John Harbaugh’s gambles pay major dividends and 4 more takeaways from bounce-back win over Chargers

Some questions were answered while others came into focus on Monday night.

Coming off a gut-wrenching road loss to a division rival last week, the Baltimore Ravens helped their head coach continue to dominate his sibling rivalry with a commanding 30-23 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football to close out Week 12. Offensively, the Ravens didn’t abandon the run game after falling into an early 10-0 hole and rode it to victory instead. Defensively, Baltimore clamped down after giving up a touchdown on the opening drive and didn’t allow Los Angeles to reach the end zone again until victory was well in hand in garbage time.

The win is the Ravens’ third in their last four games and keeps them within a half-game of first place in the AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who fell to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football. This result also marked the first time the Ravens’ third straight in the all-time series and second year in a row as well as improved head coach John Harbaugh’s record against his younger brother Jim to 3-0 in their first head-to-head matchup since Super Bowl 47.

There were several encouraging performances by players and units on both sides of the ball that were vital in securing this victory to improve the Ravens’ overall record to 8-4.

Here are five takeaways from Monday’s night’s statement victory at SoFi Stadium.

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John Harbaugh’s guts lead to Ravens glory

After a week of hearing and reading about how he got outcoached by Mike Tomlin in the Ravens’ latest loss to the Steelers, Harbaugh proved why he is still one of the best in the league with a masterclass of courage, aggression and strategy he exhibited in this game as he outcoached his younger brother on a nationally-televised stage. While he wasn’t the one dialing up the Ravens’ play calls on their successful fourth-down conversions, his decision to leave the offense on the field and go for them deserves a lot of recognition.

All three of the Ravens’ fourth-down conversion attempts were instances when the offense just needed one yard to extend the drive with Harbaugh’s first being the boldest and setting the tone for the rest of the game. Facing a fourth-and-1 from the Baltimore 16-yard line, he sent the offense back on the field coming out of the two-minute warning and tight end Mark Andrews lined up under center where he proceeded to drive his legs and get tush pushed from behind for a two-yard gain and fresh set of downs.

The risky gamble paid off major dividends five plays later when Lamar Jackson connected with Rashod Bateman on a 40-yard touchdown bomb to give the Ravens their first lead of the game and they never relinquished it. Harbaugh’s next two fourth-and-short gambles occurred on the Ravens’ second offensive possession after halftime resulting in first down runs of 27 and two yards by Derrick Henry to extend the unit’s fourth straight scoring drive.

Winning formula on offense remains simple

After the first quarter in which they were outgained 123-20 and had more penalty yardage accrued than yards from scrimmage gained, it seemed like the same struggles that had plagued the Ravens against the Steelers had carried over and bled into this game. However, they were able to dig themselves out of an early two-score deficit early in the second quarter by not panicking as has been the case in many of these instances in the past and stuck with the run game.

Led by Henry predominantly whose 24 carries was double the amount Jackson and Justice Hill’s combined 12, the Ravens rushed for over 200 yards for the fourth time this season and first since Week 7. Their 212 yards on the ground were the most ever given up by Jim Harbaugh-coached NFL team and Henry accounted for over 66% of that total with 140. The Ravens are now 5-0 in games where the four-time Pro Bowl carries the ball 20-plus times and rushes for over 100 yards. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken took advantage of the light boxes the Chargers were playing with and got Henry going early and it helped set up the play-action passing game as well as teeing up Justice Hill to deliver the 51-yard killshot essentially.

Lamar Jackson continues to dazzle in primetime

In addition to MV3, the reigning league MVP should add Mr. Monday Night to his growing list of apt nicknames after another incredible performance in this game. After playing a part in the offense’s sluggish start by overthrowing some wide-open targets that would’ve kept them on the field, Jackson settled down and started to play his game by using his legs to buy himself more time to push the ball down the field.

Even though his passing totals were gaudy with 177 yards on 22 attempts and 16 completions, he threw a pair of pin-point accurate touchdowns and finished with a passer rating of over 100 for the ninth time this season with a mark of 126.5. With the win, Jackson is now 7-2 as a starter on Monday Night with 22 passing touchdowns and no interceptions.

As runner a runner and scrambler, he had more minimal and negative runs than positive but that’s because he did his best work with his legs behind the line of scrimmage dodging pressure and extending passing plays. However, when the Ravens called his number in the red zone after a Henry touchdown was negated by a procedural penalty, Jackson busted out one of his classic moves before he crossed the goal line. He stopped on a dime to let a defender whizz by him then proceeded to stroll into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown cap off the first of five straight scoring drives for the Ravens.

Defense continue to makes positive strides

Against the Steelers last week, defensive coordinator Zach Orr’s unit appeared to have finally turned a corner by not giving up a single touchdown and forcing six field goals as they bent but didn’t break. That streak of consecutive quarters with not allowing an opponent to get into the end zone was snapped on the opening drive of the game when the Chargers methodically marched down the field 70 yards in nine plays without facing a single third down and capped it off with a five-yard scramble touchdown from Justin Herbert.

While their start to the game where they were without All-Pro inside linebacker Roquan Smith who was out with a hamstring injury was ominous, the Ravens defense put the clamps down on a surging Chargers offense after that. They didn’t allow them to cross the goal line again until the literal final minute of the game when former Ravens running back Gus Edwards scored from one yard out after their offense had built up a 14-point lead. In between that time, they forced four punts and three field goals and held the Chargers to 4.8 yards per play and 5-of-14 on third down. They sacked Herbert four times, hit him seven times and generated consistent pressure and drew some key holding against Los Angeles standout first-round rookie right tackle Joe Alt.

Much-maligned players rebound from early mistakes

Two players who fans and pundits were complaining about and ridiculing on social media early on in the game when they made a glaring mistake but were singing their praises as it went on after themselves with bigger plays were wide receiver Rashod Bateman and linebacker Malik Harrison.

Bateman has been a contentious talking point among the fan base for most of his career as his struggles with injuries kept him from realizing his full potential. After he dropped a well-placed touchdown pass in the back of the end zone from Jackson on the Ravens’ first scoring drive, his doubters and detractors began beating their drums on social media. However, their victory laps were short-lived after he drew a 12-yard pass interference penalty on Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton and then beat him on his long touchdown reception where he showed tremendous concentration and strong hands while reeling in the accurate pass.

“I believe my receivers are great,” Jackson said. “They have great hands. The first one, in the back of the end zone, I told him, ‘Bro, I expect you to catch that.’ He was like, ‘I got you,’ but he made up for it, and he made a terrific catch. I trust all my receivers.”

With Smith out due to injury for the first time in his career as a Raven, the team turned to a committee approach to fill the massive void but the player who stepped up the most was fifth-year veteran Malik Harrison. After some fans started roasting him on social media for not filling a gap that former Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins hit for a chuck gain, the versatile linebacker settled down and had the best game of his career. He played fast and physical downhill and brought the hammer down for some thunderous collisions. He finished with a new single-game career high of 13 total tackles including seven solos and one for a loss and was effective as a blitzer up the middle.