sign easier on GM Eric DeCosta. Not to mention the effect on guys who are already here who may be up for a new contract soon.
So with all that said, what could possibly be the “problem” with a head coach like that?
Well, to be blunt: it’s his postseason record, which now stands at 12-10. While that doesn’t seem that bad, we have to remember that from 2008-12, his first five seasons at the helm, it was 9-4, including 7-4 on the road (2-0 at home). Which means that, in the ensuing 11 seasons, Harbs’ postseason record is a dismal 3-6, with three of those losses coming at M&T Bank Stadium. Three playoff wins in 11 years.
And what drives Ravens fans like me the most insane about the recent playoff losses are, as much as the final results themselves, the fashion in which they came about.
On its face, there is nothing wrong with losing a playoff game to Patrick Mahomes, who is putting together a resume to challenge Tom Brady as the greatest quarterback ever (Harbs beat Brady teams in January twice earlier in his tenure, but I digress). Just as there is nothing inherently wrong with losing a playoff game to a veteran like Philip Rivers when your QB is a rookie becoming the youngest at his position to ever start an NFL playoff game.
The problem arises when it appears that, time and again, in January when opposing coaching staffs step up their preparation to really attack your weaknesses and minimize your strengths, the Baltimore Ravens seem surprised and unprepared on the offensive side of the football.
This problem has now arisen through myriad offensive coordinators.
(I am old enough to remember the memes about Cam Cameron forgetting Ray Rice was on the team.)
But more recently, in 2018, it was Marty Mornhinweg who had no answer for what Los Angeles was doing to confuse his rookie QB and slow down the then-mostly college-style offense.
(The 2019 Titans loss was a train wreck from the start. I won’t even blame Greg Roman for that one, as many like to do. Receivers dropped passes, fourth down conversions were suddenly impossible to come by, Ryan Tannehill was threading passes he hadn’t for years, Derrick Henry was a man possessed…it was all bad for B’More.)
In 2020 the offense couldn’t do much in Nashville, but Jackson’s individual heroics were enough to get the win. In Buffalo a week later, the Ravens managed only three points.
The 2019 Tennessee loss aside, we all remember the ongoing saga that was the Roman era. Fans begging to get rid of him, analysts lambasting his archaic passing game concepts, hanging out “at the end of the bar…”
Roman was finally sent on his way, and Todd Monken arrived to much fanfare from a weary Ravens Flock. There were growing pains early on, that we all remember well, but the offense was clicking down the stretch.
Then, the playoffs hit. DeMeco Ryans and the upstart Houston Texans stymied the Ravens for much of the first half, and it seemed like Baltimore was somehow completely unprepared for the Texans to blitz like they did. Fortunately, the defense was humming and the bad guys were led by a rookie quarterback making his first road playoff start. There was time to adjust, which they did, and in the end the result was a convincing win.
Facing the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, the Ravens would surely take the lessons learned against Houston, where mistakes made against Stroud & Co. were painful but not fatal, and carry them over, right?
Wrong, apparently.
In Sunday’s AFC Championship, the Ravens went three-and-out on their opening possession, immediately validating KC’s decision to defer after winning the coin toss. Though they responded with a touchdown on their next drive, that would be their only one of the day, and their last points until the fourth quarter.
How does that happen?
The Ravens, on offense, once again seemed completely flabbergasted by KC DC Steve Spagnulo’s game plan, which included blitzing like Houston did, but while also taking away the quick underneath stuff as much as possible. Monken and Jackson played right into their hands, gladly testing KC’s extremely talented cornerbacks down the field with minimal success, while also, inexplicably and infuriatingly, refusing to run the ball with Gus Edwards, Justice Hill, or Dalvin Cook.
Kansas City was missing one of their best linebackers in Willie Gay and one of their best run-stuffing DT’s in Derrick Nnadi. Yet Ravens backs had only six carries on the day, including a 15-yard scamper by Edwards just prior to the team’s only touchdown tied the game at 7-7.
