Even a day after the fact, Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio was not happy with the way the Baltimore Ravens handled things late on Sunday.
In the Ravens’ 23-7 win over the Broncos (3-1), Baltimore (3-1) pushed to reach a milestone. The Ravens called a play to get over 100 yards rushing mark and pulled it off just before time expired.
The reasoning for Baltimore’s desire with three seconds left was to tie the NFL record for most consecutive 100-yard rushing performances in league history, which they did. Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh acknowledged that it was his decision to do so well.
Denver head coach Vic Fangio, formerly a defensive assistant on the Ravens’ coaching staff, did not hold back.
“I thought it was b——-, but I expected that from them,” Fangio said. “In 37 years of pro ball, I’ve never seen anything like that. But it was to be expected, and we expected it.
“Because I know how they operate,” Fangio continued after a follow-up question. “That’s just their mode of operation there, player safety is secondary.”
In the heat of the moment, the Denver sideline was certainly not happy:
WATCH: The Broncos sideline was enraged as the Ravens decided to run the ball on the final play of the game rather than take a knee. #9sports #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/QshWgAbkpX
— 9NEWS Sports Denver (@9NEWSSports) October 4, 2021
The big layer here is that Fangio coached under Harbuagh in Baltimore from 2008-2009.
Harbaugh has since responded and said he was a bit surprised.
“I mean, I thought we were on good terms. We had a nice chat before the game. Known each other for a long time. But I promise you, I’m not gonna give that insult one second thought,” Harbaugh said. “What’s meaningful to us might not be meaningful to them. Their concerns are definitely not our concerns. And, you know, we didn’t expect to get the ball back, you know? But I had already decided, we decided… that if we got the ball back, we were gonna try to get the yards.”
Harbaugh went to to also point out that the Broncos themselves were actually trying to throw the ball into the end zone with the game well over.
“So you’re throwing the ball in the end zone with 10 seconds left? I don’t know that there’s a 16-point touchdown that’s gonna be possible right there,” Harbaugh said.
Backup quarterback Drew Lock entered the game after an injury to starter Teddy Bridgewater during the contest, so maybe Denver wanted to get Lock reps. Regardless, that is one good point by Harbaugh, too…
