ExtremeRavens

The AFC championship game between the Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs kicks off at 3 p.m. Read our pregame coverage here. And here’s our live coverage from M&T Bank Stadium: View the full article

The Ravens are playing their first AFC championship game at home, and they enter it about as healthy as they have been all season. Notably, tight end Mark Andrews, who was activated off injured reserve this week after undergoing ankle surgery in November, and cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who suffered a calf injury in Week 17 against the Miami Dolphins and hasn’t played since, are both active for Baltimore’s 3 p.m. showdown with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Ravens, however, will be without wide receiver Tylan Wallace (knee) and linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips (shoulder), both of whom are inactive. To fill their roles on special teams, the Ravens elevated recently signed receiver Dan Chisena and inside linebacker Josh Ross from their practice squad Saturday. The Ravens’ other inactives are cornerback Rock Ya-Sin (knee), guard Sala Aumavae-Laulu, center Sam Mustipher and quarterbacks Malik Cunningham and Josh Johnson, who will be Baltimore’s third/emergency quarterback. The Chiefs, meanwhile, are without a few key players, notably All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney (pectoral) and defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi (triceps), both of whom were ruled out Friday. Starting linebacker Willie Gay (neck) was also made inactive Sunday. Kansas City is also without two of its wide receivers: Skyy Moore (knee), who was ruled out Friday, and Kadarius Toney (hip). Toney, who welcomed a daughter Saturday night and hasn’t played in the past five games, said the Chiefs are lying about his injury. The 25-year-old went on an expletive-filled rant on his Instagram on Sunday, saying that he isn’t hurt. Other inactives for the Chiefs include cornerbacks Keith Taylor and Ekow Boye-Doe and defensive ends BJ Thompson and Felix Anudike-Uzomah. View the full article

The Kansas City Chiefs’ plane landed at BWI-Marshall Airport on Saturday afternoon, carrying dreams of an AFC title and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has arrived in Baltimore, along with his teammates and coaches, as they prepare to take on the Ravens at 3 p.m. at M&T Bank Stadium. But other than a host of social media memes, Swift has yet to be seen officially in Baltimore. A spokesperson for the global pop star could not be reached for comment about when or if she would arrive to watch Kelce take the field. The Maryland Department of Transportation directed a reporter to the Maryland Aviation Administration, which declined to comment on Swift’s potential travel. The governor’s office and BWI could not be reached for comment. Last week, Kelce said he was focused on the game and that his relationship was a separate compartment. “The only thing we’ve talked about is as long as we’re happy, we can’t listen to anything that’s outside noise,” Kelce told reporters in Kansas City about his relationship, according to CNN.com. “That’s all that matters.” Swift has faced a lot of outside noise over the past week, much of it related to her privacy and safety. On X, the website formerly known as Twitter, fake and explicit AI-generated images of the singer were distributed widely before being shut down. Also, a suspect was jailed after repeatedly showing up at her home in New York City. Swift’s fans seem eager to welcome her and also to root for the Ravens. Swift, 34, has not performed in the Baltimore area since she was a 19-year-old country singer stopping at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia on her 2009 Fearless tour. Although she has made stops in Washington and Prince George’s County since then, Swift’s closest stop to Charm City during last year’s record-breaking Eras tour was Philadelphia. Swift is far from the only celebrity showing up in Baltimore for Saturday’s championship game – T-Pain will be playing the halftime show, setting the stage for a potential reunion. Decorated Olympian Michael Phelps, a Baltimore native, will deliver the game ball, and Ravens legends Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are also planned to be a part of Sunday’s festivities. Baltimore Sun reporter Maya Lora contributed to this article. View the full article

Fifty-three years ago, Baltimore hosted the first AFC championship game — and won. That hallowed Colts team is gone; its stadium, demolished. What remain are some grizzled old Colts who have harked back to that victory as their successors, the Ravens, set to play the Kansas City Chiefs at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday for a Super Bowl berth. This past week, more than one of those Colts, including running back Sam Havrilak, watched the vintage video of that contest, a 27-17 win over the favored Oakland Raiders at Memorial Stadium on Jan. 3, 1971. Havrilak, now 76, played a pivotal role, recovering an enemy fumble on a punt return, which led to a Colts touchdown. His reaction, on film, is — by today’s standards — restrained. “I was not prone to a lot of celebratory action,” said Havrilak, a retired dentist who lives in Phoenix, Maryland. “I remember grabbing the ball and lifting it up in the air as I ran off the field. That’s as animated as players got back then.” Likewise, the postgame revelry was low-key. The Colts were headed to the Super Bowl where, two years earlier, they’d been upset by quarterback Joe Namath and the New York Jets in a loss that still stuck in their craw. The champagne, they vowed, would have to wait. In the locker room, Havrilak said, “The younger players like me and [rookie kicker] Jim O’Brien were hooting and hollering and singing ‘Moon Over Miami’ [site of Super Bowl V]. The veterans who’d lost in Super Bowl III were more subdued and just thankful for a chance to redeem themselves.” Despite their heady record (13-2-1), it was a somber Colts team that faced Oakland (9-5-2) on that crisp, clear afternoon. Skeptics scoffed at Baltimore’s schedule; the Colts had played just three teams with winning records, one of which — the Chiefs — routed them, 44-24, on “Monday Night Football.” Even the crowd of 56,368 seemed to lack fervor. For the second straight game, there were empty seats in the stands after 51 consecutive home sellouts. One fan smuggled in enough snow to build a snowman in a vacant box seat, a blue-and-white pennant in its icy grasp. The non-sellout meant that, per NFL rules at the time, the game was blacked out on Baltimore television. Nationwide, an estimated 30 million viewers tuned in. Coach Don McCafferty is hoisted aloft by Baltimore Colts players after their victory over the Raiders in the AFC championship game on Jan. 3, 1971. (Staff file) The Raiders’ George Blanda looks to pass against the Colts. Blanda, 43, was the oldest quarterback ever to play in an NFL conference championship game. (Staff file) The front page of The Baltimore Sun highlights the Colts' victory in the AFC championship game. (Staff file) A page from The Baltimore Sun previewing the Colts' AFC championship game against the Raiders. (Staff file) Show Caption of Expand The game matched two stellar quarterbacks: Hall of Fame-bound Johnny Unitas, 37, and Oakland’s Daryle Lamonica who was, on paper, the AFC’s top passer that season. But the latter struggled early and limped off in the second quarter after being sacked by Bubba Smith, the Colts’ behemoth defensive end. “I was surprised [Lamonica] got hurt, because I didn’t hit him my best lick,” Smith said later. Enter the Raiders’ George Blanda, 43, whose appearance made him the oldest quarterback ever to play in an NFL conference championship game. The ageless Blanda, who’d played for the Colts 20 years earlier, passed for two touchdowns and kicked a 48-yard field goal to keep it close. But he was sacked four times and intercepted three, including a fourth-quarter theft by Rick Volk, a Pro Bowl safety who outwrestled a receiver for the ball at the Colts’ 5-yard line. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | At Ravens’ revolving running back position, Justice Hill has always been there Baltimore Ravens | How the ‘illusion of pressure’ — and a nifty cornerback blitz — help fuel Ravens’ elite defense Baltimore Ravens | Ravens’ Mark Andrews on his return | VIDEO Baltimore Ravens | Then and now: 1971 vs. 2024 Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: Todd Monken evolved with the game to become Ravens’ unsung hero | COMMENTARY “I just went up in the air a bit higher than he did,” said Volk, 78. The Glen Arm resident acknowledged that he “hadn’t thought about that play in forever” until Sunday when he watched highlights of the game on YouTube with several old teammates. The Colts’ attack proved erratic. Plagued by dropped passes and overthrows, Unitas completed 11 of 30 passes for 245 yards and a touchdown. Chicanery proved the difference. Leading 13-10 in the third quarter and 11 yards from the end zone, the Colts attempted a “Statue of Liberty” play, said Norm Bulaich, a rookie running back who’d already scored one touchdown and was a key to this play. “John [Unitas] backed up as if to pass, then I swung around behind him and he handed me the ball,” said Bulaich, 77, of Hurst, Texas. “I spun to the left, Bill Curry threw a block and I dove in for a touchdown. It was a good play, and it caught [Oakland] off guard.” The Raiders answered with a touchdown of their own. Three plays later, on third-and-long, Unitas flummoxed the defense, bringing four wide receivers to the line of scrimmage. He took the snap, backpedaled, peered right, then swiveled and threw left, hitting fleet Ray Perkins, all alone and in mid-stride. Though flu-ridden and nursing a broken toe, Perkins raced 68 yards for a touchdown to finish the scoring. Afterward, as he usually did, Unitas shrugged off the success of the trick play. With so many would-be targets, he said, “I had [the Raiders] man-to-man on Perkins and it was simple. Ray just beat his man.” At the final whistle, linebacker Mike Curtis raised his arms in triumph, fans rushed the field and Unitas grabbed the game ball before it disappeared. Coach Don McCafferty was hoisted aloft; two weeks later, he’d become the first rookie coach to win a Super Bowl, 16-13, over the Dallas Cowboys. For the moment, though, the jubilation was on hold. The day after the AFC title game, an editorial in the Baltimore Evening Sun read: “The restraint that brings the [Colts] home season to so gratifying a close is … deceptive. Underneath, we must understand, the Colts seethe with emotion. They are men of purpose, whose desire will know no satisfying until they have reappeared in the Miami Stadium where they were rudely upset two years ago, until the end of the Super Bowl … finds them alone at the summit of the entire pro football range of mountains.” AFC championship game Chiefs at Ravens Sunday, 3 p.m. TV: CBS Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM Line: Ravens by 3 1/2 View the full article

