John Harbaugh deserves every ounce of the criticism he is receiving from the fan base for the Ravens’ 0-2 start.
Now let me reiterate something quickly so we can move on. Discussion of firing John Harbaugh isn’t just silly. It is asinine. It is poppycock. The most dysfunctional organization in football wouldn’t fire a coach after two one-score losses. The worst run organizations in the league wouldn’t do this. Stop. You’re embarrassing yourself and your families.
But if you said it a different way, you’d have a point. Hence the way the column started.
The Ravens, despite being in both games until the final play, are in more than a bit of trouble. It’s not just that the actual 0-2 record is a problem. It’s that the next two games (at Dallas, home against Buffalo) look quite tricky on paper. It’s not hard to imagine things getting worse before they get better, particularly given the Ravens’ porous offensive line and a surprisingly lackluster pass defense.
The Ravens are allowing 257 passing yards per game, worst in the league, but that’s not something I’m choosing to overreact to just yet. Small sample size, the Raiders basically abandoned the run because it wasn’t working, there are reasons. It’s concerning, but I’m not panicking at this point.
The offensive line? Somehow this thing that we all knew was the most concerning thing about the team going into the season has actually been even worse than we expected. It is an unmitigated disaster. We expected growing pains. This is growing agony. And it might well get better, but it is very difficult to imagine it getting better in time for a matchup with (checks notes) Micah Parsons in just a few days.
This is where the Harbaugh issue comes in. And no, it is not because the offensive line issue uniquely falls on him. That’s an organizational problem from the top down that was compounded by the tragic death of offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris. It is a complicated problem that will require a combination of development, potential depth chart or rotation changes and maybe even ultimately roster changes. But the Ravens have to stay afloat until those things can be addressed.
And stay afloat with a much smaller margin for error in the meantime.
And, yeah, THAT’S where the John Harbaugh issue comes into play. That’s where the criticism is completely and totally deserved. It’s one thing that the Ravens seemed to wait too long to start chipping against Maxx Crosby. That falls far more on offensive coordinator Todd Monken. No, it’s the errors in the margins that are most problematic. The Ravens needed to be sharper in all other areas while they sorted out the offensive line.
The offensive line is young and inexperienced, save for Ronnie Stanley and Tyler Linderbaum. It’s been worse than expected, but struggles indeed were expected.
Nearly two decades into his head coaching career, it sadly is almost equally expected that Harbaugh will end up losing a timeout chasing a bad challenge. Against the Raiders, he lost two. Two timeouts wasted on plays that were never going to be overturned. Two inexplicable decisions to light timeouts on fire. Perhaps the first-half challenge can be dismissed with the idea that they were probably going to take a timeout ahead of the third-down play anyway, but there was absolutely no reason they had to. And they didn’t convert.
And that timeout might have been nice late in the first half when the Ravens were 14 yards short of the end zone and had to settle for a field goal before they ran out of time. And the second wasted timeout could have proved beneficial when they got the ball back with only 27 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
These blunders are inexcusable for first-year head coaches. They’re unfathomable for 17-year head coaches. But they’re downright criminal for teams that have to be better in the margins to make up for shortcomings like an offensive line that simply isn’t ready for primetime. And yes, it comes on the heels of a Week 1 loss in which two second-half timeouts were squandered because of personnel issues. Those timeouts would have been helpful when the Ravens ran out of time on a potential game-tying drive. This falls somewhere between “broken record” and “Phil Connors stuck in a Groundhog’s Day hellscape.”
I’m not even venturing into the responsibility that falls on the coaches for the staggering 173 penalty yards so far. Some of the penalties (the illegal formations last week and the Brandon Stephens pass interference in the end zone this week) are questionable to say the least. Still, “unacceptable” doesn’t begin to describe this.
But as the wasted timeouts go, I don’t blame those of you who are so sick of it that all you can do is suggest firing the coach after every game. I understand. It can’t happen. It can’t be explained. It isn’t OK.
But John Harbaugh is going to be the coach for the next game. And John Harbaugh has to be better. Period. The offensive line has to be better. The former kicking GOAT has to be better. The punter has to be better, too. But John Harbaugh, quite specifically, has to be better.
If this doesn’t get better quickly, 0-4 might really stare this team in the face. And at 0-4, the season really is just about over. And barring a miracle we actually can start having those conversations some of you want to have about Harbaugh’s future.
It’s not today. But there’s no hiding from this. It’s been a disastrous start to the season after a disastrous end to last season for the future Hall of Fame coach. It simply has to be better.
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