Baltimore Beatdown
The Monday Night Football matchup is one for the ages, narratively
Week 12 of the NFL season closes out with a surplus of storylines as the Baltimore Ravens head West to face the Los Angeles Chargers on “Monday Night Football.”
For a third time, John and Jim Harbaugh will coach against one another in what is being deemed the Harbaugh Bowl – or HarBowl. In 2011, John got the better of his younger brother Jim and the San Francisco 49ers in a 16-6 win on Thanksgiving. Their next meeting was Super Bowl 47; once more, John and the Ravens were victorious, 34-31.
And while HarBowl III’s been all the craze, neither brother is interested in making it about them.
“I don’t want to make it about me,” Jim told NFL.com’s Nick Shook. “It is what it is. Big game, for sure. Two teams having at it.”
“It’s a tough matchup. It’s a very good football team we’re playing this week,” John said on Thursday. “[The Chargers are] highly ranked in pretty much every area. [They’re] a winning football team, very physical, very tough [and an] extremely well-coached football team – no question about it. [Jim Harbaugh] is one of the best coaches of this generation, no question – I believe that. Even if he weren’t my brother, I would say the same thing. We have our work cut out for us; we have to travel across the country and play on Monday Night Football.”
While neither are making it about them, certainly there will be bragging rights with Thanksgiving on Thursday.
A couple of Ravens joined the Chargers this offseason after the addition of Jim Harbaugh. Well, more than a couple. A few. Several. Okay, fine, many! There are 16 former Ravens with the Chargers in 2024.
RB J.K. Dobbins
RB Gus Edwards
TE Eric Tomlinson
TE Hayden Hurst
C Sam Mustipher
C Bradley Bozeman
S Tony Jefferson
General Manager Joe Hortiz
Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman
Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter
Head Coach Jim Harbaugh
Run Game Coordinator/Tight Ends Coach Andy Bischoff
Offensive Line Coach Mike Devlin
Senior Offensive Assistant Marc Trestman
Assistant General Manager Chad Alexander
Director of Player Personnel Strategy Corey Krawlec
It’s one thing to have a player or two join a different team you eventually face – as seen with the Ravens facing the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. It’s something else entirely when the opponent’s staff worked were directly involved in the construction of the Ravens’ roster, development and scheme – akin to confidential secrets. So, how will the Ravens approach the exhibition?
“It’s different than other games, sure. Because we know the schemes pretty much, but there will be wrinkles, there will be ideas,” John Harbaugh said. “It’s kind of the old [saying], ‘They know what we know that we know that they know that we know that...