Justice Hill practiced at the Ravens’ facility each day this week. Afterwards, he showered, he talked to reporters, he attended team meetings, he left. It’s unremarkable, really. Hill has only done what is expected of him. But his presence — and ascendance in recent weeks — is a lesson in consistency, in staying ready and being prepared when long-awaited moments arrive. A fourth-round draft pick out of Oklahoma State in 2019, Hill didn’t enter this season a starter, like self-assured, former Ohio State star J.K. Dobbins, nor is he the fan-favorite son of a former Raven, like undrafted darling Keaton Mitchell. He doesn’t have the pedigree of veteran backups like Melvin Gordon III or Dalvin Cook. But as the Ravens have strung together an outstanding 2023 campaign, complete with 13 regular-season wins and a trip to the AFC championship game Sunday against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, the 26-year-old Hill has been there every step of the way. Injuries to Dobbins and Mitchell have been cruel reminders of the callousness of football. They were each lost to the season and the Ravens quickly beat on, winning games without them and adding replacements like Gordon and Cook. Hill’s participation has fluctuated. In one game, he had only one touch; in another, he had more than 100 yards from scrimmage. Regardless, he’s been prepared. “Because if you’re not ready when an opportunity arises,” Hill explained, “you’re not going to be here for long.” Hill seldom played during the Ravens’ standout 2019 season, when Mark Ingram II ran for 1,000 yards, and again in 2020. Then, he missed 2021 with a torn Achilles tendon. But he’s been a contributor each of the past two years, including career bests in the Ravens’ last two meaningful games. When Baltimore clinched the AFC’s No. 1 seed with a New Year’s Eve win over the Miami Dolphins, he racked up 112 yards from scrimmage. Saturday, in the Ravens’ divisional round victory over the Houston Texans, he rushed for 66 yards. Those aren’t All-Pro numbers. But Hill has carved out an essential, varied role for the Ravens and, in turn, he’s been a key cog in the machine. Ravens running back Justice Hill, left, gets past Dolphins linebacker Duke Riley in the third quarter Dec. 31. Hill had 112 yards from scrimmage in the victory, which clinched the AFC’s top seed. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) If the best ability is availability — which Hill has demonstrated this year — the second best might be versatility. As a runner, pass-catcher and blocker, he’s shown that, too. “He’s a complete back,” Cook told The Baltimore Sun. “I think he’s one of the most underrated backs in the league.” Of the four NFL teams remaining, Kansas City has hard-running second-year back Isiah Pacheco, Detroit boasts a potent one-two combination of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, and San Francisco leans on MVP finalist Christian McCaffrey. Hill and his backfield partner Gus Edwards don’t have the same level of name recognition as that group, but they’ve been reliable for one of the best Ravens teams ever. Sunday’s conference championship game will mark the first in Baltimore in more than 50 years. “He excels most when he has great challenges in front of him,” Derrick Hill, Justice’s father, told The Sun. Coach John Harbaugh described Hill, who signed a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Ravens last year, as a “well-rounded back” and a “difference maker for us.” “He’s a supremely talented player, but his heart is even bigger,” Harbaugh said. In a brutal league, a running back can be one play away from an elevated role — or the injured list. It was the latter for Hill in 2021, as he tore his Achilles in September, ending his season before it began. But even that — a painful, frustrating injury with a monthslong recovery process — was an opportunity in his eyes. Two months later, he and his now-wife welcomed their daughter to the world. He was at the hospital for the birth and spent time with his family during the initial, “hard months.” “I looked at it as a blessing in disguise,” he told The Sun. A picture of his daughter is pinned against the back of his locker. Next to it are two words: “My why.” The name Justice has an innocuous inspiration, but a meaningful message. His father, Derrick, first got the idea for the name from watching former MLB player David Justice and both he and his wife, Tia, stuck with it because of its biblical relevance. “Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right,” reads a passage in Psalms. Justice and his younger brother, Daxton, were both athletic as kids, which was no surprise, given their parents. Tia is strong — Derrick says when they were younger, she was the strongest girl he knew — and Derrick himself could dunk a basketball in ninth grade at 5 feet 7. Once, during an intramural game at Oklahoma State, he scored over future NBA player Bryant “Big Country” Reeves, he recalled. That athleticism and discipline landed both Justice and Daxton, 23, in the NFL. The younger Hill played defensive back for Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, and was drafted in the first round in 2022 by the Cincinnati Bengals. For Derrick and Tia, it’s been natural to see them succeed. After all, that’s what they did their entire childhood. “We do have those moments where it’s like, ‘Wow, this is something special,’” Derrick said. Ravens running back Justice Hill, center, makes a key block on Rams punter Ethan Evans, left, allowing teammate Tylan Wallace, right, to score the game-winning touchdown in overtime Dec. 10. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) As AFC North rivals, the brothers play one another at least twice a season and Daxton, a safety, tackled Justice earlier this year. (Justice didn’t realize until after the game it was his brother who had brought him down.) It’s hard for Justice Hill to grasp the rarity that he and his brother have both reached the pinnacle of the sport, describing it as surreal. “I feel like I’ll fully appreciate it when we’re both done, like sitting down, got the grandkids,” he said. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | The Colts won the last AFC title game in Baltimore 53 years ago. The celebration would have to wait. Baltimore Ravens | How the ‘illusion of pressure’ — and a nifty cornerback blitz — help fuel Ravens’ elite defense Baltimore Ravens | Ravens’ Mark Andrews on his return | VIDEO Baltimore Ravens | Then and now: 1971 vs. 2024 Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: Todd Monken evolved with the game to become Ravens’ unsung hero | COMMENTARY Hill’s parents have tried to capture what it was like to raise two NFL sons. They’re putting the finishing touches on a parenting book — working title, “The Flash Brothers” — with a Jim Harbaugh-written foreword full of lessons and stories that they plan to publish in a few months. In ninth grade, the running back ahead of Justice Hill on the depth chart suffered an injury, giving him an opportunity. At Oklahoma State, there was a similar situation his freshman year. “His standout moments have always been like, the next man up,” Derrick said. That stems from preparedness as a student of the game. Hill performed well in school and on the Wonderlic test during the NFL draft process. Cook said “his knowledge of the game is just unbelievable.” When the Ravens hired offensive coordinator Todd Monken, praised for his creative offense, Hill’s parents knew it would fit with him personally. And now, Hill has found himself to be indispensable, catching a career-high 28 passes this year. “He’s always strived to be a different and out-of-the-box thinker,” Tia said. The Ravens play their most important home game in team history Sunday, a trip to the franchise’s third Super Bowl hanging in the 60-minute balance as 70,000 fans look on. Hill’s parents and brothers, as well as several friends will be in attendance and, if history is any indication, he’ll be ready when his name is called. Asked about the matchup between star quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, Hill said plainly, “it’s just another game in the way of our goals.” “We’re trying to go win a Super Bowl, and if Mahomes is in the way of that, we’re going to go take care of it.” AFC championship game Chiefs at Ravens Sunday, 3 p.m. TV: CBS Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM Line: Ravens by 3 1/2 View the full article

On the verge of cementing a playoff victory, the Ravens’ defense crowded the line of scrimmage. It was fourth-and-6, and just before the ball was snapped to Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, seven Ravens hovered inches from Houston’s five offensive linemen. Within seconds, cornerback Arthur Maulet was lunging at Stroud, forcing him to hurry a pass that fell incomplete. The turnover on downs solidified Baltimore’s 34-10 win Jan. 20 in the divisional round, setting up an appearance in Sunday’s AFC championship game. On that play, it appeared as if the Ravens’ blitz had overwhelmed the Texans with numbers. But that wasn’t quite the case. The Ravens only brought three pass rushers, with the other four dropping into coverage or acting as a quarterback spy. Three Houston linemen were left blocking no one as Maulet bounded toward Stroud. Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald had once again found the best of both worlds: Quarterback pressure without blitzing several players. “It’s a team rush mentality,” Macdonald explained Thursday. “Even when we’re rushing four, we want the illusion of pressure a lot of times and just have the threat of blitzing off one side, blitzing off another side, coming up the middle, double edge or bluffing out there. We want that threat to be at all times. “In order to have that threat, you have to do it, so guys aren’t just calling your bluff all the time.” Dropping defensive tackles into coverage and blitzing a cornerback can be risky. On that fourth-and-6 look, the Texans had a wide-open receiver who could have scored a 67-yard touchdown. But when it works well, quarterbacks have to get rid of the ball quickly — and often too quickly to make a good decision. Maulet, a 30-year-old journeyman who joined the Ravens this season, rushed the quarterback three times against Houston and was unblocked each time. “We use it every now and then,” Maulet, who tied a career high with two sacks this season, said of the cornerback blitz. “It works out for us. I think guys do a good job of making me a free runner and getting me open to the quarterback, so I appreciate it.” Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, left, greets linebacker Roquan Smith before a game against the Dolphins at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 31. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) Just before the ball is snapped, Maulet — or any blitzer — won’t know if he’ll have a free path to the quarterback. But even if he’s blocked, he expects someone else to be free. “I feel like it’s effective because teams don’t really expect it,” cornerback Ronald Darby said. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Ravens’ Mark Andrews on his return | VIDEO Baltimore Ravens | Then and now: 1971 vs. 2024 Baltimore Ravens | Mike Preston: Todd Monken evolved with the game to become Ravens’ unsung hero | COMMENTARY Baltimore Ravens | How to watch Ravens vs. Chiefs: Game time, TV, odds and more Baltimore Ravens | Ravens TE Mark Andrews expected to return for AFC championship game; CB Marlon Humphrey questionable Cornerback blitzes are just one of the tools on Macdonald’s toolbelt as the Ravens have posted the top defense in the NFL this season. They led the league or are tied for the lead in points allowed, turnovers and sacks. In two games against Houston, they did not allow an offensive touchdown. They’ll face a true test Sunday in the Kansas City Chiefs, the defending Super Bowl champions who have appeared in six straight AFC championship games. The Chiefs are known for their creative offense — tight end Travis Kelce has, on several occasions, lateraled to a teammate after a downfield pass — and quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, seems to always manufacture magic. “He puts his pants on just like any other quarterback,” linebacker Roquan Smith said of Mahomes. “Yes, he’s an elite quarterback, but at the end of the day, we’re an elite defense, and that’s our job — to stop the opposing offense.” To Smith’s point, the Ravens’ defense is creative in its own right, masking its formations and using players in varied roles. Look no further than that fourth-and-6 look, when 305-pound defensive lineman and leading pass rusher Justin Madubuike dropped into coverage as the 190-pound Maulet sprinted toward the quarterback. Asked for more insight into what makes the Ravens’ blitzing so effective, Maulet kept his cards close. “Secrets, man,” he said with a smile. “We got two more games — I’ll tell you after.” View the full article

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It’s been a long time since this city has seen an AFC championship game played at home in Baltimore. Over five decades have passed since the Colts defeated the Raiders on Sunday, Jan. 3, 1971. Since then, a new NFL football franchise has risen in Baltimore, along with home prices and hem lines. Here’s a look at some of the changes and what remains the same. Sports Then: The Oakland Raiders fall to the Baltimore Colts, 27-17, in the AFC championship game in Baltimore at Memorial Stadium. Now: The Ravens take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Jan. 28, in the AFC championship game at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium. News Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach/NASA via APThis image released by NASA last year shows the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region as captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Since the telescope’s launch in 2021, the Space Telescope Science Institute at the Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood campus has been its earthly home base. File. (Associated Press) Then: Apollo 14 lands on the moon with astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., Stuart A. Roosa and Edgar D. Mitchell aboard. It was the third human landing. Now: The Baltimore-based Space Telescope Science Institute’s James Webb Space Telescope continues to capture images from the N79 nebula star-forming region of the Milky Way galaxy. Population Karl Merton Ferron/Baltimore SunThe scene during an AL East division contest between the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees in front of a sellout crowd of 42,829 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on July 29. Then: 207,372,000, as of Sept. 1, 1971, according to U.S. Census estimates. Now: 335,893,238, as of Jan. 1, according to U.S. Census estimates. Income JOHAN ORDONEZ / AFP/Getty ImagesThe median family income continues to grow. Then: $10,290 is the median family income in 1971, marking it the first year the amount goes above $10,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Now: $74,580, according to U.S. Census Bureau information based on 2022, the year with the most recent data. Food prices Food Prices A&P Jan 3 1971 Then: A&P Mart offers fresh whole chickens for 26 cents per pound. Now: Giant offers whole roaster chickens, drumsticks or thighs for $1.29 per pound, on sale. Gas prices Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore SunA man pumps gas Friday at a BP gas station in Federal Hill in South Baltimore. Then: Fill up for 36 cents per gallon — the national average retail gas price in 1971. Now: Fill up for $3.14 per gallon, the Maryland average retail gas price for regular gas as of Jan. 26, according to AAA. Car prices Automobile ADVJan 3 1971 Then: A new Ford Mustang hardtop is priced at $2,888, while a new Chevrolet Camaro costs $2,894, according to The New York Times. The Chevrolet Impala model starts at $3,447. Now: A new 2024 Ford Mustang starts at MSRP $30,920. Music Matt Sayles/Matt Sayles/Invision/APAriana Grande performs a medley at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, in Los Angeles. Then: “Joy to the World,” by Three Dog Night, is the top song of 1971, hitting no. 1. on the Hot 100 for six weeks in a row, according to Billboard Music. Now: “Yes, And?” by Ariana Grande, is the top song for the week ending Jan. 27, according to Billboard Music. Movies This image released by Universal Pictures shows Cillian Murphy in a scene from “Oppenheimer.” (Universal Pictures via AP) Then: “Patton,” a World War II movie is nominated for 10 Academy Awards. It won seven of those, including Best Picture in 1971. Now: “Oppenheimer,” a World War II movie is nominated for 13 Academy Awards in 2024. Television Television Shows Jan 4 1971 Then: “All in the Family,” starring Carroll O’Connor, is the highest-rated TV show in 1971, followed by The Flip Wilson Show and Marcus Welby, M.D. Now: “Young Sheldon,” is the most-streamed TV title, while “NBC Sunday Night Football” leads traditional broadcast ratings, according to Nielsen’s most recent data. Business .A Starbucks sign is seen June 26, 2019, outside a coffee shop in downtown Pittsburgh. After ceasing sales of print newspapers, Starbucks announced Oct. 1 that it will offer customers free digital access to several newspapers for a limited time.Then: The first Starbucks coffee shop opens March 30, 1971, in Seattle’s historic Pikes Place Market. Now: Starbucks plans for its U.S. store count to reach more than 16,300 in 2024, the company said in a news release last fall about its long-term growth strategy. View the full article

