I’ve known John Harbaugh since he was hired to his first NFL coaching job as the Eagles special teams coach under Ray Rhodes in 1998.
Of all the head coaches and assistant coaches I’ve covered in 32 years on the NFL beat, Harbaugh ranks among my favorites. From his first day as a special teams coach you could tell he was going to be good. And as head coach of the Baltimore Ravens he’s been more than that as his Super Bowl XLVII ring proves.
So it’s not easy to write this, but it’s time for Harbaugh and the Ravens to part ways. It would be best for both the coach and the team.
In today’s NFL 18 years with the same team is two lifetimes. The days of Tom Landry in Dallas, or Don Shula in Miami are gone, except in Pittsburgh and things have not been so great there, either, lately. Harbaugh was busy winning his Super Bowl in Baltimore when it finally all came apart for his old boss, Andy Reid, in Philadelphia that 2012 season. I’m sure he knows the details.
Just like Reid?
Reid, still the winningest head coach in Eagles history, lasted 13 years in Philly and years 12 and 13 were not his best. In 2011, the team went an ugly 8-8, needing four wins in four meaningless games to close the season just to get to .500. In 2012 the Eagles went 4-12 and Reid went to Kansas City.
That worked out OK for both Reid and the Eagles. Reid, who went to one Super Bowl and lost with the Eagles, has won three Super Bowls with the Chiefs and has been to two others. The Eagles, meanwhile, won their first Super Bowl ever after Reid’s departure and then beat Reid’s Chiefs last year for their second.
Baltimore’s struggles this season are a combination of a lot of things — age and injuries kind of top the list. Harbaugh is still a good coach, a very good coach. It’s just time for the Ravens and him to do what the Eagles and Reid did.
And like Reid, Harbaugh will have a job before he eats his last crabcake (for Reid it was a cheesesteak). Every team looking for a head coach at the end of this season would have his name at the top of their list.
Where might he land, or where would he want to go?
Well if the Giants part ways with both general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll, Harbaugh might be very interested in taking over the entire operation up in North Jersey.
Thursday Night Rivalry
Perfect 10s: Speaking of the Giants, they will host their NFC East rival the Eagles, Thursday night. And if history means anything it won’t be good for the home team. The Eagles are 10-1 on Thursday nights over the past 10 years, the best record in the league. The Giants are 0-10 on Thursday night, the worst record in the league. This will also be rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart’s third NFL start. Rookie quarterbacks against the defending Super Bowl champs are 1-8 (Denver’s Brock Osweiller against New England was the only win).
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni had nice things to say about Dart this week.
“Yeah, he’s a playmaker,’’ Sirianni told the Philadelphia media. “He has the ability to make plays both with his legs and his arm. Watching his college tape– we all watched his college tape, went through our due diligence there. He had a lot of really good college tape as well, obviously him being drafted where he was drafted by the Giants. So, a lot of respect for him and the player that he is, and I know he’ll keep getting better.’’
Back in London
Road Warriors: Somebody in the NFL schedule department does not like the Denver Broncos. Last week the Broncos played their third road game in four weeks and had to travel across the country to Philadelphia on a short week after playing, Monday night. This week, the Broncos are off to London, flying there right after their upset of the Eagles. Not only all of that, but the Broncos don’t even get a bye next week. They get the Giants (so it’s almost a bye).
If there’s any solace in this for Denver it’s that four of the next five games are at home.
Say it ain’t so, Joe
You Again?: If, as expected, Joe Flacco starts at quarterback for Cincinnati hone they travel to Green Bay, Sunday, it will mark Flacco’s second start against Green Bay this season. He started for Cleveland in week 3 against the Packers. It’s not the first time the Packers will face the same QB with two different teams in the same season. Back in 2011, Kyle Orton started week 3 for Denver in a loss to the Packers and came back and faced them again in week 14 for the Chiefs and gave the Packers (15-1) their only loss of the regular season.
Game of the Week
San Francisco at Tampa Bay: Both teams come into this game at 4-1 and with some close, tough wins along the way. The 49ers have won all four of their games by five points, or less, while the Bucs have won all four games by three points, or less. Tampa has also trailed in the final minute of all of its games. This is the third time the 49ers are 4-1 under head coach Kyle Shanahan. The first two times the team went to the Super Bowl. This is the fifth time in the Bucs history they are 4-1. They went to the playoffs the first four times.
Parting Shot
If there is a team that the schedule makers like less than the Broncos, it has to be the Cleveland Browns. Here’s what faces the Browns this week after they played in London last week (a tough loss to Minnesota): they are at Pittsburgh to face the Steelers — who had a bye last week.
