If Bill Belichick has a coaching nemesis left in the NFL, John Harbaugh is probably that archenemy.
Now, a 4-7 Harbaugh head-to-head record vs. Belichick that includes two playoff wins may not sound like much, but this is, after all, the coaching GOAT we’re talking about. By definition, he has few peers. And Tom Coughlin isn’t walking back through anyone’s door again to steal another one of Bill’s Lombardi's.
Harbaugh is the best we’ve got these days to match wits with The Great One, and this Sunday night at Gillette Joker John is back in town, a 7-point favorite to boot.
You’ve got to at least give Harbaugh this: he’s been a pain in Belichick’s arse for a decade now.
First, Harbaugh is a Belichick trigger because he coaches the Baltimore Ravens, who of course are a traitorous version of Art Modell’s Cleveland Browns. On Valentine’s Day 1996, Modell picked up the phone to tell Belichick he was not invited to travel along to the team’s new locale. That firing is distant history, but there are moments in life that are never forgotten (even with Modell having long ago moved on to the big gridiron in the sky.)
Think about it, If not for that firing, Belichick might be nearing Don Shula’s all-time NFL wins mark here in 2020, now sitting 52 games shy at the age of 68.
But anyway, back to Harbaugh.
His first damage delivered came on January 10, 2010, a day of infamy in Foxboro as Harbaugh handed the Patriots their first home playoff loss since 1978. It was the Ray Rice game (159 yards rushing), with Baltimore surging to a 24-0 first quarter lead en route to the 33-14 upset in the AFC Wild Card round. Terrell Suggs’ gums are still flapping about the outcome somewhere today.
After some New England revenge over Baltimore in the 2010 regular season and the 2011 AFC Championship Game (the Sterling-Moore-pass-break-up and Billy Cundiff-miss game), Harbaugh beat Belichick twice in the 2012 season, including a 28-13 beatdown for that year’s AFC crown en route to a Baltimore win in the HarBowl.
Then it started to get testy, with Harbaugh accusing the Patriots of using “illegal” formations and “deception” after the Pats’ 2014 AFC Divisional round win. Brady rubbed salt in Baltimore’s wounds by advising them to “study the rule book and figure it out.”
DeflateGate was soon to follow, with reports (denied by Harbaugh) that Baltimore tipped off the Indianapolis Colts to nefarious Pats use of ball pressure.
To round out the decade, Harbaugh and newbie Lamar Jackson dealt the 2019 Patriots their first defeat after an 8-0 start, putting four touchdowns on a Belichick ‘D’ that had allowed only four all season to that point. Baltimore 37 - New England 20 last November featured the Ravens’ rushing for 210 yards and all ‘Boogeymen’ t-shirts being rendered as rags.
Speaking of Jackson, Belichick passed on him twice in the first round of the 2018 Draft, instead selecting tackle Isaiah Wynn at pick No. 23 and running back Sony Michel one pick ahead of where Jackson was nabbed. Two-and-a-half years later, it looks like one of the bigger gaffes of Belichick’s career.
And speaking of the Draft, Harbaugh opened a new decade of Patriots vs. Ravens rivalry by openly celebrating from his home office last April when the Pats traded up and selected the “other” Devin (Asiasi) at pick 91, allowing the Ravens to get their preferred Devin Duvernay at selection 92. After a violent fist pump at making the pick Harbaugh said “When the trade was made with New England I had a little concern because Coach Belichick, you know, he’s a smart guy and they probably could have used a receiver too.”
The rivalry’s temperature has risen more by familiarity than hatred. Belichick and Harbaugh appear to be more like frenemies, with a history of sharing platitudes and talking shop going back to the late 1980’s at their various coaching stops. They share similarities in their coaching styles, and profess to have mutual respect.
But make no mistake, Sunday night represents a chance for Belichick to squash his nearest coaching competitor by flipping last year’s script and teaching Harbaugh one final lesson. How about a defensive gameplan that shows adjustments to shut down Jackson and the Ravens run game? How about an effective offensive strategy that puts Cam Newton’s offense back in the running for best ground game in the league, showing up the young legs of Jackson? How about another tricky formation to catch Big John by surprise?
At this point, I’ll take smoke and mirrors, too. Most of us missed Halloween due to the Pandemic, so fire up the Belichick Haunted House and find a way to make Jackson see ghosts, Darnold-style.
It’s time for the Pats’ top weapon - Belichick - to deliver at the seasons’ fulcrum. With a victory Sunday night, the Pats would improve to 4-5 and be very much alive for the postseason with head-to-head wins over Miami, Las Vegas and Baltimore. There is much still to play for in New England, and this Sunday the team’s coaching edge is in the spotlight.