All week we’ve endured the national analysts loudly scratching their heads wondering what in the world Baltimore and Monken were thinking by not attacking the Chiefs on the ground. Buffalo had put up nearly 200 yards rushing the week prior, Kansas City defenders had played 77 snaps, and the Ravens had a full additional day’s rest.
ESPN’s Rex Ryan rips Ravens OC Todd Monken’s ‘stupidest’ game plan https://t.co/VkyvtN3cx5 pic.twitter.com/UUHk6KQhqb
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 30, 2024
"If you're John Harbaugh, you've got to answer some questions."
— @ColinCowherd reacts to Chiefs advancing to Super Bowl pic.twitter.com/Ks1wLErll9
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) January 28, 2024
Despite all that, six carries from running backs.
And once again we’re left wondering how the team could be so monumentally outcoached and unprepared. Once again they lose not by getting beat at what they do best, but by seemingly trying to suddenly become something they’re not.
Now, this isn’t just something that has happened in the playoffs. We can all point to times where the Ravens lost a regular-season game and we looked back, puzzled, and wondered just what they were thinking.
For instance, did you know Ravens teams are now 0-31 under Harbaugh when running the ball fewer than 20 times (per Annie Agar)? Self-scout much?
Of course, that kind of thing happens everywhere. (“What were they thinking?” losses…not so much “oh, we forgot to run the ball and lost again” games.)
But for it to keep happening in the postseason, again and again, with Harbaugh at the helm?
As Colin Cowherd said above, questions need to be answered.
I don’t have the answers. The questions, though, are as follows:
Is Steve Bisciotti truly satisfied by “being in the mix every year,” or would he like to press the issue for another Lombardi Trophy?
Is Eric DeCosta satisfied by letting this amazing roster he’s put together (again, likely with Harbs’ recruiting/culture in his back pocket) be wasted by poor preparation and mental collapses?
Are the Ravens ready to let an up-and-coming coach like Mike MacDonald, a guy some are calling “the defensive Sean McVay” leave for a head coaching job elsewhere?
Will they accept more of the same come next postseason, from a head coach who just got to his first title game in over a decade, and hasn’t been to the Super Bowl in just as long?
To be clear, I don’t think John Harbaugh will be fired. Nor should he be.
But these are big, important questions. And after yet another postseason collapse, this time in the franchise’s first home AFC Championship game, we don’t want to be hasty or make emotional decisions we’ll regret later.
It’s a conundrum, the “problem” that is John Harbaugh.
28 Responses
I’ve asked this in response to other RSR articles, but are we certain it was the game plan or was it Lamar “with the keys to the offense” changing plays at the line of scrimmage? I doubt we will get an answer to this from the Ravens.
You’re right that we’ll probably never get an answer. I also wonder this.
However, Gus wasn’t on the field much at all, which speaks to their game plan being very pass-heavy. If we saw a lot of Gus but still so much passing, I’d be more inclined to think it was as you say.
You can’t go toe to toe with Mahomes in an all passing game !! Lamar Jackson still needs work on his passing, he doesn’t throw like Flaco. Also where was our run game that got us where we are . Buffalo ran against KC. I see very poor game planning. All that work Eric Decosta did for nothing . I also blame John Harbaugh a lot also, who else gets sick and tired of hearing excuses !!
Flacco? That’s laughable. If Flacco dropped back more that 30 times they usually lost. Not a good comparison
Laughable!!! you kidding? Flacco’s play in playoffs is head and shoulders above Lamars to date!!! look up the stats honey, wins and a Superbowl to boot! I can tell you this , you won’t see a Superbowl win or even appearance with Lamar at OB and on top of that Harbs still at head coach!! Harb’s is a has-been from days of old , like Bellacheat
Ok, let’s look up the stats of their first six playoff games…
Flacco:
82/154 (53%) 3 TD 6 INT 925 yards, 38 rushing yards, 1 TD, 2 fum/1 lost
Jackson:
112/195 (57%) 6 TD 6 INT 1324 yards, 521 rushing yards, 3 TD, 6 fum/3 lost
So a whole lot more total yards, 5 more TDs, and 2 more turnovers than Joe.
What I see is that they asked a whole lot more out of Lamar than they did of Joe in those first few playoff games, when he did a great job being a game manager, for the most part.
