Jim Harbaugh versus John Harbaugh in the third NFL matchup between the coaching sons of Jack and Jackie Harbaugh. Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz versus the Baltimore Ravens, the franchise that gave him the chance to build his pro football resume over 26 seasons.
Running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards landed with the Chargers this season after beginning their careers with the Ravens. Centers Bradley Bozeman and Sam Mustipher played with the Ravens before joining the Chargers. Outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy was a Charger before he was a Raven.
Chargers offensive and defensive coordinators Greg Roman and Jesse Minter coached with the Ravens under John Harbaugh before joining Jim Harbaugh’s staff this season. Chargers safety Tony Jefferson worked in the Ravens’ scouting department last season before returning to play again this season.
Every game in the NFL seems to have its share of connections, but the Chargers’ game Monday night against the Ravens seems to have more than the usual number, starting with Harbaugh versus Harbaugh and continuing with a higher than usual number of coaches and players, too.
“I can’t say I have, not like this,” said Bozeman, a seven-year NFL veteran who spent his first four seasons with the Ravens. “There’s a lot of connections across the board, whether guys who have played there or coached there or know people there. There’s a lot of connections there.”
It’s an intriguing matchup, to be sure, but it’s also a game the Chargers need to win in order to cement their status as a playoff contender. They have won four consecutive games, matching their longest streak in three seasons, and they are also 7-3, second in the AFC West.
The Ravens are 7-4, second in the AFC North. Quarterback Lamar Jackson presents a problem of containment for the Chargers. As in, how do they contain that which refuses to be contained? Jackson is second in the NFL with 2,876 yards passing and second with 25 touchdown passes.
So, it’s a game the Ravens desperately want to win, too.
John Harbaugh and the Ravens were 2-0 against Jim and the San Francisco 49ers, having defeated him and them during a regular-season game during the 2011 season and again during the Super Bowl following the 2012 season, the so-called Harbaugh Bowl in New Orleans.
If there was a ‘Win One for Jim’ campaign this week among the Chargers players and coaches, it was well hidden from pesky reporters and their intrusive questions. It’s just another game, just another game the Chargers want to win for themselves as they attempt to shoulder their way among the AFC’s elite.
“No added motivation,” Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. insisted, a rare outsider looking at the Ex-Ravens versus Ravens matchup. “We want to do it for ourselves. Just go out there and do our job. There’s not a different vibe. We’re taking the same approach to get better. Our objective is to win the game.
“We’re not trying to make it bigger than it is. Just go play football.”
Jim Harbaugh agreed that the game was bigger than any one person.
“Excitement of the big game,” he said. “I’m sure my brother looks at it the same way, the same way our family does. It’s about the two teams. It’s about those who are coaching and those who are playing. I’m sure he doesn’t want to make it about him. I don’t want to make it about me. It is what it is, a big game, for sure.”
The Chargers have played well during their streak, especially defensively, defeating the New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals. But the Ravens represent the best and most successful opponent the Chargers will have faced since losing to the Chiefs in Week 4.
In the final analysis, the Chargers represent a difficult challenge for the Ravens, too.
“It’s a tough matchup,” John Harbaugh told reporters in Baltimore last week. “It’s a very good football team we’re playing this week. They’re highly ranked in pretty much every area. They’re a winning football team, very physical, very tough, extremely well-coached football team, no question about it. Jim is one of the best coaches of this generation, no question. I believe that. Even if he weren’t my brother, I would say the same thing. We have our work cut out for us.”