John Harbaugh being let go needed to happen as his message had become stale in the locker room. Beyond that you can’t waste the career of a franchise quarterback in the prime of his career when you have Super Bowl aspirations. Even The Chancellor had them picked to appear in Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara.
Lamar Jackson isn’t innocent in any of this as his playoff performances have been skittish and incomplete. He has been 3-5 in the playoffs and has yet to play a complete game. Jackson supporters point to last year’s playoff loss in Buffalo blaming TE Mark Andrews’ 2 point conversion dropped pass but omit Jackson’s 5 of 9 103 yds and an interception falling behind 21-10 at the half. 
What about the 2023 AFC Championship when he came out hot but fell in a rut while Patrick Mahomes built a 17-7 lead? As a #1 seed with homefield advantage and the #1 defense, their star QB went 5 of 12 for 67 yards and 1 TD in the 1st half. The worm started to turn in many circles as ’23 mirrored ’19 where the defense had been dominant but Jackson and the homefield throughout Ravens fell 28-12 in the divisional to the Tennesee Titans. You don’t want the stats and Jackson didn’t get the Ravens a touchdown until 11 minutes left in the 4th quarter. What went wrong??
In my original series Shameful Impatience With Black Quarterbacks, one of the warnings I gave when Lamar Jackson was coming to the NFL was this: “One is the lack of commitment to fully developing black qbs to be more than an offensive anomaly for a few years.” In this instance they didnt but under the guise of hiring 4 different offensive coordinators in 5 years, they ran practically the same offense – Read Option run first from the Pistol. What I meant originally and expanded on elsewhere is the coaching to bring the QB out of the running stage of his career into one where he passes more as the years went on. The specificity of pass play dynamics from under center on time to intermediate routes. This was Harbaugh’s failing.
Keep in mind my article was right before the 2018 NFL Draft when the Ravens selected Jackson.
Also from Shameful Impatience “Its on the offensive coaches to gradually mature these scramblers into pocket quarterbacks. Landry did it with Roger Staubach and Bill Walsh and Mike Holmgren did this with Steve Young. It takes years… it takes commitment.” I reminded you that Buddy Ryan brought in BYU passing guru Doug Scovil to coach the passing game to a young raw Randall Cunningham in the mid 80s.
They leaned as much for Lamar to “use his legs” at 29 years of age as he had at 21 years of age and the punishment is catching up with him. He has missed 17 games over the last seven years due to the blows he takes. Think back to Steve Young in 1987 with the 49ers, he was scrambling while learning The West Coast Offense out in San Francisco. Fast forward 7 seasons and in 1994 he was winning his 3rd straight passing crown and taking the 49ers to Super Bowl XXIX. There he carved the Chargers up for a record 6TDs to win the game. Throwing from the pocket… if you don’t remember click here.
Harbaugh is the Head Coach and should have told his OC I want to utilize Jackson running more back in that ’23 AFC Championship since he came out cold throwing. He didn’t… He never adjusted to an OC that didn’t run the same college plays that don’t bode well in the NFL playoffs nor teach Lamar an offensive approach allowing for audibles to a more sophisticated pass play when he needed to. There were times he needed to tell OC Todd Munken to get Derrick Henry in the game and stop going with lesser running backs. Asert yourself as the Head Coach and override your OC trying to show how much of a genius he is. Especially when its your ass on the line for winning and losing these big games.
In the NFL you can’t waste the prime of a franchise quarterback and Jackson just finished his 8th year and just turned 29 years old today! His 29th birthday and here we are he hasn’t been submerged in a true NFL passing attack. He should be much further along and has maybe another 3 years playing in the style he’s accustomed to. The Ravens need to bring in a real offensive approach with their next move whether a defensive coach and an OC who can teach true QB play. They don’t need to bring in one of these Madden Coaches who doesn’t understand the importance of full dimensional football which includes a Derrick Henry in the attack.
They had a good run with Jackson being named MVP on 2 occassions but they need a change to prolong Jackson’s tenure as a franchise quarterback and reach the Super Bowl. They have to get him under center and teach the full nuance of playing NFL quarterback and get him out of these garbage read option college plays. If they don’t he will never beat a sophisticated defense in an AFC Championship Game.
Jonn Harbaugh will go on and coach again in the NFL but he needs to reboot with a team playing more traditional offense. With this marriage it was just time.
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He now has the big contract and clearly the most important player on the Packers with a 9-6-1 record and losers of 3 straight.and barely hanging on in the 7th seed. Seriously?? Micah Parsons knee injury late in the year didn’t help but hold on with the excuses… Love went 18 of 25 for 183 yards in an inexplicable 13-10 loss to the 4-12 Browns. The opposing QB Joe Flacco, was traded just weeks later. Love could only muster 13 points in a loss to the Carolina Panthers in Lambeau & only 7 American points in a loss to the Eagles in back to back weeks. Each of the teams he was facing have had terrible offensive seasons where Bryce Young may not be back in Carolina and turmoil is abound in Philadelphia over Jalen Hurts play.
At the beginning of the season The Chancellor had the Packers winning the NFC North and meeting Philadelphia in the NFC Championship Game. The Bears were to finish a few games back and win a wild card berth. Well here we are with those 2 teams primed with the divisions best records in a mondo game in Soldier Field on a Saturday Night.
Caleb (266 of 459 for 3,150 yds 21TDs with 6 ints) has been coming on and showing promise. Even in the game 2 weeks ago he brought his team back from a 14-3 deficit to a 21-21 tie late in Lambeau Field. He is growing as a QB where Jordan Love has left us frustrated. Just when he seems ready to take that leap he plays lackluster in an inexplicable loss (13-10 to Eagles) and a16-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
Love’s stats are similar to Caleb’s (283 of 426 3,304 yds 23TDs and 6 picks) but he was where Williams was as 2023 was concluding. He hasn’t taken that killer leap we have been waiting for since and just showed flashes. Williams flashes are a sign he is “getting it” and just became the NFL’s best ever QB when it comes to turnovers within their 1st 1,000 passes thrown. Ironically the last pass he threw when these two teams were playing was his underthrown interception to kill the Bears chances 28-21.
That just seems unlikely and in this game with Micah Parsons at home watching, the Bears will win this 30-24. The team that dominates the clock will win and Chicago’s 2 headed monster will be able to go with the hot hand if one back shows more spark. The Chicago franchise is looking to establish a new era that Jordan Love and the Packers should have established last year but played around and didn’t.
Now they’re scrambling to come from behind 28-26 when they could have been tied at 28 and have overtime in their back pocket. Had they not kicked the final field goal to win 29-28 the obstacle they created for themselves going for 2 and chasing ghosts could have cost them the game.
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