The Baltimore Ravens failed to utilize their biggest strength in their AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, and head coach John Harbaugh says that was not by design.
The Ravens had a total of 16 rushing attempts in their 17-10 loss last Sunday. At his season-ending press conference on Friday, Harbaugh was asked why that number was so low. He said a lot of it had to do with Baltimore calling run-pass option plays and the Chiefs lining up to take away the run. However, the coach admitted the Ravens should have run the ball more.
“That’s not the number you want to have,” Harbaugh said. “When it’s all said and done and you look back on it, that’s not gonna win us an AFC Championship Game, for sure. … Believe it or not, it was a big part of our game plan to run the ball. We had the ball for 9 minutes in the first half. Those two long drives took us out of the opportunity to call any type of plays, and then we didn’t convert.”
Harbaugh added that the Ravens made too many mistakes and said it is “not an excuse” that the Chiefs took away the run. You can hear more of his comments below:
Coach Harbaugh discusses the running game in the AFC championship. pic.twitter.com/NbBRspXkGF
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) February 2, 2024
The Chiefs ran the ball 32 times compared to Baltimore’s 16. The Ravens were trailing for much of the game, but they were not getting blown out to the point where they had to completely abandon the running game. While Kansas City deserves credit for forcing Jackson to throw rather than use his legs, even Harbaugh admitted that the Ravens should have “gotten big” and tried to run it more anyway.
There is plenty of blame to go around for the Ravens coming up short yet again. One stat that went viral did not look good for Jackson, but the game plan and playcalling were certainly issues as well.
