Harbaugh Bowl III: Brotherly love and another win for John’s Ravens

As the seconds ticked down on Monday night win over the ChargersBaltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh wanted to remind his defense to block noise and distractions and not jump offside.

He repeatedly tapped his cupped hands against the sides of his head as if putting on imaginary earmuffs.

Funny, in the week leading up to the hyped Harbaugh Bowl — the third iteration of the NFL’s only brother-to-brother matchup of head coaches — the Ravens coach had to follow his own advice. He had to ignore all the outside chatter and focus on the task at hand.

“Yeah, absolutely, it was kind of an earmuff in that sense, and I know it was for Jim, too,” said John Harbaugh, who improved to 3-0 in games against his younger brother. “Because at the end of the day it’s meaningful, it means something. It’s such an incredible thing. I’m so proud of him. It’s an amazing thing to look back at where we are, where we came from.

“We had different paths and we grew up in the same room. We have always lived our lives side by side. But that’s not what the game is about. The game is about the players.”

Read more: Chargers drop the ball on offense and defense in second half as Ravens prevail

Despite the obvious love and respect the two have for each other, there was no brother-to-brother retreat, no apparent sibling sympathy in Baltimore’s 30-23 win. Both John and Jim – whose teams could very easily meet in the playoffs in a few months – were fully invested in the moment.

That’s why the Ravens went for it three times on fourth down, succeeding on all three, including once from their 16. Neither coach took their foot off the gas.

“The overriding thing was who we played,” said John, 62, 15 months older than Jim. “You just try to hang on to possessions as long as you can because they’re that good. … Their offense is so challenging and so good, we just felt like we needed it.”

As the game clock hit 0:00, photographers, camera operators and other media flocked from the four corners of the field to the midfield lightning to capture the brotherly handshake. It was brief, with John and Jim exchanging a few kind words and a quick hug before they went their separate ways.

If you didn’t know what happened in the game, didn’t know the final outcome, it would be hard to determine after the postgame media sessions which brother won and which lost. They were both subdued and chose their words carefully.

“It’s every week at this level, everyone puts an incredible amount of effort and everything they have into these games,” Jim said. “I was really pleased with our effort, valiant effort and their side of the ball had a valiant effort as well.”

Just as John has won all three games he coached against his brother — including a Super Bowl win — quarterback Peyton Manning was 3-0 against his younger brother, Eli. And just as these ballyhoo matchups were excruciating for parents Archie and Olivia Manning, they are convoluted for Jack and Jackie Harbaugh.

The Harbaugh parents attended the first two games their sons played, but on Monday — which happened to be their 63rd birthday — they were in Florida watching at the home of their daughter, Joanie, who is married to the longtime college- basketball coach Tom Crean.

Read more: ‘Enthusiasm unknown to mankind’: How the Harbaugh family mantra began

Both brothers reached out to their parents before the game.

“I wished them a happy anniversary and I know Jim did the same,” John said. “Jim and I wrote a little bit before the game. Just so thankful for our parents. When you’re blessed enough to have parents who get along so well, love each other, have been married for 63 years, it kind of gives an idea of ​​how it should work. That’s the gift they’ve given all three of us.

“I know they’re 100% happy and 100% disappointed at the same time. If you can imagine that, that’s how they feel right now.”

The Ravens improved to 8-4 with the win, giving them a better record than the 7-4 Chargers and a significant leg up on them in the postseason race. There was no joy about that from John. He opened his press conference by calling his younger brother “the best coach in the National Football League with how hard they play and what they did.”

He added: “They are going to win a lot more football games this year and they will be a major factor in the play-offs.”

Read more: Hernández: If Justin Herbert is ‘incredible’, what does that say about the rest of the Chargers?

When they were kids, sharing a bedroom and occasionally trading blows, the ultra-competitive brothers made a pact. They split their room in two.

“John came up with this thing where he put a piece of athletic tape across the floor of the room we shared,” Jim, then the coach of the San Francisco 49ers, told the Los Angeles Times in 2011. “He proclaimed that I was’ I wasn’t allowed to get on his side of the tape, and he wasn’t allowed to get on my side.”

Jim agreed to the plan, only later to realize that most of the essentials—a record player, radio, desk, and alarm clock—were on his brother’s side of the room. Jim had the closet where they kept their clothes and the bedroom door on his side, but John was allowed to use them as needed.

“So the deal was the deal,” Jim said. “But there are those 10 or 12 defining moments in your life, and this was one of them. I learned a valuable lesson the hard way: You negotiate a good deal in advance.”

As for the story of the tape now? It’s more loving, but still kinky.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.