Rarely does Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh do the two-step in his weekly Monday afternoon media press conference.
Until today.
When directly confronted about his confidence in offensive coordinator Greg Roman, after the Ravens scored a season-low three points in a crippling loss to the Cleveland Browns, Harbaugh went directly to coach-speak mode.
“I’ve got confidence in everybody,” Harbaugh said. “We have great coaches and great players at the highest level, battling every single day to get everything as good as it can be.”
Right from the get-go, that’s where Harbaugh lost me.
And doubling down, Harbaugh added: “The passing game has not been where we need it to be, but all our coaches, including Greg (Roman) and everybody else, are fully capable of understanding the passing game and what we’ve got to do to get it done and scheming it up.”
Huh?
Baltimore has scored just 29 points over its past three games. That perfectly coincides with starting quarterback Lamar Jackson (knee) being missing-in-action for all but one quarter during this stretch.
The Ravens rushed the ball effectively, especially after the return of J.K. Dobbins, having totaled 413 yards over their last two games. The problem is in the red zone, where Baltimore can’t find the end zone.
On the Ravens postgame radio show Saturday, the message from the callers was simple: Roman needs to go. Immediately.
When asked about that, Harbaugh replied, “We’re not getting into all that, I love the fans talking about everything, but we’re together, man, we’re a team.”
Without Lamar Jackson, the Ravens are taking a flyswatter to a gun fight. Two games ago, the Ravens were forced to play the entire second half in a win over Pittsburgh with a third-string, practice-team quarterback. Against Cleveland it was backup QB Tyler Huntley.
So, the Ravens must run the ball, and they have done so effectively.
For the first three quarters of the 13-3 loss to Cleveland, Baltimore ran the ball often and with impressive results (27 carries, 194 yards).
Here’s my rub against Roman: in the fourth quarter, time dwindling, Roman went away from the running game, no, make that, Roman abandoned the running game. Running just one time over the final three drives. Baltimore’s final 12 plays were all passes.
OK, I get it that, late in the game, down by 10, Baltimore needed some quick-score plays. But early in the final quarter, the Ravens had plenty of time to stick with what was working. They didn’t. Roman panicked, and it backfired.
Harbaugh said that he had a conversation with Roman about the team’s pass-heavy fourth quarter strategy.
“Once we got to that second possession (five minutes left), at that point, we were definitely throwing the ball,” said Harbaugh, who chose not to address the Ravens’ first two fourth-quarter drives that consisted of 12 passes and one run.
Plenty of time to stick to what was working. Instead, Harbaugh commented on the play selection during the final four minutes, which Baltimore, down by 10, had no choice but to throw.
The most deflating and troubling miscues Saturday were the two stalled offensive drives, both inside the Browns’ 15-yard line. On the first drive of the game, the Ravens elected to go for it on fourth-and-short at the Browns’ 7-yard line, taking away a sure three points.
Cleveland picked off a Huntley pass in the endzone early in the third quarter. Ten points left on the field.
Until Saturday, the Ravens were on a collision course for a regular-season finale in Cincinnati that may have decided the division and who would host at least one playoff game. With the Bengals’ win over Tampa Bay on Sunday, Baltimore is suddenly looking up at the Bengals in the AFC North.
And suddenly Harbaugh is sounding more like a slick-talking politician than an NFL head coach. Or is that vice versa?
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