The Houston Texans traded up in the first round to get their quarterback of the future. He looked like the real deal—enough that they were able to get three first-round picks out of him after dealing him and his dozens of civil lawsuits for sexual misconduct to the Cleveland Browns.
Two years later, they have a rookie head coach in DeMeco Ryans, a rookie quarterback in C.J. Stroud, and a playoff victory. The last team to have all three is the team that will be hosting the Texans this weekend, the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens. Head coach John Harbaugh and quarterback Joe Flacco, their first year on the job in 2008, gave the league quite a run right out of the gate.
But Harbaugh was in no mood to reminisce in spite of the success. They had to take the long road as a Wild Card, blowing out the Miami Dolphins 27-9 in the first round before besting the Tennessee Titans, 13-10, on a last-minute field goal. You should remember what happened next.
“You’re just not thinking that way right now”, Harbaugh told reporters yesterday when asked about his own memories as one half of a successful rookie coach-quarterback duo. “You’re thinking about what’s in front of you, but then we went to Tennessee and beat Tennessee. Then, we went to Pittsburgh and didn’t win. I remember that”.
That’s right, that was the Steelers’ last Super Bowl-winning season, and they went through the Ravens to get there in the AFC Championship Game, winning 23-14. It was S Troy Polamalu who put the icing on the cake with a pick-six 55 minutes into the ball game. Baltimore had just gotten to within two at 16-14 five minutes earlier, but they weren’t getting very far.
That interception came on 3rd and 13 from the Ravens’ own 29-yard line, so it’s not as though they were pressing for the lead, and that was their following drive after their touchdown that pulled the margin to within one score. LaMarr Woodley got a sack on the previous play.
After that, it was the infamous Ryan Clark smash hit on Willis McGahee that left both players far worse for wear and which would have probably resulted in an ejection and possible suspension today. Fifteen-plus years ago, that was just a fumble recovered by the defense.
As for the Harbaugh-Flacco duo, they did do astonishingly well, recording at least one postseason win in each of their first five seasons together, culminating in a Super Bowl victory. The only problem is not much has gone right since then.
Following their Super Bowl victory in 2012, the Ravens are 2-5 in the postseason, with a win over the Steelers in 2014 and one over the Titans in 2020. Under QB Lamar Jackson, they are 1-3, last season’s loss coming with Tyler Huntley at quarterback.
This weekend will mark Jackson’s first postseason start since the 2020 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round, during which the Ravens mustered all of three points. He is a much more well-rounded and experienced player since then. But look out for Ryans and Stroud.