The unsung hero of the Ravens’ season has to be offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Outside linebackers coach Chuck Smith is a close second because of his innovative pass rushing techniques, which is why the Ravens are No. 1 in sacks, but Monken came in with a big bullseye on his back when he replaced Greg Roman last February. The Ravens have responded. They are ranked No. 6 in total offense, No. 1 in rushing and No. 21 in passing. They have a quarterback, Lamar Jackson, who is a favorite to win the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and they will play the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday in the AFC title game. That’s impressive. The only encore would be holding up the Vince Lombardi Trophy and collecting a Super Bowl ring, which would go along with the two national championships Monken won as the offensive coordinator at Georgia. But, first things first. The Chiefs are ranked No. 2 in total defense and No. 4 against the pass, allowing only 191.1 passing yards a game. They are second to Baltimore in sacks with 57. “I mean, what a great job they’ve done collectively,” Monken said. “They have outstanding coaches. They have outstanding players. They’re very disruptive. Whatever you’re going to run, you better have the answers for what they’re going to give you. “When you’re fourth in the league in yards per play [allowed] and I don’t know how many games they haven’t given up 20 points, but you can see it on tape — how hard they play, they tackle well, they’re well-coached and they are very disruptive.” Regardless, nothing can take away from Monken’s success in a year of transition from the college to the pro game. He mixed a roster of young players with some veterans and the Ravens overcame major injuries to running backs J.K. Dobbins and Keaton Mitchell and tight end Mark Andrews. Offensively, the Ravens have had their ups and downs, but more pluses than minuses. They make opposing teams defend the entire field, something Monken stressed when first hired. “We have to keep working, attack down the field a little bit more,” Monken said. “But I think we’ve done some of it from sideline to sideline and trying to spread the ball around. We don’t have a 1,000-yard rusher, we don’t have a 1,000-yard receiver, but we’ve been pretty good about having to defend all our players. I think that’s balance, which is just not run-pass [ratio] but having players capable of making plays and utilizing their skills.” Ravens' Organized Team ActivitiesKenneth K. Lam/Baltimore SunRavens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, left, talks with quarterback Lamar Jackson in June. “I think he’s a great blend of veteran in terms of playmaking, in terms of seeing the field, in terms of leadership,” Monken said of Jackson. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) It all starts with Jackson, but it doesn’t end there. Jackson’s statistics — career-high 3,678 passing yards, 24 touchdown passes — are impressive, but the biggest difference compared with previous seasons is that he doesn’t panic. He has improved in other areas, but go back and look at the first half of the Christmas night victory against the San Francisco 49ers and the second half of Sunday’s divisional round win over the Houston Texans. In the past, Jackson would have imploded in similar situations. Monken’s experience of having coached in both college and the NFL since 1989 has provided a calming influence. Jackson, in his sixth season, is a “tweener” in the NFL. “I think he’s a great blend of veteran in terms of playmaking, in terms of seeing the field, in terms of leadership,” Monken said. “He’s a veteran in terms of a lot of those things where he’s young in being in charge. I’m fine with that, but tell me what you don’t or do like, if you rather do this or that. “Then he has to live with it when it doesn’t work. There’s some empowerment that comes from that and he’s embraced that. As he gets older, he’s going to want to be in charge and he should.” Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Then and now: 1971 vs. 2024 Baltimore Ravens | How to watch Ravens vs. Chiefs: Game time, TV, odds and more Baltimore Ravens | Ravens activate TE Mark Andrews from injured reserve ahead of AFC championship game Baltimore Ravens | The artistry and chaos of Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald Baltimore Ravens | Staff picks for Ravens vs. Chiefs and 49ers vs. Lions: Who will meet in Super Bowl 58? Monken has had the same influence on the receivers. Coming into the season, he had a mix of veterans such as Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor as well as younger players such as Rashod Bateman, rookie Zay Flowers and tight end Isaiah Likely. Monken, 57, can be gruff at times. He has that raspy voice and can run practices like a marine sergeant. A lot of receivers in the NFL demand the ball, but the Ravens haven’t had any of that, at least publicly. Maybe it’s because Monken coached receivers in college and later on in his pro career in Jacksonville and Tampa Bay. Or maybe it’s because Jackson has been able to spread the ball around. Flowers had 77 receptions during the regular season, while Agholor and Beckham each had 35. Bateman had 32 and Likely finished with 30. “I’ve coached wideouts a lot in my life and they are fun to be around,” Monken said. “It doesn’t bother me when they want the ball. I mean, they should want the ball, it’s what they do for a living, right? You play basketball, you want shots. You play baseball, you want at-bats. But they’ve got to understand it’s still one ball. “I think there’s a part where you try with whomever your players are to treat them similarly as best you can in your approach — coaching, demanding, teaching, hearing what they have to say.” It’s been the same way with the rotation of the starting offensive tackles. Monken has inserted backups Patrick Mekari and Daniel Faalele at times in the final quarter of the season to keep starters Morgan Moses and Ronnie Stanley healthy for the postseason run. It seems as if everything Monken touches works, but there was an adjustment period. The pro game has changed, though he was the Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator in 2019 before he left for Georgia. According to Monken, defenses are attacking more, trying to negate spread offenses and causing disruption to prevent big plays. At Georgia, the Bulldogs weren’t involved in a lot of close games. In the NFL, it happens weekly, even though the Ravens have won by 14 points or more nine times this season and rarely trailed. “I would say Georgia probably didn’t prepare me for having a lot of the last two minutes, four minutes where the games are on the line like in the NFL,” Monken said. “You’re going to have games where you’re going to have to be really good in situational football. When these situations come up, that’s where you gain your experiences — trial and error — mistakes that you make and try to get better with.” Then there are analytics, which might be a coach’s friend or enemy. Monken prefers a combination. “Why not have information or analytics in terms of decision making? Then what you do with the information is really the critical part of it and having a great feel for it,” he said. “There is room for both at the same time.” Monken has been able to evolve with the game. The Ravens still dominate with the running game, but there are more passing concepts such as flood and wheel routes, delays over the middle, rubs and clearouts. In Baltimore, Monken has been able to use space appropriately with players like the 5-foot-10, 172-pound Flowers, who can operate in the slot, on the outside or as a running back. More and more teams are finding a need for smaller, shiftier players like Flowers. Monken started out as a graduate assistant at Grand Valley State in 1989. Back then, most teams were still in a two-back formation. Few used a shotgun formation, and a one-back set was only for third down passing situations. Wide receivers were still in a three-point stance and big shed and shock linebackers such as Dick Butkus and Mike Curtis were in vogue. But the game has changed, and Monken has been able to change with it. He’s a major reason for the Ravens’ success. That’s why he is the unsung hero. View the full article

Here’s what you need to know about the AFC championship game between the Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. When: 3 p.m. Sunday Where: M&T Bank Stadium Forecast: Cooler with rain. High of 46 degrees, with 94% chance of precipitation. Wind gusts of up to 10 mph. And here’s how you could follow the game: TV: CBS (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson, Evan Washburn, Jay Feely); WJZ Ch. 13 (Baltimore); WUSA 9 Ch. 9 (Washington) Stream: Paramount+ Radio: WBAL (1090 AM, 101.5 FM) and 98 Rock (97.9 FM) (Gerry Sandusky, Rod Woodson); SiriusXM Radio Chs. 83 or 226; Westwood One Sports (Ian Eagle, Jason McCourty, Devin McCourty, Ross Tucker) Line: Ravens by 3 1/2 Over-under: 44 1/2 points Pregame reading Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Michael Phelps, T-Pain highlight AFC championship game festivities Staff picks for Ravens vs. Chiefs and 49ers vs. Lions: Who will meet in Super Bowl 58? Ravens vs. Chiefs scouting report for the AFC championship game: Who has the edge? Ravens set to host Chiefs in ‘biggest home game in the history of Baltimore football’ Ravens QB Lamar Jackson ‘locked in’ like never before entering biggest game of his career Mike Preston: Lamar Jackson vs. Patrick Mahomes with a Super Bowl trip on the line is a treat | COMMENTARY To reach Super Bowl 58, Ravens coach John Harbaugh must go through his mentor, Andy Reid, and the Chiefs The artistry and chaos of Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald Orioles text messages ‘going to be firing off’ during Ravens vs. Chiefs AFC championship game Ravens QB Lamar Jackson named finalist for NFL MVP Award; John Harbaugh up for Coach of the Year Ravens vs. Chiefs isn’t just about Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. The defenses get a say, too. Sorry, Ravens fans. You’re stuck with Tony Romo and Jim Nantz. | ANALYSIS Five things to know about the Kansas City Chiefs, the Ravens’ opponent in the AFC championship game Ravens roundtable: Answering 5 biggest questions entering AFC championship vs. Chiefs Dear Taylor Swift: The Ravens’ flock has Swifties, too All will be well if Taylor Swift’s NFL tour ends not so well in Baltimore — a little friendly trash talk Ravens 101 for Swifties: Here’s what Taylor Swift fans need to know about Travis Kelce and the Chiefs’ opponent View the full article

Mark Andrews is officially back. The Ravens activated the 2021 All-Pro tight end from injured reserve Friday, two days ahead of Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs at M&T Bank Stadium. Though coach John Harbaugh has been noncommittal about his availability for the game, Andrews has been a full participant in practice all week. A favorite target of quarterback Lamar Jackson since being drafted together in 2018, Andrews has been sidelined since injuring his left ankle Nov. 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals and undergoing surgery shortly thereafter. How much he plays remains to be seen, but before going down the 28-year-old three-time Pro Bowl selection had 45 catches for 544 yards and a team-high six touchdown receptions. Andrews also fully practiced last week but did not play in the Ravens’ divisional round win over the Houston Texans, giving his ankle another week to heal. In his absence, second-year tight end Isiah Likely has filled in nicely, with 23 catches for 356 yards and six touchdowns in six games. “I’m starting to feel really good, being able to get after it, get in and out of routes [and] feeling pretty natural with all that stuff,” Andrews said last week. He also talked about the difficulty of the past two months and his drive to get back on the field. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been through anything like this,” Andrews said. “It’s tough, but you get around this team and you get around the guys, everybody in this building has been extremely supportive. I can’t tell you how much that means to me, how much it matters, and it makes me want to come here, work every day, come back to this team and help this team win a Super Bowl. That’s what matters.” Sunday will mark the first conference championship game in Baltimore since 1971 when the Colts defeated the Oakland Raiders. It will also mark the first AFC championship game of Andrews’ career. This story might be updated. View the full article

