Ravens HC John Harbaugh Defends Poor Challenge Record

John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens whiffed on two crucial challenges against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Sep 15, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens head coach Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh looks on to the field during the first half against the Las Vegas Raiders at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images / Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens are 0-2 for the first time since 2015, and the worst part is that it's largely due to unforced errors.

There were far too many mistakes in Baltimore's collapse against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, but for Harbaugh specifically, two missed challenges loomed large throughout the rest of the game. Those two challenges cost the Ravens their first timeouts of each half well before they wanted to use them, and contributed to subpar time management late in each half. With those two misses, Harbaugh has now missed on 10 of his last 12 challenges, including all five since the start of last season.

Despite those two whiffs, Harbaugh isn't going to shy away from challenging just because it hurts his record.

"Basically, you decide, if you want to have a winning percentage in challenges, just don't challenge stuff," Harbaugh told reporters Monday. "Just let it go. If you miss a challenge ... If you have one that you should have challenged that you don't challenge, it doesn't get counted against your record, but I don't think that way.

"I'm not worried about the record that someone might be printing about what your challenge record is. I'm trying to think about the opportunity and the game to see if we could have a chance to use a challenge to our advantage to try to win the game."

The first challenge came with 2:41 remaining in the second quarter, when Zay Flowers couldn't quite come down with a catch. Harbaugh thought he had a good chance at overturning the call and getting the Ravens some valuable yards.

"I thought, 'You know what, I don't mind a timeout right here. Let me see if we can get them to turn that one over,' because his hand was under the ball, but I can see why they didn't overturn it," Harbaugh said.

The second challenge came with 10:31 remaining in the fourth quarter, when Davante Adams came down with a toe-drag catch for a 30-yard gain. Harbaugh was on the opposite side of the field, but decided to roll the dice anyway.

"I decided in the heat of the moment to go ahead and take a shot at it, because I felt like if we win it, that's going to really help us, and if we don't win it, I'm hoping that timeout's not going to come down and be the difference, but I don't have the luxury to know that we're going to need that timeout for sure," Harbaugh said. "If I'd have been more conservative on that, I wouldn't have thrown the flag, because usually, I throw the flag when I'm ... In situations like that, I'll usually throw it when I'm sure. I decided on that one to take a shot, and it ended up hurting us, because we didn't have the timeout at the end of the game."

Harbaugh and the Ravens hope to bounce back when they visit the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, and they'll definitely need better discipline to do so.

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