It’s been a trying season for the Ravens and coach John Harbaugh. Baltimore has squandered lead after lead en route to a hard-earned 10–7 record, achieved without the services of quarterback Lamar Jackson for the last five games of the season.
In between the first and second quarters of the Ravens’ AFC wild-card tussle with the Bengals, Harbaugh encapsulated his team’s frustrations this year with a terse answer to a question from NBC’s Melissa Stark.
“With that interception, you said we might see [quarterback] Anthony Brown,” Starks said, referring to a first-quarter pick thrown by Baltimore quarterback Tyler Huntley and the scepter of his rookie backup. “What would that take?”
“We’ll just see how the game goes, okay?” Harbaugh responded, wearing a taut grin. “Thanks.”
“John was trying to keep that smile going, wasn’t he?” color commentator Cris Collinsworth quipped as he and play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico chuckled.
That likely wasn’t even Harbaugh at his crankiest on Sunday night, though—the Ravens would go on to lose 24–17 after Huntley fumbled when he tried to stretch the ball over the goal line and it was returned for 98 yards for a touchdown and the difference in the game.