LOL how many playoff wins and Superbowl wins does LAME ARM have? and playoff touchdowns? Flacco beat for Joe Montana for passing yards playoff MVP Superbowl.
11 touchdowns and no interceptions with a 117.2 passer rating in four games. Joe Flacco’s run in the 2012 playoffs was incredible
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-flacco-passes-joe-montana-nfl-record-mnf-loss-new-england-patriots-1546231
https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/joe-flacco-playoff-record
Yes, Flacco’s 2012 playoff run was incredible, and he was really good in 2014 as well. I blame John Harbaugh for wasting a lot of good years of Joe with inept offensive coordinators. Just as I blame him for wasting a few years of potential Jackson development by holding onto Roman too long.
But Joe was NOT good in his first few playoff appearances. He improved. Let’s hope Lamar can.
Derek, Flacco’s performance taking a wild card team on the road on that spectacular run to a record tying SB MVP championship got him a huge contract the old fashioned way by…..earning it! Two years later, he had his most productive season under OC Gary a Kubiak, who was not Harbaugh’s choice! And, he accomplished all of it without the kind of surrounding talent Lamar has despite management’s promise to provide him with it! P.S. look what he just did with Cleveland on short notice at age 39! Kubiak, by the way, recommended him to Cleveland! No comparison between him and Lamar, who, despite his immense talent, is NOT a prototype pocket passing QB!
I don’t want to sound like I’m denigrating Joe Flacco. Love the guy. But we deify him a bit too much by pretending he was ALWAYS a great postseason QB. He was…eventually! And that it happened lining up with his rookie contract expiring was very fortunate on everyone’s part.
I also agree with many of your Harbaugh criticisms. Those Flacco teams were wild cards as a result of not only Joe’s occasional vapor lock stinkers (Jacksonville 2011 comes to mind), but because of John’s insistence on sticking with Cam Cameron, playings not to lose, abandoning the run, etc, etc. The same things that still happen.
It’s great that Harbs, with Lamar, has embraced scoring and they’ve been able to earn the #1 seed twice. But when the pressure is on (also against Pittsburgh in the regular seasons!), John reverts to his worst self. That opponents know you will panic (see TL’s article today) is quite the indictment on a coach in his 16th season.
John Harbaugh should be gone. Keep McDonald he is the head coach Lamar was at his best help him out run the ball. His Ego is so big he doesn’t care. He has the same identical record as Mike Mcarthy of The Cowboys. Ravens will never win anything with Harbaugh. He doesn’t have Ray Lewis Ed Reed and Suggs anymore 2 playoff games in 10 years. It’s time to get younger
They envision Lamar as a pocket passer and he’s not! When Lamar runs, they win, which is why Reid emphasized containing him in the pocket with blitzes, which they did! They also took away the middle of the field where he’s more accurate and gave up outside the numbers where he’s not very accurate, which also worked! Incidentally, that’s exactly how the Titans beat him in their earlier playoff game! So, coaching definitely played a significant role in this game with Reid the clear winner! They also are not used to playing from behind, which may account for their abandoning the run! Harbaugh has never been a good game day coach and, in my opinion, was instrumental in turning Flacco, a gifted, strong arm passer, into a check down game manager, literally ruining his career! Despite all the personnel and assistant coaching changes the past 16 years, the one constant is….Harbaugh! And, as long as he remains HC, don’t expect different results! Just one fan’s opinion…..
You are 100 percent correct!!!
Bisciotti will give Harbs an extension as he loves continuity😀
We need to let Harbaugh go. He is not a real coach. He tells Lamar what he wants to hear instead putting his foot down. He not a offensive or defensive coach. We need Mike Mc Donald to be the ravens coach. I’m so tired of the kissing Lamar a…. to save his job. We need to go with a younger coach. Harbaugh is just a locker room coach!!!!
Although we didn’t know it at the time, the 2018 loss to the Chargers let us know a lot about John Harbaugh. He’s a terrible ‘in game’ coach. We didn’t make adjustments in that game in 2018 and we didn’t last Sunday. That’s our coach, so we have to take the good with the bad I guess. I don’t see him changing.