When Leonardo da Vinci was painting “The Last Supper,” he would sometimes stare at his work for an hour, make a single stroke, then leave, according to Walter Isaacson’s epic biographical tome. In it, Isaacson wrote that da Vinci told the Duke Ludovico that creativity requires time for ideas to marinate and intuitions to jell. “Men of lofty genius sometimes accomplish the most when they work least,” da Vinci reportedly said, “for their minds are occupied with their ideas and the perfection of their conceptions, to which they afterwards give form.” Da Vinci, of course, was an unrelenting perfectionist, a label that could also be applied to Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald in his own creation of a masterful and historic unit. There is perhaps little in common with the Italian Renaissance man and a finance major with a master’s degree in sports management from the University of Georgia who, upon graduation, accepted a job at an accounting firm. But dig a little deeper and, while the applied trades differ wildly, the genius and strive of da Vinci and Macdonald are not so dissimilar. And like da Vinci, Macdonald’s genius bubbled to the surface early on. At Centennial High School in suburban Atlanta, Macdonald was actually better as a baseball player than at football, Xarvia Smith, his former football coach there, told The Baltimore Sun. But the running back and linebacker was able to routinely and quickly break down opponents’ tendencies and pass them on to Smith. “He picked up my system really fast,” Smith said. “That’s why when he asked about coaching with me later at Cedar Shoals High, I hired him. “He’s probably the smartest person I’ve met in my life, and I think because he’s so smart and so humble, that allows him to coach in the NFL for a guy who really didn’t play high school or college football.” Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald looks on as cornerbacks Brandon Stephens, left, and Tre Swilling work on stripping the ball Thursday at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) Macdonald, of course, did play football, but his skills on the field were not what made him stand out. And, during his junior season he suffered a series of stingers in his neck, for which doctors advised him that he risked serious injury if he continued to play. So he worked out an agreement with Smith that he would make an exception and play in the last game of his senior season. He never got the chance. Macdonald suffered a torn ACL on the final play of the team’s final practice — essentially a walk-though, Smith said — and that was that. The injury caused him to miss most of baseball season, too, Smith said, though he did eventually get a taste of schoolboy glory with a game-winning hit coming off the bench. By the time he arrived in the Ravens’ Owings Mills offices in 2014 after serving as a graduate assistant and safeties and defensive quality control coach at Georgia, it was obvious Macdonald was equal parts brilliant and a tireless worker. “There’s certain tests we do in out [coaching intern] program,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh told The Sun. “It’s merit-based, and it’s kind of an honor to even be in that deal, so that was part of [his intelligence]. But smart is a lot of things. What we were looking for and what we want in all of our coaches are guys who can see it all and are willing to relentlessly chase it all; every idea, every loose end, every relational thing, empathetically relating to the guys whether it’s a star player or not a star player. “He was just out of college, and he was very eager and very smart and very motivated and hardworking and all those kinds of things, and you could just tell. He had all those kinds of traits. … What you see is [that] he’s just got a really good feel for it. He’s got a feel for the game itself, but he’s also got a great feel for applying the principles that he’s been a part of developing, actually, over the last nine or 10 years.” Macdonald — also a skilled if not obsessive golfer, which in part explains his ability to see lines, patterns and small details — made a quick impression on other coaches on the staff, too. “When I was there he was just cutting his teeth, figuring it out,” former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, who was the Ravens’ secondary coach in 2016, told The Sun. “I would have Mike assist me with some of my cards or some of our meetings and presentations and he was always on point and rarely did anything I ever needed to correct. “It was rare, and rare to have the boldness to say something to a guy. When you’re that young, you’re trying to find your spot. You’re trying to figure out how do I say something to [veteran cornerback] Jimmy Smith or [safety] Eric Weddle. But he had the gumption to say something. That takes a little courage. I’m not surprised, because the ingredients were there way back when. You just knew as time would go on this guy, if he wanted to stay with it, would have a chance to be a good coach. He had a good way about him with people. He’s not a big talker, but when he does talk, what he has to say makes sense. Some of his ideas, even back then, players respected.” So when Michigan had an opening for a defensive coordinator after the 2020 season, Harbaugh suggested Macdonald, who’d worked his way up the Ravens’ staff to linebackers coach, to his younger brother Jim. In his first and only season in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines went from ranking 84th in total defense the year before Macdonald’s arrival to 20th. Michigan also routed Ohio State and went on to the College Football Playoff, with three of its defensive players being selected in the first 45 picks of the NFL draft. Paul Sancya / APMike Macdonald spent one season as defensive coordinator at Michigan, helping push the Wolverines from 84th in total defense to 20th. (Paul Sancya/AP) When the Ravens parted ways with defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale after the 2021 season, Harbaugh wooed Macdonald back for the job. In his first season as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, only four teams had more sacks. This season, they’ve been even better. The Ravens became the first team to lead the NFL in sacks (60), takeaways (31) and points allowed per game (16.1) in the regular season. They also ranked first in passing yards allowed per play, first in rushing touchdowns allowed per game and second in overall yards allowed per play. And over the past two seasons, the defense has ranked in the top five in scoring, total yards, rushing yards, red zone touchdown rate and third-down conversion rate. His system has also resonated with players, old and young. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Ravens activate TE Mark Andrews from injured reserve ahead of AFC championship game Baltimore Ravens | Staff picks for Ravens vs. Chiefs and 49ers vs. Lions: Who will meet in Super Bowl 58? Baltimore Ravens | Ravens set to host Chiefs in ‘biggest home game in the history of Baltimore football’ Baltimore Ravens | What would it take for Taylor Swift to bring her tour to Baltimore? Local music experts weigh in. Baltimore Ravens | Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey: “I’ve got to do whatever I can to get back” | VIDEO Kyle Van Noy, 32, registered a career-high nine sacks in the regular season. Fellow outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, 30, matched his career high with 9 1/2. Defensive tackle Justin Madbuike, 26, led all interior linemen with 13 sacks. Inside linebacker Roquan Smith, 26, led the team with 158 tackles. And fellow inside linebacker Patrick Queen, 24, surpassed his previous career high from a season ago with 133 tackles. Of the Ravens’ six All-Pros this year, two (Smith and safety Kyle Hamilton) were first-team selections, while two more (Queen and Madbuike) were chosen for second-team. “I’ve been saying it since I got here, Mike Macdonald is the smartest defensive coordinator I’ve ever had,” Clowney said. “He puts the guys in the right position … He leaves nothing that we haven’t seen going into a game that we haven’t seen during the week.” Added Smith: “He gives us such a unique plan [to] dissect offenses like it’s no other, like he’s a mad scientist in a sense, and then [he] gives it to us in a way that we understand it.” The scheme is challenging, Hamilton said, but the beauty is in the difficulty and the confusion and chaos it creates. It has also fostered relationships with players that go beyond transactional, unburdening them and allowing them to thrive at their highest capabilities. “I like the duality of it,” Hamilton said. “First off, we have guys upfront who allow us to do a bunch of stuff on the back end, in terms of doing their job correctly. Moving around, everybody doing different things, it doesn’t make us one-dimensional. We have a bunch of guys who can do a lot of different stuff, and it makes it hard on the offense not to know who is doing what on each snap. I feel like everybody has done a good job of buying into that.” It’s also why Macdonald, 36, has become one of the hottest head coaching candidates in the NFL. Among the teams he interviewed with are the Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons. The Washington Commanders also requested an interview. Among those, only the Commanders job remains unfilled, with the Seattle Seahawks the only other team currently with an opening. Should Macdonald get hired, he would become the league’s youngest head coach. First, though, there’s the matter of quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s AFC championship game at M&T Bank Stadium. “It’s a long list of the stuff that he does well,” Macdonald said of last year’s NFL Most Valuable Player and two-time Super Bowl champion. “He’s an ultimate competitor, so we have our hands full. It’s a great challenge.” Just the way all the great artists like it. AFC championship game Chiefs at Ravens Sunday, 3 p.m. TV: CBS Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM Line: Ravens by 3 1/2 View the full article

Here’s how The Baltimore Sun sports staff views the outcome of Sunday’s NFL conference championship games. AFC: Kansas City Chiefs at Ravens, Sunday, 3 p.m. Brian Wacker, reporter Chiefs 24, Ravens 23: The Ravens are the better team, but Kansas City has what Baltimore does not: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes. As good as Lamar Jackson has been for the Ravens — he should be the NFL Most Valuable Player — this is new territory for him and old hat for Mahomes, who is playing in his sixth straight AFC championship game. The Ravens’ defense has also been vulnerable against strong running backs, which Isiah Pacheco certainly qualifies as, and can struggle at times defending passes over the middle. The key for Baltimore will be getting Mahomes off his first read, muddying the picture in the secondary and applying pressure up the middle and/or on the edge without losing contain. Those are all things the Ravens do well, but expect Mahomes to stay patient and make a play when he has to. This one will come down to the end. Mike Preston, columnist Ravens 31, Chiefs 21: If Patrick Mahomes wins this game, he isn’t just the best quarterback of all time, but the greatest magician. This is a physical mismatch in favor of the Ravens, who are the No. 1 ranked rushing team in the NFL going up against the Chiefs’ No. 18 ranked run defense. Translation: Just pound the ball. Kansas City has Mahomes, but its offensive tackles, Donovan Smith on the left side and Jawaan Taylor on the right, won’t be able to handle defensive end Justin Madubuike and outside linebackers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy. The Chiefs have a good coaching staff led by Andy Reid, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and defensive line coach Joe Cullen, but they won’t be able to save Kansas City, which is playing its second straight road game after beating Buffalo, 27-24, in the divisional round. The first-round bye will help the Ravens. Childs Walker, reporter Ravens 30, Chiefs 24: The Ravens have been better than the Chiefs this year. They have more ways to win and in Lamar Jackson, a superstar who seems ready to come into his own as a true rival to Patrick Mahomes. No one blows out the Chiefs, however, and no lead will ever feel safe against Mahomes. The quarterbacks will headline, but this game could just as easily come down to the defenses. Kansas City will pressure Jackson and make it difficult for him to move the ball in chunks. But the Ravens were just as stingy against big plays and much better at creating takeaways. They will disturb Mahomes just enough to pull out a tense win. C.J. Doon, editor Ravens 27, Chiefs 20: Facing Patrick Mahomes and an elite defense is the toughest test yet for this Ravens team, but even that won’t be enough to derail what’s shaping up to be a dream season. When he avoids turnovers, Lamar Jackson is pretty much unbeatable, even against a terrific defensive coordinator like Steve Spagnuolo. Mahomes can single-handedly keep the Chiefs in the game with his ability to extend plays, but his receivers are simply not good enough to go toe-to-toe with this Ravens defense. Travis Kelce, at age 34, isn’t the dominant force he used to be. On top of that, Kansas City is dealing with a long list of injuries and will likely be without All-Pro guard Joe Thuney. Justin Madubuike and Jadeveon Clowney should dominate, which will frustrate Mahomes and lead to mistakes. It’s hard to envision the Chiefs getting blown out as long as Mahomes is healthy, but I wouldn’t be shocked if the Ravens win comfortably. Tim Schwartz, editor Ravens 30, Chiefs 24: It’s destiny, right? Baltimore has checked every box this season and dominated the NFL’s best — just look at what it did to the teams playing in the NFC title game. The Chiefs are the best team they’ll face, so why not knock them off, too? Lamar Jackson has been as even-keeled as any player can possibly be this season and seems ready to capture the moment. But it certainly won’t be easy against a stout Kansas City defense. I like the Ravens’ defense matching up against Patrick Mahomes and his receivers. There is nobody quite like Kyle Hamilton, who can guard Travis Kelce and do a little bit of everything else, too. The Ravens are Super Bowl bound. Shae Hammond, Bay Area News Group49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, left, celebrates with wide receiver Deebo Samuel after scoring a touchdown during a game against the Buccaneers on Dec. 9 in Santa Clara, California. NFC: Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, 6:30 p.m. Wacker 49ers 27, Lions 14: History isn’t on the Lions’ side. They’ve lost 11 of their past 12 against San Francisco, including a 41-33 defeat in Detroit in 2021, and haven’t won a road playoff game since 1957. This isn’t the same old Lions team, of course, as Detroit is averaging 27.5 points per game this postseason. Jared Goff has been efficient, hasn’t turned the ball over and been a catalyst for the Lions’ success. But not all playoff opponents are created equal, and the 49ers are far better than the Rams and Buccaneers. San Francisco has an elite defense, ranking third in points, rushing yards and yards per pass allowed, and it ranks second in turnover margin. Even if 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel doesn’t play, their offense has hummed, ranking first in passing yards per attempt, success rate, EPA per attempt, touchdown percentage and first-down percentage. The Lions’ run defense has been stout this season, but the Ravens exposed them in Week 7 and San Francisco will do the same. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Ravens activate TE Mark Andrews from injured reserve ahead of AFC championship game Baltimore Ravens | The artistry and chaos of Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald Baltimore Ravens | Ravens set to host Chiefs in ‘biggest home game in the history of Baltimore football’ Baltimore Ravens | What would it take for Taylor Swift to bring her tour to Baltimore? Local music experts weigh in. Baltimore Ravens | Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey: “I’ve got to do whatever I can to get back” | VIDEO Preston 49ers 24, Lions 21: The Lions are one of the best stories of the season, having won two playoff games in the same year for the first time since 1957. Detroit has the offense to keep pace with the 49ers, and the Lions have explosive weapons in running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs and tight end Sam LaPorta. Quarterback Jared Goff appears to have stepped up his game in the postseason, but San Francisco still has one of the best defenses in the NFL. Meanwhile, Detroit’s defense is a concern. It gave up an average of 336.1 yards per game during the regular season, including nearly 250 through the air, and has allowed an average of 415 yards per game during the playoffs. The 49ers have too much firepower for Detroit, and while quarterback Brock Purdy can be rattled, he might put up big numbers. Walker 49ers 31, Lions 21: The Lions are the most sympathetic team left in final four, but that won’t help them stop a 49ers offense that was the most efficient in the league in the regular season. San Francisco’s close call against the Green Bay Packers was a reminder that no favorite is invincible. Detroit will move the ball and match the 49ers’ physical intensity. But the Lions’ defense isn’t quite ready to win consistently at the highest level. Doon Lions 28, 49ers 24: San Francisco was fortunate to escape the divisional round against Green Bay’s young team, but it won’t be so lucky against Detroit. Yes, the Lions’ secondary is vulnerable, but 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel is banged up and quarterback Brock Purdy does not look ready to lead the offense in tense moments. There’s something about this Detroit team that gives me confidence, especially because of how much more agressive coach Dan Campbell will be than his counterpart Kyle Shanahan. Those little edges add up, and it will make the difference Sunday. Schwartz Lions 27, 49ers 24: The majority of America is ready to see the Lions get over the hump. Count me in. They have not played their best during the postseason but have won anyway — that’s a sign of a good team. San Francisco looked vulnerable last weekend against the Packers and I don’t trust Brock Purdy as much as I do Jared Goff. A key turnover will swing this one in Detroit’s favor, and the Lions will advance to their first Super Bowl. View the full article

