While John and Jim’s bond has more “emotional” significance on Monday’s game than actual schematics, the fact that the Chargers have two former Ravens coaches as their offensive and defensive coordinators does have more of an impact.
Greg Roman was the Ravens’ offensive coordinator from 2019-2022, the architect of their “revolutionary” and record-setting run-heavy offense with Lamar Jackson. The Ravens know his run scheme like the back of their hand.
Jesse Minter got his first NFL coaching job in Baltimore and was part of building the Ravens’ defensive scheme before taking it to Vanderbilt and Michigan as a coordinator, and ultimately to Los Angeles following Jim.
“We know the schemes pretty much, but there will be wrinkles, there will be ideas,” John Harbaugh said. “It’s going to come down in the end to the players.”
Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton said the Chargers’ offense on tape is “somewhat similar” to what he remembers seeing from Roman’s unit as a rookie. One big difference is Roman has Justin Herbert now instead of Jackson. Hamilton said Roman has done a good job adapting his offense to suit Herbert and his other players, but it’s similar concepts at its core.
“They’re playing with the big fullbacks and big tight ends, and it’s hard-nosed football. You know where the ball’s going, [and] you know what’s going to happen – it’s just, can you stop it or not,” Hamilton said.
“There’s some beauty in that. There’s some ugliness in that, too – just the way that the game’s played, but we’re all tough guys. I think there are some similarities there that we’re cognizant of, but at the end of the day, I’m sure he’s going to have some wrinkles to keep us on our toes.”