Second-Guess King John Harbaugh Should Focus On His Own Problems In Baltimore

Maybe Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh should stick to discussing his own problems. He's got a few.

The Ravens have a five-game losing streak at home and that's not the worst of it. In the last two home games, they've held leads of 21 points and 17 points and blown both games at home.

The latest happened Sunday when the Buffalo Bills, down 20-3 at one point, scored 20 unanswered to author a 23-20 victory.

Afterward Harbaugh was asked if he's concerned his team has basically choked away two large double-digit leads in the last two home games.

"I don’t really understand the question," Harbaugh said. 

Safety Chuck Clark was asked the same question and he understood. For him it's concerning and disappointing.

"Definitely," Clark said. "Like I said, this is the second time in a row at home that we kind of did that, but we’ve been here before, 2-2 before, so I think we’re going to be alright. We have a lot of room to grow and get better."

Harbaugh Comments On Other People's Business

Well, maybe if Harbaugh handled his business more closely than commenting on other people's business, he might not have these issues.

I say this because Harbaugh on Friday was asked about Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffering a concussion on Thursday night against the Cincinnati Bengals, days after he was knocked out of a game against Buffalo for what was feared to be a head injury.

"I just like probably most people, I couldn't believe what I saw last night," Harbaugh said. "I couldn't believe what I saw last Sunday. I think that was astonishing to see. I've been coaching for 40 years ... and never seen anything like it before. It was just something that I couldn't believe what I was seeing."

Wonder if Harbaugh ever saw one of his teams give up four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter? Because that's what Tagovailoa and the Dolphins did against the Ravens two weeks ago.

Anyway, back to Harbaugh's current problems ...

He and defensive back Marcus Peters got into a shouting match on the sideline as the team was melting down in the second half.

"Yes, emotions run high," Harbaugh acknowledged. "We’re on the same page, he and I. We have a great relationship; we have an honest relationship. I love him, I hope he still loves me; we’ll see.

"I’m a Marcus Peters guy."

Harbaugh is easily among the NFL's best coaches. But his defense basically ignored his orders late Sunday.

As the Bills drove from their 20-yard line to the Baltimore 11 yard line, Harbaugh ordered his players to allow the Bills to score a touchdown so as to be down 27-20 with maybe 1:43 to play.

That would have given the Ravens offense the ball back with a chance to tie or win the game.

But the Ravens didn't allow the Bills to score. Baltimore defenders ignored or didn't understand their coach's orders. So the Bills milked the clock to 3 seconds before attempting and making the game winning field goal by Tyler Bass.

That wasn't the complete mess for Harbaugh.

Bad Decision On Fourth Down

The reason the Bills got the football with a chance to win in the first place is because the Ravens went for it on fourth-and-goal from the Buffalo 2-yard line with 4:15 to play.

The Ravens called a pass and Lamar Jackson's pass was intercepted by Jordan Poyer in the end zone for a touchback. The Bills then went on their game-winning field goal drive.

"Well, I felt like it gave us the best chance to win the game because 7 the worst that happens is if they go down the field and score," Harbaugh said, explaining his decision to go on fourth down. "I think we'll get them stopped, but they go down the field and score a touchdown, the worst thing that can happen is you're in overtime.

"You kick a field goal it's not a three-down game anymore, it's a four-down game. The defense is at a disadvantage because they have four downs to convert all the way down the field and a chance to score 7 and you lose the game on a touchdown.

"And the worst thing, you think they're going to get the ball on the 2-yard line. I'm very confident in our defense. defense has the ability to stop them down there with the ball at the 2 yard line so we got them backed up if we don't get it. It didn't turn out that way. Hindsight? You can take the points, but if you look at it analytically, you understand why we did it."

Wonder what the Dolphins think of this decision?

Follow on Twitter: @ArmandoSalguero