Start with this: The Ravens have never hosted a game with a trip to the Super Bowl at stake. No Baltimore team has since Jan. 3, 1971, when the Colts beat the Oakland Raiders to advance to Super Bowl V in an age before our nation’s 24/7 obsession with all things NFL. Then, add in the players: Lamar Jackson — with apologies to Joe Flacco and Bert Jones, Baltimore’s first transcendent quarterback since Johnny Unitas — going against the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, the king he aspires to usurp. Not to mention the expected presence of a certain tight end-dating, world-enveloping pop star. This spectacle will unfold at 3 p.m. Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium, with 70,000 patrons (plus one Taylor Swift) bellowing and tens of millions watching on CBS after a week of anxious previewing in homes, shops and watering holes around the Baltimore area. “I would say this is the biggest home game in the history of Baltimore football,” said Gerry Sandusky, the radio voice of the Ravens who was a 9-year-old kid, watching his father coach for the Colts, in 1971. “Time has taught us how precious it is.” The Ravens have won two Super Bowls in the 28 seasons since they arrived from Cleveland but have never advanced to the grandest game in front of their home loyalists. In 2012, their path went through Foxborough, Massachusetts, and in 2000, through Oakland, California. Their most hyped home playoff game before this one, 17 years ago against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, ended in a bitter 15-6 defeat. Unitas’ Colts beat the Raiders at Memorial Stadium in that first AFC championship game and won an NFL championship against the New York Giants on Dec. 27, 1959 (the year after they traveled to New York to win the “Greatest Game Ever Played). That’s about it for Baltimore and football games of this magnitude. “This is going to be the largest one-day sporting event in Baltimore in my lifetime,” Mayor Brandon Scott said. “The city will be fired up, and we will be letting Mr. Mahomes and the Chiefs know how we feel about them. And we want to put it all to bed now, all the naysayers and haters about what has happened with his team. Baltimore, like our quarterback, has been far too long told what we can’t do.” Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson high-fives fans as he takes the field before a game against the Rams at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 10. (Jerry Jackson/Staff) It’s why a small allotment of tickets the Ravens released Tuesday sold out in less than six hours, why seats were going for a minimum of $507 on the resale website Seat Geek, why fans planned transatlantic flights to reunite with their Baltimore kin Sunday. Bobby Wojcik, of Pasadena, pressed the refresh button on his computer with numbing persistence Tuesday morning, and his heart leaped when the screen finally flashed to a checkout tab for two tickets. The 38-year-old has been a Ravens fan since the team arrived and has attended some momentous home games, but nothing like this. “This team has been different to me than any other Ravens team I’ve watched,” Wojcik said. “I’ve never seen them be so complete. Mahomes is Mahomes, but this is the best team I’ve seen personally.” He ate at the Five Guys near his home before every game during the 2012 team’s run to the Super Bowl, revisited the lucky burger joint before last weekend’s playoff victory over the Texans and planned to dine there again before making his way to the stadium Sunday. “There’s such a buzz about it,” he said of the anticipatory march to kickoff. “For me, it’s one of the most exciting things — the energy, the atmosphere, the vibes. It’s the one time where everyone’s getting along and having a good time.” The Ravens will have their A-listers — Ray Lewis and Ed Reed as legends of the game, fellow franchise forefather Jonathan Ogden as honorary game captain, 23-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps delivering the game ball — on hand to whip fans into a fury. They enjoyed a taste of their crowd’s deafening impact during that win over the Texans, who bumbled their way to seven presnap penalties, in part because of the din from the stands. Wayne Reese, known as Uncle Grandpa, dances outside of M&T Bank Stadium before the Ravens’ playoff game against the Texans on Jan. 20. (Lloyd Fox/Staff) “Even driving out of the stadium, there were still people everywhere, lined up around everywhere,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “Of course, I rolled my window down and yelled, ‘Go Ravens!’ It was really fun. It was loud. It was emotional. You could just tell how much it meant. I would say that this game is even bigger.” Kicker Justin Tucker said his wife, Amanda, was sitting with guard Kevin Zeitler’s wife, Sara, at the Texans game. She felt the building shake beneath her feet. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced the stadium like that,” she told her husband afterward. Tucker is in his 12th season, the only player left from the Ravens’ last Super Bowl winner. “I can tell you what it means to me,” he said of playing an AFC championship game in Baltimore. “I’m getting to play in my hometown stadium, where my home is. Getting to play for a championship in that way is really, really special. It’s exciting around town. Folks are fired up for the Ravens, and they should be.” Boisterous crowds are nothing new for Baltimore. As Bill Curry, the Colts’ center in the 1971 AFC championship game against the Raiders, pointed out, Memorial Stadium was christened “the world’s largest outdoor insane asylum.” Curry played and coached for more than 50 years and said the thrill of his NFL life was standing on that field, listening to the noise crescendo — “By the time he got to the huddle, everyone had tears in their eyes” — as Unitas was introduced. In his day, the Colts offensive linemen drank beer on Friday afternoons with factory workers who made similar salaries to them. A homemade banner on the outside of the stadium exhorted mammoth defender Charles “Bubba” Smith to “Kill Bubba, Kill!” Unitas was already a mythic figure in and out of Baltimore, but that 1971 game against the Raiders was not dissected in every corner of the media landscape the way it would be today. No one had any inkling that Oakland coach John Madden, 34 years old at the time, would transform sports broadcasting and video gaming. From left, Curtis Boutwell, Pat Vaughan, Pat Vaughan Jr. and Dennis Naber celebrate after a Ravens first down during the playoff game against the Texans on Jan. 20 at M&T Bank Stadium. (Lloyd Fox/Staff) “I don’t know that it felt much different to us,” Curry said. “That was a crazy year. I don’t know what it’s like now, but there have to be even more possibilities for distraction.” In Mahomes and Jackson, he sees players every bit as worthy of awe as Unitas was in his era. “There’s a greatness to Jackson and Mahomes, an intuitive sense of how to make something happen, how to escape when you’re trapped by three big, fast people when there’s no way out,” Curry said. “They come out of it like Houdini and throw a perfect spiral 60 yards. I don’t know that we’ve seen anything quite like these two.” Sandusky recalled that the 1971 game, which he watched with his mother and brother from the lower deck at Memorial Stadium, “felt every bit as big to me and my family because my dad was coaching.” The Colts were looking to transcend the disappointment of two years earlier, when they were the most dominant team in the sport but lost Super Bowl III to a mouthy gunslinging quarterback named Joe Namath. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Ravens activate TE Mark Andrews from injured reserve ahead of AFC championship game Baltimore Ravens | The artistry and chaos of Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald Baltimore Ravens | Staff picks for Ravens vs. Chiefs and 49ers vs. Lions: Who will meet in Super Bowl 58? Baltimore Ravens | What would it take for Taylor Swift to bring her tour to Baltimore? Local music experts weigh in. Baltimore Ravens | Ravens’ Marlon Humphrey: “I’ve got to do whatever I can to get back” | VIDEO “But ESPN didn’t exist. There was no 24/7 news cycle,” Sandusky said. “You didn’t have social media. It wasn’t remotely as big a deal to every single person.” Colts fans had experienced a few disappointments, but the team had been around less than 20 years at that point and was about to win its third championship. Baltimore football fans today are more seasoned, both in celebration and heartache. “There’s depth, there’s relativity,” Sandusky said. “I think people are feeling what most people feel before a championship game, which is that, ‘This could be great! Or, this could be awful!’ We’re in rarefied air when you get to this point. Only two things can happen, and there’s a chasm in between.” Jackson arrived in Baltimore six years ago, thinking big. He promised the city a Super Bowl the night the Ravens drafted him. A pair of home playoff losses in 2018 and 2019 rank among the most disappointing games of his career, but he’s now the closest he has ever been to making good on his ambition. Was this home-field reckoning with the Chiefs what he envisioned when he made that pact with his adopted town? “No, because the mission isn’t complete,” Jackson said. “Once that mission is complete, then I’m going to have an answer for you.” AFC championship game Chiefs at Ravens Sunday, 3 p.m. TV: CBS Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM Line: Ravens by 3 1/2 View the full article

