For all of the attention and focus on the playoff struggles of Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin over nearly the last decade, one coach in the NFL seems to at least get a pass with similar struggles.
The fact that it’s one that is in the same division as Tomlin doesn’t go unnoticed by many Tomlin defenders, either.
That would be Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, who was bounced out of the playoffs Sunday night in Buffalo after a 27-25 loss to the Bills in the AFC Divisional Round, setting up another offseason of frustration in Baltimore.
For former NFL defensive end Chris Canty, who played in Baltimore under Harbaugh from 2013-15, the discussions regarding Harbaugh should be loud, just like Tomlin’s playoff failures, because they aren’t the same, considering Harbaugh has a historically great QB in Lamar Jackson but has just three playoff wins since 2018 and is 3-6 in that span.
“One of these weeks [Jackson] could add his third MVP in the trophy case since 2018 and you only got three playoff wins, bruh? Something about that gotta change. And I ain’t changing the quarterback. He’s one of the three best players at the position in the sport. I’m not getting rid of him,” Canty said of Harbaugh and the Ravens, according to audio via ESPN Radio. “So if I’m not getting rid of him and I’ve gotta change something, the obvious answer would be the head coach. Listen, we have these same kind of conversations around Mike Tomlin and about whether or not it’s time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to make a change. No, it’s not the same thing. You know why it’s not the same thing? Because Mike Tomlin ain’t got a quarterback.
“John Harbaugh has one of the three best quarterbacks in the entire sport. One that’s historically great, one that’s historically great. He’s 28 years old and we can’t seem to break through and get to a Super Bowl. At some point, something about that has to change, and I think this is the off season where a lot of folks around Baltimore start asking a difficult question about what Harb’s future looks like if this team continues to hit a brick wall in the playoffs.”
The struggles in the playoffs are similar in a grand scheme of things. Baltimore has a Hall of Fame quarterback in Jackson, one who has transcended the league and has been one of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL for the last seven years. Yet, the Ravens largely have nothing to show for it.
Those playoff struggles are starting to weigh on Jackson, who was frustrated with his own performance after the loss to the Bills and stated he’s tired of making mistakes in the playoffs and not winning the big games.
Sure, the Ravens have three playoff wins in a span in which the Steelers don’t have any, so it’s a bit different of a discussion between Harbaugh and Tomlin, especially with Harbaugh and the Ravens beating the Steelers in the playoffs just last week in the AFC Wild Card Round.
But the inability to get over the hump in the playoffs with Lamar Jackson as the face of the franchise has to be getting old for Baltimore. You’re not making a change at QB, so does the attention start to shift to Harbaugh, who has been there for 17 seasons and counting?
In that vein, it’s a similar discussion to Tomlin. But unlike Tomlin, Harbaugh has that all-world quarterback on his team, whereas Tomlin is still feeling his way through the post-Ben Roethlisberger landscape in search of the Steelers’ next franchise quarterback.
Like Tomlin and the Steelers, though, it’s very unlikely the Ravens make a change at head coach and move on from their longtime voice, especially after winning the AFC North and a playoff game to reach the divisional round this season.
