Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh is no stranger to success. In his 13 seasons leading the Ravens, Harbaugh has a 129-79 record, won 11 of 17 playoff games, and has held the Lombardi Trophy as the winner of Super Bowl XLVII. Despite all that success, it was Sunday’s wild-card playoff win over the Tennessee Titans that Harbaugh considers the top of his career.
“But right now, for me, this is the best win ever,” Harbaugh said when asked about this being the best all-around defensive efforts he’s seen. “And not just because of what was at stake, but because of the guys and what it meant to our team and to our guys – what it meant to all of our guys. This may be the best win I’ve ever been associated with.”
Admittedly, Harbaugh might just be caught up in the emotion of it all. While it was a big win, Baltimore has had far more impressive defensive outings. However, with the Ravens having been bullied by the Titans in their last two meetings and what this means to a unit that has been much maligned over the second half of this season, it’s certainly a big win.
Baltimore was able to hold top running back Derrick Henry to just 40 rushing yards, a 2.2 YPC average, and no touchdowns. The Ravens owned the line of scrimmage for the whole game, staying disciplined yet still aggressive on defense. Tennessee had just one first down on the ground, which came late in the game when quarterback Ryan Tannehill ran a quarterback sneak on fourth down. The secondary, while there were lapses, settled down nicely and largely contained an efficient and capable passing attack.
With the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills still remaining in the playoffs, Baltimore is going to need that level as early as next week if Harbaugh wants to keep moving forward in the postseason.
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