Coaching

In the six-team AFC playoff class, only three coaches have won more than one playoff game. And only two of them have won a Super Bowl: New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Ravens coach John Harbaugh.

While Belichick is the unquestioned leader when it comes to playoff wins and championships, Harbaugh is no slouch in the postseason either. Harbaugh has a 10-6 record in the playoffs, including a 1-0 record in Super Bowls. His .625 win rate is actually an improvement over his regular-season win rate (.615), meaning that Harbaugh knows how to maximize his roster and get better when the games really begin to matter.

That experience in the playoffs is vitally important and something that can’t easily be replicated by coaches who haven’t been there yet. Things like knowing when and how hard to practice, how to prepare for louder crowds, how to handle the entire team when something goes wrong in a game and how to rally everyone for a unified goal . . . that only comes by doing it and doing it well before.

That’s not to say new coaches can’t figure it out but it’s something else they have to think about and gameplan for. It’s an added stressor on top of everything else going on. And for plenty of coaches, it’s something they never really figure out how to do well.

In Harbaugh, Baltimore knows they have a guy who can get the job done and lead his team to the promised land.