John Harbaugh said last week that when the Ravens squared off with the Los Angeles Chargers on “Monday Night Football,” facing his younger brother Jim once again would be “complicated.”
But there wasn’t much complicated about how the Ravens rolled past the Chargers. The Ravens piled up 212 rushing yards and hit on a couple of big touchdowns to overcome an early deficit and pull away to a 30-23 win at SoFi Stadium on Nov. 25.
With the win, John Harbaugh moves to 3-0 in NFL head-coaching showdowns against his brother, and more importantly, in the context of this season at least, the win nudges the Ravens back to the brink of the AFC North lead at 8-4.
The Ravens had to play without All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, and his absence was felt early as the Chargers effortlessly marched 70 yards on nine plays on their opening possession. They never even faced third down on that drive, which ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Justin Herbert.
But after that, the Chargers (7-4) were held out of the end zone until the game’s final minute, and by then the Ravens had rolled to a 30-16 lead.
Lamar Jackson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, and John Harbaugh’s aggressive fourth-down play-calling set the tempo as the Ravens dominated after falling behind 10-0 in the second quarter.
Derrick Henry finished with 24 carries for 140 yards, and although he was kept out of the end zone for the first time all season, Justice Hill sprung a 51-yard touchdown run that pushed the Ravens’ lead to 30-16 midway through the fourth quarter.
Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins appeared to be especially motivated to face his former team, and he sparked the Chargers with six carries for 40 yards in the first half. But he left the game with a knee injury late in the second quarter, and the Ravens kept Herbert from finding any rhythm after the opening drive.
Jackson got off to a slow start for the second straight week, but he led the Ravens on five straight scoring drives beginning in the second quarter. Jackson’s 10-yard touchdown run around the right end got the Ravens on the board, and his 40-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman put the Ravens ahead for good at 14-10 with 24 seconds left in the first half.
Jackson finished 16-for-22 for 177 yards and two scores through the air and ran eight times for 15 yards and a touchdown.
Here are five quick impressions of the win, which improves Jackson to 7-2 on “Monday Night Football,” with 22 touchdown passes and no interceptions:
1. The Ravens won the game on fourth down.
Head coach John Harbaugh likes to go for it on fourth down as much as any coach in the league, but still, going for it on fourth-and-1 from the Ravens’ 16 late in the second quarter was an ultra-aggressive move even by his standards. It also proved to be the call of the game.
The Ravens were trailing 10-7 at the time, with 2:00 left in the first half. If they failed to convert, the Ravens were essentially handing the Chargers no worse than a field goal. But tight end Mark Andrews took a direct snap, and with a little “tush-push” help from fullback Patrick Ricard and running back Derrick Henry, Andrews drove forward for 2 yards and the first down.
That led to a 22-yard pass from Lamar Jackson to Zay Flowers, and that led to a 40-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Rashod Bateman for a 14-10 lead with 24 seconds left in the half.
It wasn’t the only time Harbaugh kept the offense on the field. Three times, the Ravens went for it on fourth-and-1, and they succeeded all three times. In the third quarter, Henry powered off the left side for a 27-yard gain on fourth-and-1.
Later on the same drive, on the first play of the fourth quarter with the Ravens leading 17-16, Harbaugh opted to keep kicker Justin Tucker on the sideline and go for the first down on fourth-and-1 from the Chargers’ 25-yard line. Henry gained 2 yards to move the chains, and five plays later, Jackson hit Mark Andrews on a 6-yard touchdown pass for a 23-16 lead. (A two-point conversion failed.)
Brothers, it seems, are always daring each other to do something. Three times on fourth down, including one at his own 16-yard line, John basically told Jim, “I dare you to try to stop this.” And Jim and his defense couldn’t. John’s aggressiveness, and confidence in his offense to get a yard when it needed to, changed the course of the game.
2. Malik Harrison and others answered the challenge.
The Ravens had to play without All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith, and defensive coordinator Zach Orr had said last week that if that were the case, Smith’s job would be handled “by committee.” Indeed it was, and Malik Harrison responded with what head coach John Harbaugh called the best game of Harrison’s career.
Alternating between inside and outside linebacker, Harrison finished with a team-high and career-high 12 tackles, including one for loss. Inside linebackers Kristian Welch and Chris Board also were involved.
