John Harbaugh’s gamble pays off big time, with four more takeaways from another win over the Chargers

After suffering a bitter road loss to a division rival last week, the Baltimore Ravens helped their head coach continue to dominate his sibling rivalry by wrapping up Week 12 with a commanding 30-23 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football. Offensively, the Ravens didn’t abandon the running game after falling into an early 10-0 hole, but instead cruised to victory. Defensively, Baltimore went hard after missing a touchdown on its first drive and didn’t allow Los Angeles to reach the end zone again until victory was within reach in overtime.

The win is the Ravens’ third in their last four games and keeps them within a half-game of first place in the AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who lost to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football. This result also marked the Ravens’ first consecutive win in the all-time series and second consecutive year, improving head coach John Harbaugh’s record against his younger brother Jim to 3-0 in their first head-to-head matchup since Super Bowl 47.

There were several encouraging performances from players and units on both sides of the ball that were crucial to the victory and improved the Ravens’ overall record to 8-4.

Here are five takeaways from Monday night’s statement win at SoFi Stadium.

John Harbaugh’s courage led to the Ravens’ glory

After a week of hearing and reading about how he was outed by Mike Tomlin in the Ravens’ recent loss to the Steelers, Harbaugh demonstrated why he’s still one The best in the league is that game, when he defeated his younger brother on a nationally televised stage. While he wasn’t the one to enforce the Ravens’ playcalls on their successful four-down conversions, his decision to keep the offense on the field and go at it deserves a lot of credit.

On all three of the Ravens’ fourth-down conversion attempts, the offense needed just one yard to extend the drive, with Harbaugh’s first attempt being the boldest and setting the tone for the rest of the game. After a fourth-and-1 from the Baltimore 16-yard line, he sent the offense back down the field after the two-minute warning, and tight end Mark Andrews lined up under center where he drove his legs and Tush made a push from behind for a two-yard gain and new downs.

The risky play paid off five plays later when Lamar Jackson connected with Rashod Bateman on a 40-yard touchdown bomb, giving the Ravens their first lead of the game that they never relinquished. Harbaugh’s next two plays on fourth-and-short occurred on the Ravens’ second offensive possession after halftime, resulting in first down runs of 27 and two yards by Derrick Henry, extending the unit’s fourth straight scoring drive.

The formula for success on offense remains simple

After a first quarter in which they were outscored 123-20 and accrued more penalty yards than yards gained from scrimmage, it seemed as if the same struggles that had plagued the Ravens against the Steelers had carried over into this game bled out. However, they managed to get out of a two-point deficit early in the second quarter by not panicking, as they have done on many of these occasions in the past, and sticking with the running game.

Led largely by Henry, whose 24 carries were double the 12 combined by Jackson and Justice Hill, the Ravens rushed for over 200 yards for the fourth time this season and first since Week 7. Their 212 yards on the ground were the most ever given up on the Jim Harbaugh-coached NFL team and Henry accounted for over 66% of that total with 140. The Ravens are now 5-0 in games in which the four-time Pro Bowl carries the ball more than 20 times and runs for over 100 yards. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken took advantage of the light boxes the Chargers were playing with and got Henry going early. This helped set up the play-action passing game and hit Justice Hill for essentially the 51-yard killshot.

Lamar Jackson continues to shine in prime time

In addition to MV3, the league’s reigning MVP should add Mr. Monday Night to his growing list of fitting nicknames after another incredible performance in this game. After contributing to the offense’s sluggish start by knocking down some wide-open targets that would have kept them on the field, Jackson calmed down and began to play his game, using his legs to buy himself more time, to push the ball down field.

Although his passing numbers were impressive with 177 yards on 22 attempts and 16 completions, he threw two scoring touchdowns and finished with a passer rating above 100 for the ninth time this season with a grade of 126.5. With the win, Jackson is now 7-2 as a Monday night starter, with 22 passing touchdowns and no interceptions.

As a runner, runner and scrambler, he had more minimal and negative runs than positive ones, but that’s because he did his best work with his legs behind the line of scrimmage, evading pressure and extending passing plays. However, when the Ravens called their number in the red zone after a Henry touchdown was negated by a procedural penalty, Jackson missed one of his classic plays before crossing the goal line. He stopped on a dime to let a defender rush past him, then strolled into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown on the first of five consecutive scoring drives for the Ravens.

The defense continues to make positive progress

Against the Steelers last week, defensive coordinator Zach Orr’s unit finally appeared to have turned things around, not giving up a single touchdown and forcing six field goals while bending but not breaking. That streak of consecutive quarters in which an opponent was not allowed to get into the end zone was broken on the game’s opening drive, as the Chargers methodically marched 70 yards down the field in nine plays without conceding a single third down must, and the whole thing concluded with a five-yard scramble touchdown from Justin Herbert.

While their start to the game was threatening when they were without All-Pro inside linebacker Roquan Smith, who was sidelined with a hamstring injury, the Ravens defense thereafter asserted control over a surging Chargers offense. It wasn’t until the final minute of the game that they allowed them to cross the goal line again when former Ravens running back Gus Edwards scored from a yard out after their offense had built a 14-point lead. Meanwhile, they forced four punts and three field goals while holding the Chargers to 4.8 yards per play and 5 of 14 on third down. They sacked Herbert four times, hit him seven times, generated consistent pressure and scored a decisive tackle on Los Angeles standout first-round rookie Joe Alt.

Much-maligned players bounce back from early mistakes

Two players that fans and pundits complained about on social media early in the game, ridiculing them when they made a glaring mistake but praising them as bigger plays continued were wide receiver Rashod Bateman and linebacker Malik Harrison.

Bateman has been a controversial point of discussion among the fan base for most of his career, as his problems with injuries prevented him from reaching his full potential. After he dropped a well-placed touchdown pass from Jackson into the back of the end zone on the Ravens’ first scoring drive, his doubters and critics began beating their drums on social media. However, their victory laps were short-lived after he drew a 12-yard pass interference penalty on Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton and then beat him on his long touchdown reception, during which he showed tremendous concentration and strong hands he caught the precise pass.

“I think my receivers are great,” Jackson said. “You have great hands. The first one, back in the end zone, I said to him, “Brother, I expect you to catch this.” He said, “I got you,” but he made up for it and made a great catch. I trust all my recipients.”

With Smith sidelined by injury for the first time in his Raven career, the team took a committee approach to filling the large gap, but the player who stepped up the most was fifth-year veteran Malik Harrison. After some fans began to anger him on social media for failing to close a gap that former Ravens running back JK Dobbins hit for a chuck gain, the versatile linebacker calmed down and had the best game his career. He played fast and physical downhill and created some thunderous collisions. He finished his career with a new single-game high of 13 total tackles, including seven solos and one for a loss, and was effective as a blitzer in the middle.