It’s time.
I’m not going to choose to drone on about it. But it’s time.
It’s not specifically John Harbaugh’s fault that Tyler Loop missed what would be an AFC North-clinching field goal. It wasn’t specifically John Harbaugh’s fault that Zay Flowers didn’t get upfield against the Patriots. Or that Mark Andrews dropped a ball against Buffalo a year ago. Or that Zay Flowers fumbled a ball going into the end zone against the Chiefs two years ago.
But some of it is his fault. It’s his fault that he didn’t become involved to get Derrick Henry back on the field in the fourth quarter against the Patriots. It’s his fault he didn’t call a timeout with 2:32 left in the first Steelers game when the Ravens had third-and-2 from the Steelers’ 5-yard line and their pre-snap was a mess and the operation ended in a 3-yard loss. And it is his fault that they decided a kicker who had never made a kick of consequence in his life was a sure thing from 44 to the point that they were willing to lose yards instead of attempting to gain more with 14 seconds and a timeout left in their season-ending loss.
And the reality for John Harbaugh is that it just keeps happening. Time and time again. When the Ravens were winning, the winning itself was enough for me to justify the constant shortcomings.
But it’s time. This is who the Ravens are. They’re a team that constantly finds new and incredible ways to come up short when the moment demands their best. It is as much a hallmark of the Lamar Jackson-John Harbaugh era as Jackson’s brilliance. This is so very much in their DNA.
And it’s not just losing big games in heartbreaking ways. Everything is going in the wrong direction at the moment. While there was bad injury luck this season, the Ravens also lost devastating home games to the Steelers, Bengals and Patriots when they had the majority of their players on the field. Few cornerstone players are in a notably better place at the end of the season than they were when the season began. Tyler Linderbaum and Kyle Hamilton remain solid pieces. Nate Wiggins probably took a small step forward on the whole. Travis Jones and Jordan Stout were exceptional. The majority of the group was either stagnant or took steps backward.
This isn’t a “just run it back” situation anymore. There is no reason to be confident in any of the coordinators, and it’s impossible to have confidence in the head coach hiring new ones.
It’s time.
League sources I spoke to in the last couple of weeks suggested that the Ravens would not fire Harbaugh, a similarly popular sentiment around town. There is a belief that either because of Harbaugh’s close relationship with owner Steve Bisciotti or because of the equity that Harbaugh has earned across nearly two decades of success in Baltimore, the owner would never “fire” the coach.
But some of the league sources I spoke to recently were of the belief that it is possible Harbaugh might decide on his own that it is time to move on. In the immediate aftermath of the season-ending loss to the Steelers, Harbaugh suggested that he would want to be back with the team next year.
I do think Harbaugh has earned the right to not be “fired,” personally. I believe he has more than earned the right for the team to talk to him about how to word a “mutual decision” to part ways that protects his right to collect what he is owed if he doesn’t continue coaching. I don’t worry too much about the “Steve Bisciotti doesn’t want to pay someone to not coach” element of the conversation because I genuinely believe Harbaugh will want to continue coaching and will be paid handsomely to do it. The money shouldn’t be an issue.
If Harbaugh isn’t interested in coming to that type of mutual agreement, he shouldn’t be allowed to hold the franchise hostage. I can’t imagine that being the case.
There are other decisions to be made. The Ravens have to figure out how Marlon Humphrey fits into their plans. They have to figure out what to do about kicker. They have to (again) solve a massive edge rush problem. Linderbaum and Isaiah Likely stand out in particular among their free agents.
Perhaps there’s even a conversation to be had above Harbaugh.
But I can’t say it enough. It’s time. It’s most certainly time.
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