Vic Fangio upset, not surprised by streak-saving Baltimore run

Vic Fangio was not happy with John Harbaugh’s decision to run the ball on the last play of Sunday’s Broncos-Ravens game. The Ravens needed just three yards rushing to tie the NFL’s longest streak of consecutive 100-yard rushing games at 43.

A lot of coaches claim not to care about records or streaks, aside from the ultimate stat – the final score. Fangio is clearly in that camp.

“Yeah, I thought it was kind of bullshit, but I expected it from them,” Fangio said on Monday. “Thirty-seven years in pro ball, I’ve never seen anything like that, but it was to be expected and we expected it.”

The Broncos head coach didn’t just frown upon that call. He also pointed to the Ravens’ last-play run to take shots at the Baltimore football team’s “mode of operation” in general.

“I just know how they operate, that’s just their mode of operation, player safety is secondary,” Fangio said.

Broncos HC Vic Fangio thought the Ravens’ run at the end of the game was “kind of bull****” and notes he’s never seen anything like that in his 37 years of coaching in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/TltszwLKmW

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 4, 2021

After picking off Drew Lock in the endzone, up 23-7, the Ravens had just three second left on the clock. They needed three yards and Harbaugh called on quarterback Lamar Jackson to get them, instead of assuming victory formation.

Jackson picked up five yards rushing, bringing the total to 102, and securing the streak record. The Ravens’ streak began Nov. 18, 2018 and is now tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ streak. The Steelers made it 43 consecutive games with 100 rushing yards from Dec. 8, 1974, to Dec. 10, 1977.

Fangio’s comments have already prompted a response from John Harbaugh.

“I thought we were on good terms, we had a nice chat before the game,” Harbaugh said. “I promise you, I’m not going to give that insult one second of thought. What’s meaningful to us, might not be meaningful to them. We didn’t expect to get the ball back but we decided that if we got the ball back, we were going to try to get the yards.

“You’re throwing the ball in the endzone with 10 seconds left, I don’t know that there’s a 16-point touchdown that’s going to be possible right there so, that didn’t have anything to do with winning the game. We’re not going to concern ourselves with that.”

Harbaugh happy to keep Ravens streak alive

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh defended his decision after the game on Sunday night.

“100 percent my call,” Harbaugh said. “That’s one of those things that’s meaningful. As a head coach, you have to be mindful of your players and your coaches and what it means to them.”

Baltimore hasn’t exactly had good luck this season considering the many injuries they’ve suffered, including three major running back injuries. Running backs J.K. Dobbins (ACL), Gus Edwards (ACL) and Justice Hill (Achilles) all went down heading into the 2021 season.