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Second-Guess Came Up Short

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 19, 2009

PITTSBURGH - Baltimore rookie coach John Harbaugh's argumentative spirit worked for and against him during Sunday's AFC Championship Game versus Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh WR Santonio Holmes caught a 23-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger in the first quarter to put his team on the Ravens' 1-yard line. Harbaugh did not believe Holmes made the catch, and after challenging the play, he was correct.

The play was overturned and Pittsburgh settled for a Jeff Reed 42-yard field goal, giving his team a 6-0 lead.

However, Harbaugh made a questionable call when he decided to second-guess the officials again.

Pittsburgh faced third-and-6 on its 15-yard line when Roethlisberger threw an 8-yard pass to Nate Washington with 5:46 left before halftime. Harbaugh did not think Washington caught the ball and decided to appeal the basic play.

However, Harbaugh's challenging spirit worked against Baltimore.

The officials ruled Washington caught the pass and Baltimore had to lose a timeout. In addition, Baltimore lost all of its challenges for the rest of the game, taking away its ability to appeal something more threatening than an 8-yard reception.

Harbaugh's overeagerness can be attributed to his lack of playoff coaching experience.

He had 11 regular-season wins this season, but was coaching in only his third postseason contest.

WARD DINGED UP

Pittsburgh WR Hines Ward is arguably the hardest hitting NFL receiver, but his knee gave out after striking the ground.

Ward caught an 11-yard pass in the first quarter against Baltimore, but was tackled by Ravens CB Fabian Walker - who started in place of the injured Samari Rolle - and suffered a knee injury. Although he was shaken up, Ward returned later in the second quarter.

After Ward hauled in a pass for minus-1 yard before the second quarter, his knee gave out again and he was unable to return.

Ward finished with three receptions for 55 yards and is second on Pittsburgh's all-time postseason receiving yards list with 1,021 and eight touchdowns. Ward has caught a pass in 13 consecutive postseason games.

STILL A ROOKIE

Baltimore prided itself on not treating QB Joe Flacco like a rookie this season, but the Ravens had a moment of weakness.

Flacco turned 23 Friday, only two days before facing Pittsburgh, and his teammates decided a birthday cake would not do. Instead, the Ravens gave him an ice bath to celebrate his birthday.

"Yeah, they do that to everybody, and I figured I wasn't going to run from it," Flacco said. "I'll just try to let them do it, and hopefully they won't enjoy it as much as if I was running from them."

Flacco seemingly was still frozen from his dousing, completing only 13 of 30 passes for 141 yards and three interceptions against Pittsburgh.

SOMETHING IN COMMON

Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis cannot be happy about his team's 4-11-1 record this season, but can take pride in what he helped two other teams establish.

Pittsburgh finished with the top-ranked defense in the NFL, while Baltimore was No .2, and Lewis is responsible for both team's accomplishments. And no, losing against both teams this season is not the reason.

Lewis spent time coaching Pittsburgh and Baltimore before becoming Cincinnati's head coach in 2003.

From 1992 to 1995, Lewis was Pittsburgh's linebackers coach under Bill Cowher when they installed the Steelers' 3-4 zone blitz. Lewis left the Steelers and became Baltimore's defensive coordinator from 1996 to 2001, leading one of the best defenses in NFL history. His coaching potency led to Baltimore's Super Bowl XXXV victory at Raymond James Stadium in January 2001.

QUICK SLANTS

When Baltimore CB Corey Ivy played for Tampa Bay from 2001 to 2004, his defensive backs coach was Mike Tomlin. Pittsburgh RBs coach Kirby Wilson also was on the Bucs' staff in 2002-03. ... Prior to Sunday, Baltimore had only allowed an average of 164.6 passing yards and 89.1 rushing yards during 10 playoff games. ... Baltimore, Pittsburgh (2006) and Philadelphia (2009) are the three No. 6 teams to reach a conference championship game.

Anwar S. Richardson

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