John Harbaugh won’t win any awards for his team’s 8-9 finish, but he’s Coach of the Year material from where I sit. Through endless storm clouds, waves of chaos and ill fortune, the Ravens never blinked.
Baltimore became just the fifth team in league lore to lose four games by two points or fewer. Eleven of its opponents finished with a winning record. Twenty-five of its own players were sent to injured reserve, decimating the club and exposing a massively compromised secondary on a defense that finished dead last against the pass. The backfield was cooked in August.