Correct! I’ll never forgive him for not starting Flacco, a proven big game QB, in the second half after Lamar’s dismal first half! He was more concerned about a QB controversy than winning a playoff game! Shameful and……unforgivable!
The answer to your question(s) like most good to very good football coaches who are CEO types or “RaRa Type” head Coaches, Harbaugh works best as a underdog like Tomlin or Vrabel when he can you the old “They doubt us Narratives etc” but it’s harder to do that in a 1 game season when the teams &Qbs you play are equal (Burrows, Mahomes etc). Coaching matters even more in playoffs. The thing that makes the difference is the great schemer, Offensive Genius, playcaller/designer like Shanahan and Andy Reid that give their guys advantages over everyone.
So if Ravens want to win a SB in the Lamar era they probably gotta do 1 of 2 things. Either hire Bellicheck as a coach/senior consultant of some kind gameplanner etc. He would run the ball vs bottom 10 defense. 2nd, hire a Bobby Slowik, Ben Johnson Offensive Genius or Mike Macdonald and move on from Harbaugh.
Sure we can win 10-12 games for next 5 years with Harbaugh but Ihave 0 faith come playoffs bc coaching
Another thing that bugs me about Harbaugh are his cryptic answers at pressers, especially after an appalling loss like this one. We can’t know even half of what went on at the game. We can’t know what the game plan (?) was. He owes the fans of this franchise more than “That’s just the way it went. That’s the kind of game it was”. Is he channelling his inner Bill Belichick? I can’t stand it. I want answers.
Agree, Judy! But, his terse answer was very telling as it implies that rather than adjust, he was content to play “the way it went”! My guess is that they abandoned the run because they’re not used to playing from behind. Never been a good game day coach, particularly in the postseason and it’s not likely to change!
the Lamar/Harbs combo is a laughing stock!!!! Of course, the owner doesn’t care. The big bucks keep rolling in from all the dupes that keep paying for this mess on Sunday’s at the Bank. How many people got ripped off with the gigantic prices for the tickets last Sunday and regular season games, LOTS DID! So, he just gets back on the SS Steve and back to FLA Laughing all the way to the bank because he knows YOU can’t wait for next year to blow lots more money and up saddened again! It’s all about continuity you know!!!
I’m glad you said that Judy. This guy is way too arrogant for how little he has accomplished. I’m sick of his condescending attitude, as if we’re just a bunch of idiots that have a lot of nerve to question him. Between Bischotti’s undying loyalty to him and that ridiculous, Ill-advised contract we gave to that regular season hero we have at QB I find my interest in this team fading by the week.
That’s been John’s MO throughout his tenure. He never answers tough questions, and usually bristles at anything he perceives as criticism. The Ravens have removed as many honest sports media from the pressers as possible, so all John gets is softballs, and he still takes offense. John is as thin skinned as they come, which it seems impossible having coached in Philly.
All good points, and I agree Harbs’ time is up, but missing the big piece of the puzzle. I cringed when they resigned Jackson, cause he is not a championship quarterback. After that epic choke I find it hard to imagine he still has support. We are condemned to four more years of going nowhere even if we get to the playoffs. Can’t trade him cause nobody wants him. They are smarter than the Ravens
You can’t actually believe this. A 27 y/o two-time MVP QB couldn’t be traded? You don’t think other coaches would be salivating at the opportunity to “fix” his playoff failures? Hell, he and Peyton Manning had the same record and very similar stats after their first six playoff games.
Pretty sure in Friday’s “End of Season” presser they will use coach speak to explain away the offensive game plan. What should occur is a complete apology from Harbs and Monken. They lost the game more than the players.
I’m soo over harbaugh, he should’ve been gone years ago! If people think we’re gonna win a superbowl with harbaugh they’re sadly mistaken. Now what’s makes it worse Mcdonald is gone to Seattle smh 🤦 we’re in trouble No superbowls for us long as harbaugh stays.
Can we just get it done and over! Move the team to Nebraska and get a women’s NBA team; it would be run and coached better.