Ravens head coach John Harbaugh beat his brother and Chargers head coach Jim as Baltimore outlasted Los Angeles 30-23 on Monday Night Football.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw two touchdowns – one apiece to Mark Andrews and Rashod Bateman – and ran for another as Baltimore exploded on offense after the Chargers had raced into a 10-0 lead at SoFi Stadium.
A 51-yard rushing score from Ravens running back Justice Hill midway through the fourth wrapped up the victory for Baltimore, extending their lead to 14 points with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.
Although Gus Edwards scored a touchdown against his former team in the final few seconds to reduce the deficit to seven, it was too little, too late as the Ravens improved to 8-4 while the Chargers slipped to 7-4.
The victory means that John is now 3-0 over Jim all-time, with their last meeting coming in Super Bowl XLVII in 2013 when John’s Ravens beat Jim’s San Francisco 49ers.
After the game, the brothers shared a hug at midfield and exchanged a few words before going back to their respective locker roomsL
When asked afterwards what the two said to one another in the immediate aftermath of the game, Jim said: “We said the same thing and congratulated him on the victory. ‘Yeah, love you.’”
John added: “I just told him: ‘You’re a great coach and you have a great team. I love you,’ and he said: ‘I love you and congratulations.’ It was good.”
John elaborated on being part of the only brother head coach duo to face off in NFL history – or, as the Ravens official website put it, the ‘HarBros.’
“It’s just something that is just an incredible thing. It does mean a lot, and I’m so proud of him,” John said afterwards. “It’s an amazing thing to look back to where we are from where we came. We had different paths. We grew up in the same room and have always lived our life side by side.
“But that’s not what the game is about. The game really is about the players, and the players are always going to win the game or lose the game or whatever.”
Ravens quarterback Jackson said winning for his head coach “means a lot.”
“I feel like for me being a big brother, it’s like I can’t lose to my little brother,” Jackson said after the game. “That’s what I believe going into that game he was thinking a lot. And then Jim on the other side, I believe he was like, ‘I got to beat my big brother,’ but we came out victorious, so I feel like that’s a good thing.”
‘Big turning point’
Monday’s game was billed as a heavyweight clash between two AFC playoff hopefuls – and it didn’t disappoint.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert gave his team the lead on the first drive of the game when he barrelled into the endzone from five yards out before Los Angeles kicker Cameron Dicker extended the lead with a field goal early in the second.
Although the Ravens got on the board midway through the second quarter through the legs of Jackson, the momentum really swung in the favor of the road team on the very next drive.
Trailing by three and facing a fourth-and-one on their own 16-yard line, John Harbaugh made the gutsy decision to call for a direct snap to Ravens right end Andrews who successfully got the first down with his running attempt. The drive was capped off a few plays later with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Bateman on the stroke of halftime.
“The downside is that you give them the ball at the 16-yard line. That’s the downside, but the upside or the thought is that I really thought that we’d get it,” John said afterwards. “I thought Mark could get it with a quarterback sneak.
“I just thought he and Tyler (Linderbaum) and our interior offensive line, I mean Pat Ricard coming off the ball the way he did and Daniel Faalele coming off the ball the way he did, I just thought we would get it and they did. So hats off to them and that led to like a 90-something yard drive and got us seven points. That was a big turning point in the game.”
And after halftime, it was one-way traffic predominately with Baltimore’s running game keeping them moving – Derrick Henry had 140 yards on the ground – as they steadily built their lead with Hill’s explosive late touchdown sealing the win.
The victory sees the Ravens leapfrog the Chargers in the AFC playoff standings, with Baltimore moving up to fifth and the Bolts falling to sixth.
The Chargers travel to face the Atlanta Falcons in Week 13 while the Ravens host the Philadelphia Eagles.
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