Rookie Jackson leads Ravens into rematch
It’s been six years since the Ravens hosted a playoff game, so forgive Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda for forgetting protocol regarding the distribution of tickets.
“Somebody was asking me if we got tickets during the playoff games, and I couldn’t really remember,” he said this week. “I was like, ‘Uh, it’s been a little while.’ ”
The last time Baltimore was at home in the postseason was in 2012, when linebacker Ray Lewis and quarterback Joe Flacco engineered a 24-8 victory over Indianapolis to launch a surprising Super Bowl run.
Lewis is now in the Hall of Fame, and Flacco will be on the bench when rookie Lamar Jackson and the Ravens (10-6) face the Los Angeles Chargers (12-4) in a wild-card game today.
It’s a rematch of a pivotal contest two weeks ago, when Baltimore took control of the AFC North with a 22-10 victory that dropped the Chargers to the No. 6 seed. The Ravens’ top-ranked defense limited Los Angeles quarterback Philip Rivers to 181 yards passing with two interceptions.
“You know they’re going to come back with changes, with wrinkles, and they’re going to play that much harder, because they know what happened the first game,” said Ravens Jackson, a junior at Louisville just a year ago, has been a starter for just under two months. The 21-year-old will be the youngest quarterback ever to start in the postseason.
But the Ravens are 6-1 with Jackson as a starter, and his ability to run has turned Baltimore’s offense into a very efficient unit.
This is the Chargers’ first postseason appearance since the 2013 season, and second since 2010.
BEARS HOPE TO KNOCK OFF CHAMPS >> Chicago (12-4), which hosts Philadelphia today, is in the playoffs for the first time since the 2010 team won the division, making a huge jump in Nagy’s first season after four straight last-place finishes. The Bears are on a 9-1 tear; the Eagles (9-7) have won five of six.
Chicago quarterback Mitchell Trubisky will make his first playoff appearance.
Eagles quarterback Nick Foles last year’s Super Bowl MVP will try to deliver another standout performance while filling in for Carson Wentz. He’s 6-0 in those situations the past two seasons.
Alshon Jeffery will play in Chicago for the first time since the star receiver left the Bears after five seasons to sign with Philadelphia in 2017. Chicago’s Trey Burton will try to beat the Eagles this time after throwing a touchdown to Foles on a trick play “Philly Special” in the Super Bowl victory over New England. There will be Long brothers Chicago guard Kyle and Philadelphia defensive end Chris on opposing teams.
And there will be two coaches on opposite sidelines with a strong bond formed while working under Andy Reid in Philadelphia and Kansas City. COACHING TIES TO LEGENDS WALSH, PARCELLS >> There is no denying the impact on the coaching world that Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells have had. The hard evidence is apparent again as the NFL playoffs begin.
All 12 of the coaches have some sort of tie-in to either three-time Super Bowl champion Walsh or two-time winner Parcells. Yes, all 12.
Some are direct: New England’s Bill Belichick, New Orleans’ Sean Payton and the Chargers’ Anthony Lynn were assistants under Parcells.
Other affiliations on the coaching tree go out on a bit of a limb. The Colts’ Frank Reich worked for Doug Pederson, who coached under Andy Reid, who worked for Mike Holmgren, who was a Walsh protege.
It all gets a bit complicated, but as Bob Glauber, the NFL columnist at Newsday points out, all the connections are legitimate.
Indeed, Glauber’s recent book, “Guts And Genius,” is all about not only Walsh and Parcells, but Washington’s Joe Gibbs. The subtitle of the book tells it all: The story of three unlikely coaches who came to dominate the NFL in the ‘80s.
Consider that such Walsh disciples as George Seifert, Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren and Pederson have won Super Bowls.
“He knew how to train coaches and he concentrated on it and it meant a lot to him to see them become successful coaches,” Glauber says.
49ERS’ EXUM FINED FOR HIT ON RAMS’ WOODS >> San Francisco 49ers safety Antone Exum Jr. was fined $53,482 by the NFL for his hit on Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Robert Woods last Sunday. Exum was penalized for unnecessary roughness on the play in which he hit Woods in his midsection in the third quarter of the 49ers’ 48-32 loss while breaking up a deep pass.
Tyreek Hill of the Chiefs was fined $10,026 for unsportsmanlike conduct for taunting in the win against the Raiders last week.
USC DENIES JETS A CHANCE TO INTERVIEW KINGSBURY >> USC is denying both the Jets and the Cardinals a chance to interview new Trojans offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, according to a New York Daily News report.