Everything John Harbaugh & Lamar Jackson Said After Ravens’ Loss in a Once-in-a-Lifetime Scoreline

We have officially witnessed the best game of the season so far as the Bills edged out the Ravens 41-40. Well…we might’ve also witnessed the biggest bottle job of the season so far. Because how do you end up choking a 40-25 lead in the fourth quarter? If you’re wondering about the whys and hows, John Harbaugh and Lamar Jackson spoke up after the loss. And they said some interesting things.

John Harbaugh seemed empty on the inside after that loss. But it didn’t stop him from putting across his thoughts. “Two big situations, the 4th down play. That’s a play you don’t expect it to happen, it was a pretty lucky play but they made it,” he said. And yes, it was that late sequence that changed everything.

With the Ravens sitting on a comfy 40-25 cushion in the fourth, the Bills weren’t ready to pack it in. They strung together a wild series that included Keon Coleman pulling in a tipped ball on fourth down for a touchdown. Yeah, it was lucky. But the Bills made it. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Cashing it in when it matters the most.

And this isn’t the first time the Ravens‘ have choked a two-score lead in the 4th quarter. Think of the game vs the Browns back in 2023. Cleveland wasn’t about to go quietly. Down 14 in the fourth, they stormed all the way back and snatched the win with a clutch, last-second field goal. Or the Raiders game last year when they came back from 10 down in the 4th.

Oh, here’s a fun fact for you. With this loss, John Harbaugh just hit an unwanted milestone. He now owns the most blown double-digit fourth-quarter leads by any coach since at least 1991. This Ravens collapse marked number nine on that list. Insane.

And when asked about the cause of these bottle jobs, he said, “Well, you got to make plays. I mean, you got to make plays on the ball. You got to get sacks, you know, you got to turn the ball over. They got four downs. So, you know, it’s kind of hard just to play even, you know, you’ve got to come up with a turnover somewhere. You got to knock the ball out, get a stop.”

And despite the emptiness, he couldn’t help but praise Josh Allen‘s masterclass. “Josh Allen played a great game obviously, especially at the end in the fourth quarter. Scrambled plays, extended completions, couple big pass plays,” he said. And yes, Josh Allen finished with 394 passing yards against a Jaire Alexander-led defense. The very defense the Ravens fans spent all summer hyping up.

But John Harbaugh didn’t push Lamar into the dark either. “I thought Lamar played great,” he said. And yes, he very much did. He did his part, completing 14 of 19 throws for 209 yards and two touchdowns through the air, while adding 6 carries for 70 yards and a score on the ground. An offense that racks up 40 points shouldn’t be on the losing side. But here we are. And while we’re on Lamar Jackson, let’s talk about what he said.

SPORTS-FBN-RAVENS-JACKSON-BZ Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson speaks to the media during practice on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Owings Mills, Maryland. Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore Sun/TNS Owings Mills MD United States EDITORIAL USE ONLY Copyright: xCopyrightx x2024,xBaltimorexSunxCo.xxAllxrightsxreserved.x 124529123W KarlxMertonxFerronx krtphotoslive946306

Firstly, he pointed out the obvious. “You just gotta finish the game. It’s never over until it’s zero on the clock. And we found that out tonight.” Yeah, this game should’ve been done and dusted long ago. Maybe it was complacency or overconfidence. Another fun fact: the Bills had a 1.1% chance of turning this game around in the 4th quarter.

When asked about the Ravens’ fourth-and-three call, Lamar Jackson just laughed it off. He said he was cramping at the time. “That’s why I pretty much jogged out the field.” So yeah, that’s why you didn’t see him lobbying for a different play in that moment. He probably would’ve called for a different approach.

When asked about what changed in the Ravens offense in the 4th quarter, he had just one answer. “Just kept getting off the field.” Exactly. The Ravens’ offense just couldn’t keep drives alive when it was time to burn the clock. They couldn’t move the chains or get those key stops when the game was hanging in the balance. That’s what cost them.

He even talked about that Derek Henry‘s late fumble. “I told him let that go. He did enough for us. He was going off, but things happen. Unfortunately, it happened at the wrong time. I fumbled too in the playoffs.” And yeah, he was going off. He racked up 169 rushing yards and 2 TD, but that fumble is what turned it around.

Finally, Lamar Jackson discussed how the team will recover from this loss and prepare for the next matchup. “We’ll let it linger for the night. We all hate losing. Then we’ll forget about to get prepared for the Browns, our divisional rival. Ravens were pegged to end up with the Lombardi come the end of the season. How they recover and adapt will tell us how they live up to that claim.

This matchup gave us a lot of drama. Fumbles, comebacks, controversy, it had everything. But in case you didn’t notice, it gave us yet another Scorigami.

This was a Scorigami: the 41–40 game-finisher

In case you’re wondering what a Scorigami is, it’s when a game ends with a final score that’s never been seen before in league history. And this one goes down as the 1,092nd unique score ever. Yes, no game had ever ended with a 41-40 scoreline before this dramatic matchup.

You’re probably wondering how it’s possible for a game not to end with a ‘predictable’ scoreline. Fair enough, but today’s highly overpowered offenses, two-point conversions, aggressive play-calling, and those quirky scoring combos are cooking up final scores that would’ve been almost unheard of just 10 years back.

But still, a 41-40 game is rare. It takes both teams cashing in on touchdowns while one mixes in just the right combo of field goals or extra points to create that razor-thin, one-point margin. We saw history being made tonight.

While Scorigamis slowed down for a while a few years ago, we’re starting to see more and more of them again. Back in January, the Chargers and Texans gave us a 32-12 final, another Scorigami. It was at least the fourth Scorigami of last season. You don’t see that number too often every season.

And if you’re wondering how soon you’ll get to witness another one of those, it’ll probably come around pretty soon. There are still close to 1,400 possible NFL scores that have never shown up, so Scorigami isn’t disappearing anytime soon. And you might see a few more of those this season itself.

The post Everything John Harbaugh & Lamar Jackson Said After Ravens’ Loss in a Once-in-a-Lifetime Scoreline appeared first on EssentiallySports.