Welch, a special teams player who was added to the 53-man roster last week after exhausting all his practice squad elevations, made just the second start of his five-year career. He was used as an inside linebacker in Smith’s spot on some early downs.
Board, who played primarily on passing downs, finished with four tackles, including a couple of physical third-down stops.
That bodes well for this group if Smith can’t go again next week. It will be a tough test for the linebacker corps when the NFL’s leading rusher, Saquon Barkley, and the Philadelphia Eagles come to M&T Bank Stadium this coming Sunday, but the play of Harrison especially should leave Harbaugh and the Ravens encouraged.
3. The Ravens’ secondary is evolving and improving.
Given the Ravens struggles in their pass defense, it’s understandable that the Ravens have been mixing and matching and trying to find the right fit in the secondary. The most notable change came last week, when Ar’Darius Washington took over for veteran safety Marcus Williams, who was benched. Backup safety Eddie Jackson was released.
Against the Chargers, the Ravens used several cornerbacks, with Tre’Davious White spelling Brandon Stephens at times. White had been essentially phased out of the Los Angeles Rams’ plans before being dealt to the Ravens at the trade deadline, and he is getting quality snaps with his new team. White finished with three tackles and one pass breakup.
Jalyn Armour-Davis also got some run, though he was hit with a pass interference call in the end zone that set up the Chargers’ final touchdown, a 1-yard run by former Ravens running back Gus Edwards.
Rookie Nate Wiggins finished with a career-high six tackles and he also broke up two passes. Playing in the slot, Marlon Humphrey had his hands full at times with Chargers receiver Ladd McConkey, who led all receivers with six catches for 83 yards, but Humphrey and the Ravens did a good job of limiting any damage.
Coming into the game, the Ravens had allowed 50 pass plays of 20 yards or more, the second-highest total in the league, but the Chargers’ longest pass play went for 19 yards. (To be sure, Chargers receiver Quentin Johnson assisted the Ravens by dropping a few as well.)
Chargers’ quarterback Justin Herbert finished 21 of 36 for 218 yards, but the big play was never there for him. It’s been a slow and painful process, but this maligned secondary is showing progress.
4. Derrick Henry again showed his value and fit in this offense.
The Ravens were reeling, down 10-0, and the defense had been on the field for nearly 11 minutes of the first quarter. The last thing the Ravens could afford was a quick three-and-out to put the defense right back on the field.
Needing something to shift the momentum early in the game, the Ravens leaned on the running back who has dictated momentum in games so often this season. On the first play after the Chargers went up 10-0, Henry plowed ahead for 19 yards. On the next play, he gained 14.
After a thoroughly deflating first quarter, those two plays suddenly seemed to get the Ravens’ offensive legs under them. Later on the drive, Henry ran for 11 yards, setting up a 10-yard touchdown run by Lamar Jackson that cut the Chargers’ lead to 10-7.
That drive seemed to suggest the Chargers and their preferred light boxes would be no match for Henry, and rarely were they. Henry kept the ball on two big fourth-and-1 carries in the second half, and midway through the fourth quarter, on a third-and-1 play, he ran around the left end for 5 yards to move the chains. Three plays later, with Henry getting a well-deserved breather on the sideline, Justice Hill fired off the left edge and raced 51 yards for a score.
Henry’s productivity had slipped the past few games after a torrid start for the Ravens, but as he showed against the Chargers, the Ravens’ offense, when it is running well, very much still goes through him.
5. The division race has tightened again, and this head-to-head win could be big.
This was a critical test for the Ravens, sandwiched as it was between a tough loss at Pittsburgh a week ago and a home game against the front-running Philadelphia Eagles (9-2) on short rest this coming Sunday.
With the Steelers (8-3) losing at Cleveland in the snow on Thursday night, the Ravens (8-4) picked up a game in the AFC North race this week, and the Ravens-Steelers game at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 21 should have a major role in deciding the division title.
Even if the Ravens fall short of the AFC North title, this win tightens the Ravens’ grip on a potential playoff berth. And by beating the Chargers, the Ravens now own a head-to-head win over another team that figures to be in the mix for wild-card seeding.
A lot will happen between now and January, but it’s possible that the Ravens and Chargers could even meet in a wild-card round playoff matchup. HarBowl IV anyone?
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