The Wrong Coach Was Put Through The Ringer On Monday

Criticizing coaches is everyone’s favorite thing to do in sports.

“How could you call that play?” “Why would you blitz there?” “How is that guy taking the last shot?”

It's so easy to nitpick decisions and claim to your cube mates that you would’ve done differently after the fact, to paint the coach as a moron that cost your team a chance to win. It’s a never-ending cycle of opportunities for you to sound smart.

While two teams lost Sunday, one coaching staff, and head coach in particular, was ridiculed by every brainless pundit who wanted to sound smart on TV or to their friends. But it was the wrong coach.

The fact John Harbaugh and the Ravens coaching staff seemingly flew under the radar of criticism in comparison to Dan Campbell makes me want to kick and scream like Phil Weston when his players wouldn't get the ball to the Italians.

The Ravens are a run first team. They know it, you know it, and there’s nothing you can do to stop them. They led the league in rushing, averaging 15 yards per game more than second best. They ranked top five in yards per rush, rushing TDs, rushing first downs and first down %, and explosive runs (20+ yards). With Lamar as the catalyst, they are as lethal of a rushing attack the NFL has seen in years, and are a Freddy Krueger-type nightmare to stop in third and short situations.

So tell me, smart guys, why John Harbaugh and Todd Monken aren’t getting dragged for running the ball a combined six times by RBs all game?? Tell me how the Ravens ran 26 first and 10 plays and only five (!!) were designed runs? Why Gus Edwards got one carry in the first half (for 15 yards btw) while Justice Hill received 70% of the snaps? Why in the biggest moment of the season they went away from who they were, who they’ve always been, and consistently left themselves behind the chains in third and long situations? Why?

It’s not like they were going up against the front seven of the '85 Bears. The Chiefs played extra defensive backs the majority of the game due to injuries in their LB room (i.e. run happy looks for offenses). While their stingy secondary allowed the 4th fewest passing yards in the regular season, their run defense ranked 26th in yards per attempt allowed.

So again I ask, why didn’t they run?

My first guess is they panicked. After Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs waltzed down the field on their first two possessions resulting in two touchdowns, maybe the Ravens threw the game plan out and said let’s dance, attempting to match Mahomes’ output assuming it would be a shootout. If that’s the case, that’s poor coaching.

The game never got away from the Ravens, never enough to revert to throw-at-all-costs mode. Their defense manned up after those first two drives, allowing just three points the rest of the way and none in the second half. If you have faith in your defense, which you think they would, there’s no reason to panic and throw the ball all over creation in the second and third quarter down seven to 10 points.

Maybe they wanted to surprise the Chiefs, thinking they would play for the run and grant them opportunities to expose them in the play action intermediate passing game. Zigging when the other team thinks they’re zagging, perhaps. But is zigging away from what you do best and into something that has been known to be your team’s kryptonite a good zig? Try to convince me it is. If that’s the case...poor coaching.

Or maybe they wanted to prove to the world that in the biggest moments, on the biggest stage, Lamar could win a game by being a drop back pocket passer throwing 40 times for 300+ yards and outduel the best QB in this generation, shutting up his remaining doubters in the process. If that was the case, again, poor coaching.

No matter how you slice it, Harbaugh and Monken flopped Sunday. They were ill prepared, devised a terrible game plan, and were thoroughly outcoached by Reid and Spags. And somehow escaped seemingly scot free.

That’s not to excuse Lamar from another postseason dud either. I don’t think he was set up for success, but the best QBs in the league and in history are able to overcome coaching and other hurdles and put the team on their back in route to playoff wins. He wasn’t in this case. He appeared skittish in the pocket, a half second slow on decision making, and slightly off target all day. Add in two turnovers, and the narrative of him coming up short when it matters most astronomically grows. A narrative that will be increasingly more difficult to shake.

There’s blame to place all over the Baltimore locker room, and while a lot, and deservedly so, will be put on the QB, I want to make sure the coaching staff gets their fair share of ridicule, as other coaches who performed much better at their job Sunday did.

Say what you want about Dan Campbell and his aggro decision making, but he went out his way. He went out with the locker room behind him, knowing they didn’t make the plays when it mattered most. He stayed true to who he and the revamped Lions organization is, and what has catapulted them from the laughingstock of the league to a perceived threat for years to come. He changed a culture, changed a mindset, and changed the attitude of a football team and city that rarely believed they were good enough by playing a certain way, a way they continued to play until it bit them in the ass. He and his team stayed true to who they are, believed in who they are, and can sleep well at night knowing it just wasn't good enough.

Something the Ravens can’t say.