Audrey Fix Schaefer first watched Taylor Swift perform in 2009 at Merriweather Post Pavilion thanks to the job she’s now held for 17 years: head of communications for IMP, which operates the popular concert venue in Columbia. In the decades since, Swift has grown from an impressive young country music artist to unrivaled fame and influence as a global pop star. But back then, Fix Schaefer could tell the 19-year-old Swift, at the time in black cowboy boots and big blonde curls, had a special gift for conjuring devotion and electricity from her crowds. What Fix Schaefer and those Maryland Swifties did not know was that would be the last time Swift would play in the Baltimore area. Of all her musical eras that Swift pays tribute to on her record-breaking Eras Tour, only Fearless — the oldest and her first headlining concert stint — hit Baltimore. Swift brought her Speak Now World Tour to Washington, D.C. in 2011, her Red tour to D.C. in 2013, her 1989 World Tour to D.C. in 2015, and her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour to Landover in 2018. The closest the Eras Tour in 2023 came to Baltimore, let alone D.C., was Philadelphia last May. But now, because the Kansas City Chiefs are coming to town for the AFC championship and Swift dates the team’s tight end, Travis Kelce, Baltimore will host arguably the biggest artist in the world after all. Just not in the way the Swifties might have hoped back in 2022, when Swift announced the U.S. leg of her Eras Tour, or last August, when she announced the second leg. “I couldn’t answer why she didn’t come here. But the desire for people to attend is there,” Fix Schaefer said. ‘Maybe she’ll come back to Baltimore’ Bundled up in the brutal cold of the Texans-Ravens AFC divisional round last Saturday, Sarah Fishkind, 22, peered up with her father, Paul, at the suites at M&T Bank Stadium, trying to guess if she’d be able to see Swift. Columbia natives, Fishkind and her sister Emily devoted themselves to the Ravens since girlhood, thanks to their father’s season tickets. Emily Fishkind, 25, calls herself more of a Swiftie, but both love Swift’s music. What they didn’t love was seeing Baltimore miss Swift’s list of Eras Tour dates, twice. Nor did they love how impossible it was to win Philly Eras Tour tickets in the Ticketmaster presale fiasco in November 2022, nor the cost of the resale price, nor how far the closest city really was. Taylor Swift, right, and Brittany Mahomes, second from right, react during the NFL AFC division playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 21 in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) But by chance, Swift is likely coming to Baltimore anyway. And while they’re worried she’ll be booed by fellow Ravens fans who aren’t so fond of the pop star, the Fishkind sisters can’t wait to combine their loves at last. “It feels personal and exciting. Even though she’s not performing or doing anything extraordinary — she’s watching her boyfriend play football — it feels like we can relate to her in that moment,” Emily Fishkind said. “That she’s doing something that we’re so passionate about doing in the same space.” “Maybe,” Sarah Fishkind said, “she’ll come back to Baltimore for a tour where everything can really be about her.” But what does it take for a city to attract that caliber of artist? In 2022, the more than 60-year-old, 15,000-seat CFG Bank Arena underwent $250 million in renovations to modernize its suites and acoustics, among other changes. Per Frank Remesch, the arena’s general manager, it was a “C building that became an A building.” “Everything is new, everything’s hip, everything’s modern,” Remesch said, “but we also have the history: the floors that Martin Luther King stood, where Elvis Presley and [Frank] Sinatra played.” Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band concertKarl Merton Ferron/Baltimore SunBruce Springsteen performs at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena on April 7, 2023. (Karl Merton Ferron/Sun Staff Photo) It’s those things that can make an artist want to play there, Remesch said. While Bruce Springsteen skipped Baltimore for 32 years, he made sure to hit the forme 1st Mariner Arena in 2009 and served as the remodeled CFG Bank’s first concert last April. And Swift has notably coveted that kind of history. When she broke attendance or booking records in her various U.S. tour stops last summer, the artist always made sure to mention it at her shows. On past tours, such as the 1989 tour, she has reached out to fabled artists like Mick Jagger and Mary J. Blige to join her on stage. “But the most important thing is can you sell tickets,” Remesch said about venues that compete to book performers. “When you can prove you can, that gets you in the top whatever 30 in the nation, that’s great.” ‘All the little nuances’ Between 2015 and 2018, Merriweather invested $60 million in renovations, according to Fix Schaefer, including physically raising its roof to accommodate taller rigging, backdrops or screens that couldn’t have been dreamed of when the amphitheater opened in 1967. In 2023, Merriweather led the world in concert amphitheater’s gross sales with $34 million, according to Pollstar’s year-end summary, and sold 403,544 tickets. “But what else separates you from the elite of the elite?” Remesch said. “And that’s all the little nuances. That’s the reputation of the company and organizations in the building, how they treat the artist, but also all their roadies, backup singers. That’s all super important.” CFG Bank Arena hosted another pop music heavyweight, SZA, in September. By 3:30 a.m., the arena staff had escorted all 27 of her tour trucks out. At 4:15 a.m., they’d moved in 30 trucks for the next show headlined by the band Queen. “Think about the dynamics of those two shows moving in, and that tells you absolutely this is a building in a market that can sell the tickets, handle the load and unload out, and physically put on the show,” Remesch said. Those little things include venue staff knowing how to prepare for specific types of audiences, such as Swift’s, which is predominantly women and girls. Merriweather had to prep for exactly that scenario when the All Things Go Music Festival arrived last fall, featuring Grammy nominees Lana del Rey and Boygenius, Fix Schaefer said. “So for instance, you might take some of the restrooms designated men’s rooms and convert them,” Fix Schaefer said. “It’s about contemplating who the audience is and making it a better experience for them.” Taylor Swift performs at Merriweather Post Pavilion in June 2009. (Leslie Furlong/Handout) The Eras Tour as it stands can only be hosted in stadiums, eliminating most of Baltimore’s typical concert venues like Merriweather and CFG Bank. Even Camden Yards, with just under 46,000 seats, would not fit the bill. The stage and catwalk consumes most of a football stadium’s floor. Swift’s shows are selling out 70,000 to over 100,000 stadium seats for as many as eight nights. While her tour sizes may change in the future, Swift played only NFL stadiums this round, which for Baltimore, leaves just one option: M&T Bank Stadium. Why Swift skipped the Ravens’ home for the Eras Tour is a mystery. Only six cities with NFL stadiums will miss her show: Charlotte, Cleveland, Landover, Green Bay, Buffalo and Baltimore, the last three of which, ironically, drew her in for Chiefs games. But maybe that could change after her presumed visit this weekend. Al Hutchinson, president and CEO of Visit Baltimore, certainly hopes so. Hutchinson knows hosting the AFC championship for the first time since 1971 will undoubtedly boost local businesses even more than the average game, as football fans outside either Ravens or Chiefs fandom stream in to watch, too. The real goal, he said, is for the celebratory energy of this weekend to provide visitors with such an appreciation of Baltimore that it will bring people back. But Hutchinson can recognize how the inflated viewership Swifties are giving Chiefs games will help, too. The Texans-Ravens game attracted 32.4 million viewers, becoming ESPN’s most-watched NFL game ever. NBC reported that Swift’s first attendance to a Chiefs game saw a 53% in increase in female viewers between ages 12 and 17, and that Swift’s appearance at the Oct. 1 Chiefs-Jets game drew an audience of 29 million and was the NFL’s most-viewed game since the previous Super Bowl. That kind of viewership marriage on Sunday could spell an unprecedented number of eyes on Baltimore. “We want the Chiefs to lose, but we want Taylor to have such a beautiful experience in Baltimore: that she sees the love we have for football, for our city, that she’d go back and say, ‘Look. Baltimore has to be a must stop on my tour next time,'” Hutchinson said. Time magazine reported the Eras Tour garnered around $5 billion in consumer spending in the United States. Baltimore, should it treat Swift well, could experience that kind of windfall. “Come here, Taylor. Have a good time. Enjoy the great cuisine and all Baltimore has to offer,” Hutchinson said. “We’re going to give you an ‘L’ this time, but we want you to leave with a love of Baltimore.” View the full article

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Brandon Hyde can’t wait for Sunday. The Orioles manager keeps a stoic demeanor as it pertains to his defending American League East champion Orioles. But when asked if the California native hopped on the bandwagon of Baltimore’s other professional sports team, Hyde cracked his first smile of the afternoon. His voice jumped in excitement as he revealed he’d be in attendance for the AFC championship game between the Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs at M&T Bank Stadium. “Me and [coach] John [Harbaugh] text a little bit back and forth throughout both of our seasons and I’m looking forward to seeing them play,” Hyde said. “I really enjoy watching them play.” Amid the text exchange, Hyde told Harbaugh how much he admires the Ravens’ toughness. The manager’s eyebrows furrowed, wearing the facial expression of how impressed he has been with the football team’s defining trait while harboring the NFL’s top defense and likely Most Valuable Player at quarterback. Hyde is no stranger to what the fan support feels like. Particularly in the back half of the Orioles’ 101-win season, he enjoyed every bit of the attention his team was able to draw. Now, it’s the Ravens’ turn. When Hyde drove in from the airport Wednesday night ahead of the Orioles’ Birdland Caravan, he was met with purple lights all around. “It’s pretty special,” he said. 2023 marked the first time both Baltimore franchises finished atop their respective divisions. It’s also the first time a city has had the top seed in an MLB league and NFL conference in the same season since 2016, when the Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys did it. How about the rest of the Orioles’ squad? Are they tuned in to the football team down the street? Related Articles Baltimore Orioles | The Orioles are facing something different in 2024: pressure Baltimore Orioles | Former Orioles star Trey Mancini agrees to minor league deal with Miami Marlins Baltimore Orioles | With Baltimore Orioles’ backing, bill to ban smokeless tobacco in city stadiums advances Baltimore Orioles | 70 greatest Orioles vote: Who were the best Orioles from 1974 to 1983? Baltimore Orioles | Orioles press box named after Jim Henneman, a longtime Baltimore sports reporter and scorer “It should be a good game, I hope both teams have fun,” joked pitcher and Olathe, Kansas, native John Means. “No, I’m looking forward to it. The Ravens look so good but it should be a fun game, I can’t wait for it. … More guys know I’ve been a Chiefs fan my whole life so they definitely like to give me some crap about it.” Means won’t be in attendance Sunday. He has his lucky spot on the couch back home as he roots for the Chiefs to advance to their fourth Super Bowl in five years. Don’t worry, his teammates hold him accountable for his fandom zagging from the city he has spent his entire MLB career in. “There’s already been a lot of trash talking,” Orioles pitcher Grayson Rodriguez said. “Danny [Coulombe] was booing him when he was talking about the Chiefs earlier. It’s gonna be fun. The text messages are going to be firing off during that game.” Coulombe jumped on the Ravens bandwagon about four years ago, around the time of quarterback Lamar Jackson’s unanimous MVP season, because a close friend of his is from Baltimore. “I’m a [Arizona] Cardinals fan,” he said, “We have nothing to cheer about.” The Ravens have certainly given him something to cheer about. View the full article

Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey stopped short of saying he’ll play in Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs but said, “I’ve got to do whatever I can to get back out there, because the way these guys are playing, I just want to be a part of that.” “It’s doing good,” he said of the injured calf that kept him out of the Ravens’ divisional round victory over the Houston Texans and limited him in practice Wednesday. When asked if the decision will come down to how he’s feeling before Sunday’s game, he said: “I usually let all that happen with [coach John Harbaugh] and the medical team. And then I’ll go from there.” Though he was cautious talking about his status, Humphrey did not mind hyping the matchup. “I feel like the Chiefs over the years are like … Alabama,” he said, drawing a comparison between the defending Super Bowl champions and his alma mater. “They’re still that team, still the team to beat, whether they’re losing, whether they’re winning. I think for us to beat them, it’s going to take everybody firing on all cylinders. [Patrick] Mahomes, I think him and Lamar [Jackson], it’s those two quarterbacks and everybody else. The best two quarterbacks in all of the world will be on the same field.” Since he was drafted in the first round in 2017, Humphrey has watched the Ravens rise, endure terrible playoff disappointments and rise again. So “it’s been rough” to be sidelined the last three games. “I think the best thing that’s really helped me get through it is just seeing how the guys are playing on Sunday,” he said. “The way those guys have been flying around, it’s really been inspiring to see that you can have the comfortability to just shoot your shot, and if you miss, there’s Ro [Roquan Smith] coming, there’s P.Q. [Patrick Queen] coming. That’s something that’s really changed since we added Roquan. He runs to the ball like — it’s not even a debate; no one runs to the ball the way Roquan Smith does, and that’s literally been contagious. Everyone’s game has elevated since he’s come and been our leader on defense.” Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Orioles text messages ‘going to be firing off’ during Ravens vs. Chiefs AFC championship game Baltimore Ravens | Ravens QB Lamar Jackson named finalist for NFL MVP Award; John Harbaugh up for Coach of the Year Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Chiefs isn’t just about Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. The defenses get a say, too. Baltimore Ravens | Dear Taylor Swift: The Ravens’ flock has Swifties, too Baltimore Ravens | Ravens QB Lamar Jackson ‘locked in’ like never before entering biggest game of his career Cornerback Rock Ya-Sin (knee) was the only Raven who did not practice Thursday, with guard Kevin Zeitler back after a rest day and wide receiver Tylan Wallace, who missed the Texans game, going through drills as a limited participant with a brace on his injured knee. Tight end Mark Andrews was again a full participant as he prepares for a possible return from the ankle injury that has kept him out since mid-November. In other roster news, the Ravens waived linebacker Jeremiah Moon, who played three defensive and 16 special teams snaps against the Texans. That’s a sign they expect special teams stalwart Del’Shawn Phillips, who missed the Houston game with a shoulder injury, to be available against the Chiefs. For Kansas City, guard Joe Thuney (pectoral), running back Isiah Pacheco (toe) and defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi (triceps) did not practice Thursday, though Pacheco has said he expects to play. Safety Mike Edwards (concussion) was limited after not practicing Wednesday, while wide receiver Kadarius Toney (hip) was limited after being a full participant the day before. View the full article

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, coach John Harbaugh, offensive coordinator Todd Monken and defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald were each named finalists for The Associated Press’ 2023 NFL awards Thursday. Jackson is a finalist for the AP Most Valuable Player Award, which he is favored to win, as well as Offensive Player of the Year. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and running back Christian McCaffrey, and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott are the other MVP finalists. Harbaugh is a finalist for Coach of the Year, alongside Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions, DeMeco Ryans of the Houston Texans, Kyle Shanahan of the 49ers and Kevin Stefanski of the Cleveland Browns. Monken and Macdonald were named two of the five finalists for AP Assistant Coach of the Year. Each has had multiple interviews for head coaching jobs. Former Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who did not begin the season in the NFL and first took the field for the Browns in December, helping lead Cleveland to the playoffs, is among the finalists for AP Comeback Player of the Year. View the full article

