Baltimore Ravens: Coach John Harbaugh needs to stay
By Ben Palmer
With their loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens have missed the playoffs for the third time in four years, causing many to call for the firing of coach John Harbaugh. He’s not the problem.
The Baltimore Ravens have missed the playoffs for the third time in four years. It’s a harsh reality for Ravens fans to accept, especially since it came at a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, but accept it they must.
However, as often happens in situations like these, the knee-jerk reactions from fans has been to call for John Harbaugh’s firing, but in all honesty, that would just be cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Does John Harbaugh bear some of the blame for the Ravens poor performance over the past few seasons? Sure, as any coach would. He’s 31-32 since the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2012. But there’s a lot more that’s gone wrong with the Baltimore Ravens, things that aren’t necessarily within Harbaugh’s control.
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First and foremost, Harbaugh needs help from the front office in the draft. The mantra around Baltimore for the past several years during every draft has been “In Ozzie We Trust,” because we know Ozzie Newsome drafts well. But that hasn’t really been the case lately.
The 2013 draft was a total bust, with safety Matt Elam and linebacker Arthur Brown turning out to do virtually nothing. The 2015 draft was rough to say the least, especially considering how poorly wide receiver Breshad Perriman and tight end Maxx Williams have played, and the second and third round picks from 2016, linebacker Kamalei Correa and defensive end Bronson Kaufusi, have done very little (though to be fair, Kaufusi has been injured).
The Ravens will have a higher draft pick this year than usual, so they need to use it wisely and address the major team needs: young defensive playmakers to replace the older ones (such as Elvis Dumervil and Terrell Suggs), a defensive back to complement Jimmy Smith and Tavon Young, and better interior blocking (it also wouldn’t hurt for the Ravens to try and sign a free agent wide receiver, as the receiving core needs help).
Harbaugh also needs a better offensive coordinator. Gary Kubiak did an excellent job with Joe Flacco, and Harbaugh needs someone else like that. The playcalling this year under Marty Mornhinweg and Marc Trestman wasn’t great, and is in desperate need of improvement.
The Baltimore Ravens aren’t a team that’s falling apart like the New York Jets or the Los Angeles Rams, they’re a very good football team that was very close to a realistic shot at the AFC North title. It’s easy to forget that John Harbaugh is still one of the best coaches in the NFL from a record standpoint, behind only Bill Belichick, Mike McCarthy, and Mike Tomlin in total wins.
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If the Ravens can address the needs they have this offseason, through the draft or through free agency, and make the necessary personnel changes, they could come into next year with another very good chance at being the AFC North champions. Let’s just hope they do it.