“It was kind of bullshit”: Vic Fangio sends a message to John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Baltimore Ravens were three yards away from history with three second left and the ball in their possession against the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

Up 23-7, an NFL team would take a knee nearly every single time to end the game. But John Harbaugh and the Ravens wanted to make history. They ran the ball instead of taking a knee.

“I thought it was kind of bullshit, but I expected it from them,” Vic Fangio stated on Monday, talking about the Ravens decision to run the ball instead of take a knee. “Thirty-seven years in pro ball and I’ve never seen anything like that. But it was to be expected and we expected it.”

With their five-yard run to end the game, the Ravens ended with 102 rushing yards to tie the NFL record of 43 consecutive games with 100 rushing yards.

But why did Fangio—a man that worked for Harbaugh in Baltimore in 2008 and 2009—expect this from his former employer and boss?

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

When the Ravens didn’t line up in the traditional victory formation, Fangio was on the sideline yelling at his players to get them ready for what was to come. After the play, Fangio threw his headset on the ground as many players clearly upset that the Ravens didn’t take a knee.

Along with player safety, Fangio was upset about the lack of sportsmanship displayed by running for the history books instead of ending the game.

When asked if there were other plays where the Ravens took liberties throughout the game, the head coach said, “I’m sure there’s some, but I can’t give you a number on them.”

On Monday, Kareem Jackson said he didn’t “give a shit about that last play” and instead was focused on the rest of the game, in which he was disappointed in the defense’s execution.

Noah Fant “wasn’t really offended” by the Ravens’ decision.

“Obviously the statistical things are important to them. If it’s me I’m getting a win and getting out of there. But to each his own,” Fant stated. “We still lost and that’s all that matters to us.”

Shortly after Fangio’s comments, Harbaugh responded when speaking to the Baltimore media.

“I thought we were on good terms. We had a nice chat before the game,” Harbaugh said on Monday afternoon. “But I promise you, I’m not going to give that insult one second of thought. What’s meaningful to us is not necessarily meaningful to them.”

Harbaugh went on to question why Fangio and the Broncos were attempting to score a touchdown with 10 seconds left in the game down 16 points.

The Broncos fells to the Ravens on Sunday evening. But the battle between the coaches continued into Monday.