Sunday’s AFC championship game is a dream matchup: Lamar Jackson vs. Patrick Mahomes in perhaps the most highly anticipated game of the season, marking the first time two former NFL Most Valuable Players under the age of 30 will face each other in a playoff game. “I believe it’s just two greats, two up-and-coming greats, going toe-to-toe, like a heavyweight fight,” Jackson said. Each praised the other during Wednesday news conferences. After all, there isn’t much to critique. Mahomes is the reigning MVP and Jackson is expected to soon receive all the same hardware, beginning with the Pro Football Writers of America’s MVP award Wednesday. Each is unique and singular — spectacular specimens who have, in different ways, left their stamp on the sport’s most important position. “He’s going to be the MVP for a reason,” Mahomes told reporters in Kansas City. Asked what he likes about competing against Mahomes, Jackson laughed: “I don’t like competing against him at all,” praising Mahomes as a future Hall of Famer. The Ravens’ win over the Houston Texans last week drew 31.8 million television viewers, the most in ESPN’s history, and on CBS, more than 50 million tuned into the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Buffalo Bills, a divisional round record. Expect more record-setting figures Sunday, as media coverage intensifies and the football world tunes in. As Jackson fielded questions from reporters Wednesday, a harmony of “Lamar!” called out after each answer. And when dozens of reporters filed into the Ravens’ locker room to speak with players after practice, Isaiah Likely quipped in surprise, “A lot of them today.” Added kicker Justin Tucker: “So many of you!” But for all the attention on the game and on the dazzling signal-callers, Mahomes and Jackson won’t compete on the field at the same time. Just as the focus on Peyton Manning and Tom Brady bouts of yesteryear was a bit misplaced, Jackson will be tasked with outwitting the Kansas City defense and Mahomes will seek to do the same against the Ravens’. As good as Jackson and Mahomes are, their defenses have been top-notch, too. Texans running back Devin Singletary is tackled for loss by Ravens defensive lineman Justin Madubuike. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) Pundits can debate how the outcome of the game will affect each player’s legacy, but there is more to a football game than a quarterback’s performance. It takes two to tango and, in the Ravens’ and Chiefs’ cases, the defenses are more than ready for the dance. The Chiefs rank seventh among NFL defenses in Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (a mark of overall efficiency), but in a much more straightforward stat — points allowed — they rank second. Just behind the Ravens. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Dear Taylor Swift: The Ravens’ flock has Swifties, too Baltimore Ravens | Ravens QB Lamar Jackson ‘locked in’ like never before entering biggest game of his career Baltimore Ravens | John and Jim Harbaugh set to meet as NFL coaches once again as Ravens face Chargers in 2024 Baltimore Ravens | Jim Harbaugh returning to NFL to coach Chargers after leading Michigan to national title Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Chiefs: Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Michael Phelps, T-Pain highlight AFC championship game festivities Baltimore, atop the league in defensive DVOA, allowed 16.5 points per game during the regular season while Kansas City allowed 17.3. Ravens wide receiver Rashod Bateman said the Kansas City secondary is among the best he’s faced this season and backup tight end Charlie Kolar noted that one of the most difficult aspects of facing the Chiefs is identifying their defense, which they mask well. “And on top of that, they have good players. So it is a big challenge for us, but we’re excited for it,” Kolar said. Kansas City boasts star defensive lineman Chris Jones, who’s racked up 26 sacks over the past two seasons, and cornerback Trent McDuffie, an All-Pro in his second year. But more than the individuals, they have a solid unit led by coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Asked about Spagnuolo’s defense, Harbaugh said he’s surprised the former Ravens assistant hasn’t been considered more seriously for some of the league’s head coaching vacancies. “I’m scratching my head on that one,” he said. Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, left, forces a fumble by Bills quarterback Josh Allen during Sunday’s AFC divisional round matchup. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus) There’s no head-scratching regarding his defensive coordinator, though. Mike Macdonald has led the NFL’s top defense this season and the 36-year-old has been rewarded with head coaching interviews. His defense has been dominant all season, but there is no simple answer as to why. Sure, it starts with linebacker Roquan Smith, but there have been breakout performances (see: Justin Madubuike), late-addition veterans stepping up (Kyle Van Noy) and remarkable, consistent play from others (Patrick Queen, Kyle Hamilton). It’s the rare product of a talented group playing exceptionally well — especially now, after a 20-plus-week season. Backup cornerback Arthur Maulet tried to explain it. “I just think, man, we all speak the same language and we hold each other accountable, that’s the biggest thing,” he said. Fellow corner Ronald Darby clarified further: “Just doing our job, really.” On Sunday, that job will require containing one of the most celebrated quarterbacks in recent memory. It’ll be Jackson vs. Mahomes, only it won’t be. The defenses will have a say in it, too. “Tune in Sunday,” Smith said. “Get your popcorn ready.” AFC championship game Chiefs at Ravens Sunday, 3 p.m. TV: CBS Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM Line: Ravens by 3 1/2 View the full article

Meghan Fitzgerald has been a fan of Taylor Swift since she was a student at Mercy High School in Baltimore, latching onto the singer’s “Fearless” album and becoming more interested as she shifted from country to pop music. “We’ve kind of grown up together,” Fitzgerald, 33, said. “I would say she’s the biggest star in the world.” A true Baltimorean, Fitzgerald also grew up watching Ravens games on Sundays, a tradition she continues with her friends. “The Ravens are in my blood,” she said. In a twist Charm City could have hardly fathomed before last fall, when the singer-songwriter first attended a Kansas City Chiefs game to cheer on tight end Travis Kelce, Sunday’s AFC championship game between the Ravens and the Chiefs seems likely to feature an appearance from none other than Swift herself. And even though Fitzgerald doesn’t have any bad blood with Swift (far from it), she’s eager to see the Ravens take down her beau Kelce’s team. “It’ll be fun to play them at home, and get to beat them and see her in the stands,” said Fitzgerald, who might tailgate and watch with crowds in Federal Hill. “My allegiance does not change.” Even Gov. Wes Moore would “proudly welcome Taylor Swift to Baltimore,” he told The Baltimore Sun in a statement. But the Ravens will always be #1. “Though the Chiefs have quite the reputation, if she comes she’ll watch our fearless Ravens win big on Sunday, but I know she’ll shake it off,” he said. It’s a stance shared by a number of Maryland Swifties — some more torn up about it than others — who will be watching for Swift at M&T Bank Stadium while cheering on the home team. “I’m very conflicted this weekend,” said Towson resident Siobhan Keplinger, 44. “I’m 100% Ravens win, full stop. But on the same hand, I’d really like another week of if,” she said, referencing the fanfare that Swift’s appearances have elicited and watching her with Kelce off the field. Keplinger, who works in facilities management at Towson University, became a Ravens fan after initially supporting the team now called the Washington Commanders, while growing up in Prince George’s County. She jumped on the Swift bandwagon during the star’s “Reputation” era; beyond enjoying her music, Keplinger said she’s a fan of Swift the “businesswoman.” Swift, whose net worth is over $1 billion, according to a Bloomberg News analysis, performed her The Eras Tour to sold-out arenas across the country last year. Fallston High School students Natalie Ellerman, 17, left, and Emma Callahan, 17, right, are the founders of their school’s “Swiftie Society,” a club for Taylor Swift fans. Here, they carry a cutout of Taylor Swift in a school hallway. (Barbara Haddock Taylor/Staff photo) Since beginning to date Kelce, she’s taken to attending his games — causing quite a stir. Last Sunday’s Chiefs vs. Bills game averaged over 50 million viewers, according to the NFL, setting a new record as the most-watched Divisional or Wild Card game. But Swift, who repeatedly shows up on screen during Chiefs games now, was met that day with booing. Ahead of Sunday’s game, some have taken to social media to express disinterest in seeing her. Others have shared more lighthearted memes. And two teen Swifties are all but certain she’ll be at M&T Bank Stadium. “I do think she will definitely come” to Baltimore, said Natalie Ellerman, 17. “I don’t see why she wouldn’t.” Ellerman and Emma Callahan, both seniors at Fallston High School, co-founded an unofficial afterschool group called the “Swiftie Society” last fall. The group’s first meeting, to answer trivia questions and rank Swift’s albums, drew a crowd of around 20 people, Callahan estimated. She said she’s rooting for Swift and Kelce’s relationship, and wants to see the Ravens win, after her mom got her interested in the team over the last few years. For others, it’s Swift who’s sparked a newfound passion for football. “I did not care about football before this. I never watched it,” Lauren Greenbaum, 25, said. “Initially, I watched to see her a couple times. Now, I’ve watched every single game of the playoffs.” Greenbaum, who lives in Timonium and works as a financial consultant at T. Rowe Price, has been a Swift fan since the release of her debut album. She started playing guitar in 5th grade, inspired by Swift, and in her first year of high school at The Bryn Mawr School started a Tumblr blog dedicated to the singer. Lauren Greenbaum is pictured with a Taylor Swift guitar she bought in 2020 and a holiday gift, just some of many items she has collected. She said she didn’t really care about football before Swift started appearing at games, and has now watched all of the playoff games. (Lloyd Fox/Staff photo) In 2014 the blog “got really big,” Greenbaum said, adding that Swift, who used the social media platform back in the day, followed her and liked one of her selfies. That same year, she went to Swift’s 1989 tour and the star’s team gave her and her younger sister front row tickets, she said. “It felt like I always had a role model,” Greenbaum said. Her love of Swift connected her with some of her closest friends, she added, including one in Australia. “Never in my life would I have rooted against Taylor Swift,” she said — but on Sunday, she’ll be cheering for the Ravens to make it to the Super Bowl, as she watches the game on TV, likely with her boyfriend, sister and family. Other Swifties will be attending the game in person, including Washington College student Kennedy Thomason, who bought tickets to the event with her boyfriend, Kyle Schultz, before the Chiefs defeated the Bills. “This is my Eras Tour,” Thomason, 23, recalled Schultz saying when they decided to splurge. The pair attended the actual Eras Tour together in Massachusetts last May, an event that Thomason called a “once in a lifetime experience.” Thomason said she’d been rooting for the Chiefs in their most recent game, so that Swift might come to Baltimore, but come Sunday, she’ll be behind the Ravens, a self-proclaimed “die-hard” fan. She’s convinced Swift will also be at M&T Bank Stadium, and said she wants to “catch a glimpse.” “My hope is simply that she comes to the stadium,” Thomason said. “I would like her to see the stadium, see the energy and hopefully take away some memories from Baltimore. And then maybe we’ll end up on her next tour.” View the full article

