The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Chicago Bears by the final score of 16-13 in Week 11 of the 2021 season. They did so without star quarterback Lamar Jackson, who was dealing with an illness. Instead backup Tyler Huntley led the team to victory.
Towards the end of the contest, the CBS broadcast revealed a very interesting statistic relating to Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh. Only four of the 147 career regular season and postseason wins that Harbaugh has have been without Jackson or Joe Flacco starting at quarterback.
The four other quarterbacks who have won while starting a game for the Ravens in the John Harbaugh era other than Jackson and Flacco are Matt Schaub (2015), Ryan Mallett (2015), Robert Griffin III (2019), and Tyler Huntley (2021). Each of the four was starting due to either Jackson or Flacco having injury, being sick with illness or resting.
Before Harbaugh was hired, the quarterback position in Baltimore wasn’t necessarily a stable one, but once Flacco was drafted it gave the Ravens continuity. Jackson has since taken the torch from Flacco and continued to be a consistent presence at quarterback while playing at a high level. Here’s to hoping that Harbaugh doesn’t have to use another quarterback until Lamar Jackson retires.