“Locked in.” It’s been a consistent theme all season. From the doldrums of training camp, through a sluggish start to the season, to a dominant run of 11 wins in their past 13 games, including last week’s divisional round blowout against the Houston Texans, Lamar Jackson has leaned on the mantra. It’s cliche, sure, but the Ravens quarterback has more important things to worry about than providing profound insight. Notably, he will play the biggest game of his career Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs when the teams vie for the AFC championship at M&T Bank Stadium. The 27-year-old has already won one NFL Most Valuable Player Award, when he was the unanimous choice in 2019, and is the favorite for the honor again this year. He has been a two-time All-Pro and a three-time Pro Bowl selection. At $260 million over the next five years, he is the third-highest-paid player in the league in terms of annual salary. The only glaring hole in his resume, of course, is getting to the Super Bowl. Now he’s on the precipice and “locked in” like never before, according to the teammates, coaches and former players The Baltimore Sun spoke to about Jackson. What does the mantra actually mean? “Small details [and] things that I probably would overshadow years in the past,” Jackson said Wednesday. “But now, I’m trying to think about all the small details [and] what will help us in every situation. That’s pretty much what I mean by staying locked in and focused.” It is, as coach John Harbaugh said, self-explanatory, a marriage of all parts of Jackson’s physical gifts but his mental ones. “You come to work ready to go to work and get locked in on what your responsibilities are and what your job is and make sure you’re prepared,” Harbaugh said. “When you line up, you lock in. You lock in on your job, your responsibility, your eyes, your feet, your hands [and] your communication of the whole thing. [You’re] just supremely focused, not looking left, not looking right, [but] looking straight ahead [and] looking forward, short-term and really long-term, too.” Teammates have noticed. “His athletic ability hasn’t changed,” wide receiver Rashod Bateman told The Sun. “Obviously he’s playing better than he has been, but just more so from a vocal standpoint, he’s been leading. He came in the locker room [against the Texans] and handled business like he should. I haven’t seen that side of Lamar.” That side, according to Jackson, was a profanity-filled halftime speech that helped propel Baltimore into the first conference championship game of the quarterback’s career. “He doesn’t say much, but when he does you listen up,” Ravens cornerback Brandon Stephens told The Sun. “He brings a contagious energy.” And a certain level of focus that, by all accounts, had been at times lacking earlier in his career. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson practices Wednesday in front of coach John Harbaugh, center. (Kevin Richardson/Staff) It didn’t help, either, that injuries derailed each of his past two seasons. Jackson missed 11 games in that span, including last year’s wild-card-round loss against the Cincinnati Bengals, which he watched from home in disgust. This season has been different. Jackson has played every meaningful snap and has played some of his best football in the Ravens’ biggest games, including a 56-19 destruction of the Miami Dolphins in Week 17 to secure the AFC’s top seed and a first-round bye. Along the way, he threw for a career-high 3,678 yards with 24 touchdowns while rushing for 821 yards and five scores. He also set career bests in completion rate (67.2%) and average yards per attempt (8.0) in his first season under offensive coordinator Todd Monken, hired to maximize Jackson unique and wide-ranging talents. Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Chiefs isn’t just about Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. The defenses get a say, too. Baltimore Ravens | Dear Taylor Swift: The Ravens’ flock has Swifties, too Baltimore Ravens | John and Jim Harbaugh set to meet as NFL coaches once again as Ravens face Chargers in 2024 Baltimore Ravens | Jim Harbaugh returning to NFL to coach Chargers after leading Michigan to national title Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Chiefs: Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Michael Phelps, T-Pain highlight AFC championship game festivities “I think Monken challenges him to be more vocal in the offense to get us in and out of stuff,” second-year Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum told The Sun. “I think he’s taken big leaps and strides that way. At the end of the day, we lean on him. We go as he goes. We wanted to give him all the confidence in the world that we can block for him and that playmakers are going to do their thing.” Those outside the team’s Owings Mills facility have seen a transformation as well. “They gave him their confidence in terms of trusting him to execute this offense as he sees it in real-time on the field, particularly in the passing game, in a way that he wasn’t allowed to do before,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick told The Sun. “That’s where it has all started for him. “Todd has given him that trust, they have developed that relationship and he has worked at it and worked at it and worked at it to the point where he is in total command now. … Now he has confidence and trust, he has, structurally, an offense that looks much different in terms of the passing game, and, lastly, they got him weapons now.” The impact of those changes, on offense and on the players around him, can’t be overstated. Monken has given Jackson the most control and input on offense he’s had since his college days at Louisville, where he won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore. Zay Flowers has been one of the best rookie wide receivers in the NFL this year, and Odell Beckham Jr. has been what Riddick called the team’s “pied piper,” his influence a cohesive jell that has drawn them toward the singular focus of pursuing the game’s ultimate prize. “It’s all clicking,” Riddick said, adding that the switch of Tee Martin from wide receivers coach to quarterbacks coach is also one of many genius moves Harbaugh has made. There’s been a certain genius in Jackson’s evolution, too. “The offense has evolved a while from where they were at the beginning to where they are now,” Hall of Fame quarterback and NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner told The Sun. “Lamar was trying to play more on schedule early, but there wasn’t a comfort level yet … so it looked a little more disjointed early on. But the number of times they’re playing that way has been on an uptick as the season has gone along, as they’ve gotten more comfortable and as Lamar has gotten more comfortable with what he’s seeing and where he’s supposed to be going with the football.” Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson celebrates after completing a pass against the Texans in the fourth quarter Saturday. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff) Warner cited two plays that stood out to him against the Texans. One was Jackson quickly recognizing that he could run for the end zone on a 15-yard touchdown burst up the middle. The other was a third-and-2 from the Texans’ 27-yard line in which he quickly identified that running back Justice Hill would be open in the flat against the defense’s coverage and an oncoming blitz. “Lamar stays within himself,” ESPN analyst and former Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday told The Sun. “You have to be disciplined. People don’t realize how hard that is. It’s not always about making the great play, it’s about making the consistent play so you’re making everyone else around you better. They have done an excellent job of that.” Hill, in his fifth year with the Ravens and their most versatile if not lead back following injuries to J.K. Dobbins in Week 1 and undrafted rookie Keaton Mitchell in mid-December, said he has seen a more focused Jackson as well. “He’s locked in until we get [a Super Bowl],” he told The Sun. “Just not satisfied, no complacency, just keep working until the job is done.” Added Beckham: “He’s the leader, the heart and soul of this team.” Now all that’s standing in his and the Ravens’ way is the reigning Super Bowl champion and last year’s MVP, quarterback Patrick Mahomes. It’s the Chiefs’ sixth straight AFC championship game and the first for the Ravens since the 2012 season. Jackson likened it to a “heavyweight matchup” and said he expects a “higher-level atmosphere” at M&T Bank Stadium for Baltimore’s first conference championship game since 1971, when the Colts defeated the Oakland Raiders. But he’s not putting any pressure on himself, even if he has occasionally let his mind wander toward the thought of playing for the Vince Lombardi trophy. When it does, he just goes back into being locked in, he says. “No different feeling,” Jackson said. “It’s another game.” AFC championship game Chiefs at Ravens Sunday, 3 p.m. TV: CBS Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM Line: Ravens by 3 1/2 View the full article

The “Harbowl” is back. As the new coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, Jim Harbaugh will take on his older brother, John, and the Ravens next season at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. While the date for the third meeting between the Harbaugh siblings is not yet set, the Ravens are scheduled to face the Chargers and the rest of the AFC West in 2024. The Harbaughs became the first pair of brothers to face off as opposing coaches in an NFL game in 2011, when John’s Ravens beat Jim’s San Francisco 49ers, 16-6, on Thanksgiving night at M&T Bank Stadium. Baltimore tied a franchise record with nine sacks of quarterback Alex Smith to end San Francisco’s eight-game winning streak. “There’s a saying that says, ‘As iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another,'” Jim said after the game. “And I have to say my brother, John, is the sharpest iron I’ve ever encountered in my life.” While both the Ravens and 49ers fell short in their respective conference championship games that season, it wouldn’t be long before the brothers met on the biggest stage. The following season, the Ravens rode a scorching-hot postseason performance from quarterback Joe Flacco and a Ray Lewis-led defense to Super Bowl 47, where they would meet the 49ers and breakout star quarterback Colin Kaepernick. In the historic family affair, the Ravens withstood a halftime blackout at the Superdome in New Orleans and a furious comeback bid to secure a 34-31 victory for the franchise’s second Super Bowl title. “It’s very tough,” John said when asked about his postgame handshake with his brother. “It’s a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. It’s very painful.” Related Articles Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Chiefs isn’t just about Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. The defenses get a say, too. Baltimore Ravens | Dear Taylor Swift: The Ravens’ flock has Swifties, too Baltimore Ravens | Ravens QB Lamar Jackson ‘locked in’ like never before entering biggest game of his career Baltimore Ravens | Jim Harbaugh returning to NFL to coach Chargers after leading Michigan to national title Baltimore Ravens | Ravens vs. Chiefs: Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Michael Phelps, T-Pain highlight AFC championship game festivities Jim fell short in the NFC championship game again the following season and went 8-8 and missed the playoffs in 2014 before parting ways with San Francisco. He went 49-22-1 in four seasons, but a reported disconnect between him, owner Jed York and general manager Trent Baalke led to his departure, with Harbaugh later saying: “I didn’t leave the 49ers, I felt like the 49er hierarchy left me.” Harbaugh was quickly hired by Michigan, his alma mater, which had fallen into a prolonged slump under coaches Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke. The former quarterback immediately turned the program around, going 10-3 in three of his first four seasons, but he struggled to beat Ohio State and other elite teams and make the Wolverines a national title contender. Then, a breakthrough. After falling to 9-4 in 2019 and 2-4 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Michigan made three straight appearances in the College Football Playoff, culminating in an undefeated 2023 season and the school’s first national title since 1997 after wins over Alabama and Washington. It did not come without controversy, however, as Harbaugh was suspended for the first three games for recruiting violations and was later suspended the last three games of the regular season after the Big Ten’s investigation into the program’s sign-stealing scandal. John came to Jim’s defense in November as details emerged about the sign-stealing scandal, saying he was “proud” of his brother for how he’s “handled himself through all this.” With the Ravens enjoying a first-round bye after finishing the regular season with the NFL’s best record, John attended the Wolverines’ national championship victory Jan. 8 in Houston, giving his brother a hug on the sideline during the game. Patrick Semansky / Associated Press Ravens coach John Harbaugh, left, speaks with his brother, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, on the sideline during a game against Maryland in College Park in 2015. John Harbaugh on Tuesday provided an impassioned defense of his brother amid Michigan's sign-stealing scandal. Kenneth K. Lam / Baltimore Sun Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, right, talks with brother and San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, left, during their joint practice at the Under Armour Performance Center in August 2014. Michael Zagaris / Getty Images Head Coach Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers and Head Coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens stand with their parents and John's daughter prior to the game at M&T Bank Stadium on November 24, 2011 in Baltimore. The Ravens defeated the 49ers 16-6. Jamie Squire / Getty Images Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh (right) celebrates with his brother, head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens after the Ravens defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-17 in their AFC Wild Card game at Heinz Field on January 3, 2015 in Pittsburgh. Gene Sweeney Jr / Baltimore Sun Jim and John Harbaugh greet one another after facing each other on Thanksgiving in 2011. Patrick Semansky / Associated Press Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, left, reacts to a play next to his brother, Ravens coach John Harbaugh, in the first half. Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam Ravens coach John Harbaugh and 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh stand together before kickoff. Show Caption of Expand It seemed to provide some extra motivation for John, who is seeking his second title and first trip back to the Super Bowl since the brothers coached against each other in February 2013. “Like any brother, sibling, your brother gets something, you want it too, right?” John, 61, said. “You become a part of the celebration and the confetti and the jubilation and the tears. And [it] just kind of sinks in. It’s like, ‘Man, I really want to experience this for our team, I want our team to experience this.’ “That’s the big picture. That’s the ultimate goal for the season. And then with that, back to one day at a time, one play at a time.” Jim, 60, the Ravens’ starting quarterback in 1998, returned the favor weeks later, attending the team’s divisional round playoff victory over the Houston Texans at M&T Bank Stadium. Now the Ravens host the AFC championship game Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, with the winner advancing to Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas. 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COSTA MESA, Calif. — Jim Harbaugh will be the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, leaving Michigan after capping his ninth season as coach of college football’s winningest program with the school’s first national championship since 1997, two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team hasn’t made the announcement. Harbaugh made the highly anticipated decision Wednesday to go back to the NFL after a second interview and resume his chase for a Super Bowl that eluded him as a quarterback and coach. He will be the first former Chargers player to return to the team as head coach. He played for the Bolts in 1999-2000 before retiring following the 2001 season. Los Angeles was looking for a new coach and general manager after Brandon Staley and Tom Telesco were fired on Dec. 15, a day after a 63-21 loss in Las Vegas to the Raiders. Harbaugh first met with the Chargers on Jan. 15. He was the eighth of 15 coaching candidates to interview with the Spanos family. He was the only one to get a second interview. The Atlanta Falcons also talked to Harbaugh on Jan. 16 and had booked a second interview before he decided to accept the Chargers job. Harbaugh was 86-25 at Michigan and restored college football’s winningest program to relevance after it slipped over several seasons under Brady Hoke and Rich Rodriguez following the retirement of national-championship winning coach Lloyd Carr. The rival Ohio State Buckeyes had an eight-game winning streak against the Wolverines until Harbaugh helped them snap the streak in 2021, leading to their first of three straight Big Ten titles and College Football Playoff appearances. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, left, speaks with former quarterback Peyton Manning before the Ravens’ divisional round playoff game against the Texans on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) Following two straight losses in the semifinals, extending Harbaugh’s winless streak in bowl games to six, Michigan outlasted Alabama at the Rose Bowl and pulled away from Washington to win the national championship with a school-record 15-0 mark. Michigan tried to keep Harbaugh, offering him a new six-year contract for $11.5 million per season, according to a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share details of the deal. Harbaugh’s alma mater could not offer the one thing he desperately wants — a Super Bowl title. The Chargers have one of the league’s top quarterbacks in Justin Herbert, but finished 5-12 this season and lost eight of their last nine, including the last five. Herbert will be playing for his fourth head coach and possibly fourth offensive coordinator in five seasons. This is the first time since 2007, when Norv Turner succeeded Marty Schottenheimer, that the Chargers have opted to go with someone with previous head coaching experience. Turner directed the team to three straight postseason appearances, including the AFC championship game during the 2007 season. The Chargers have not won a division title since 2009, which was also under Turner. View the full article