It’s bowl season, and that kicks off with the Harbaugh Bowl between the Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens on “Monday Night Football.”
Jim Harbaugh has had the Chargers humming in 2024. In his return to the NFL, the younger Harbaugh has helped Justin Herbert and the Bolts start to change the narrative surrounding the team. That much was apparent in the Chargers‘ last prime-time appearance when they held off a red-hot Joe Burrow for a win on “Sunday Night Football.”
It’s business as usual for John Harbaugh and the Ravens entering “Monday Night Football.” The Ravens are 7-4, but are 2-2 in their last four games, with division losses to the Browns and Steelers. Still, Lamar Jackson is an MVP candidate and the Ravens offense has scored 30 points or more in six games this season – and all six games were, expectedly, victories.
The soaring Ravens offense will provide a challenge for the Los Angeles D. The Chargers have stifled opponents, as they’re ranked the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL entering Week 12. Jackson heading to L.A. provides a textbook definition of “unstoppable force vs. immovable object” on Monday night.
Thanksgiving dinner bragging rights are on the table for the Harbaugh brothers. USA TODAY Sports will provide live updates, highlights and more from the “Monday Night Football” matchup between the Chargers and Ravens below.
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Dobbins has been deemed “questionable” to return to Monday’s game as he deals with a knee injury. It isn’t entirely clear when Dobbins suffered the injury, but he went into the locker room early and wasn’t on the field for Los Angeles’ final drive of the first half.
Dobbins was seen on the sideline having his knee taped up, per ESPN’s Laura Rutledge. He tried to loosen up and run before heading to the locker room to be further evaluated by Los Angeles’ medical staff.
The Chargers played the last 24 seconds of the first half perfectly. A Justin Herbert scramble and then two strikes to Jalen Reagor and Joshua Palmer helped the Chargers go 36 yards to set up kicker Cameron Dicker for a 52-yard field goal at the gun. He drilled it.
It was an impressive response from L.A. after the Ravens took the lead in stunning fashion, with a daring gamble and then a deep ball from Lamar Jackson.
Baltimore is set to receive the ball after halftime.
The Ravens’ decision to go for it on fourth down pays off. Baltimore moved the ball downfield quickly, thanks to a 22-yard completion to Zay Flowers and a pass interference call on another attempted pass to Bateman.
Then, Jackson hit Bateman downfield on a perfectly-placed, 40-yard touchdown. The Ravens now have a 14-10 lead.
The Ravens ran the ball three consecutive times with Derrick Henry after being pinned deep. He picked up 9 yards on the first two carries but was stopped for no gain on third-and-1.
Baltimore lined up and pretended it was going to go for it on fourth down before the 2-minute warning, but the Ravens didn’t snap the ball. They actually did after the 2-minute warning, with Mark Andrews sneaking it forward and getting just enough for the first down.
The Chargers were forced to punt for the second time on their fourth drive of the day after a holding penalty on Tucker Fisk put them behind the sticks. JK Scott uncorked a good one and the Chargers downed it inside the Ravens’ 10-yard line.
Lamar Jackson and Co. will have a long field as they look to tie the game or take the lead before halftime.
The Ravens answered the Chargers with 7:48 left in the second quarter of their “MNF” matchup. Lamar Jackson took a read-option carry 10 yards, dodging a couple of Chargers defenders en route to his third rushing touchdown of the season.
Derrick Henry played a massive role on Baltimore’s touchdown drive, racking up 44 yards on three carries. He also had a 5-yard touchdown run of his own called back by an illegal formation penalty.
Chargers cornerback Eli Apple is questionable to return to the “Monday Night Football” game with a hamstring injury, the team announced. Apple, a veteran cornerback, was signed to Los Angeles’ roster before Monday’s game.
The Chargers nearly got to the red-zone, but they stalled out, allowing Dicker to attempt and make a 42-yard kick. He split the uprights to extend Los Angeles’ lead to 10-0.
Gus Edwards had a nice fourth-and-1 conversion on the drive to allow the Chargers to make Dicker’s field goal attempt shorter.
Jim Harbaugh is currently getting the better of brother John in the “Monday Night Football” Harbaugh bowl. The Chargers are leading and are nearing Cameron Dicker’s field goal range on their third drive of the day.
Justin Herbert has made good decisions so far, racking up 65 passing yards and rushing for a touchdown in the first quarter. J.K. Dobbins has also looked good, running for 40 yards on six carries against his former team.
The Chargers are impressively outgaining the Ravens 123-20 after one quarter and have limited Lamar Jackson to just 7 total yards after 15 minutes.
Lamar Jackson had Zay Flowers open on a short second-down throw but overthrew him. He also missed a third-down attempt to Diontae Johnson, who fell down as he got tangled up with cornerback Tarheeb Still.
Jordan Stout unleashed another good punt, but Chargers return man Derius Davis brought it back 19 yards on the return.
Jackson is off to a slow start against the Chargers. He has gone just 1-of-4 passing for 2 yards across the Ravens’ first two drives while adding 5 yards on the ground.
Comparatively, Justin Herbert went 4-of-6 for 62 yards and added 9 rushing yards and a score on his first two drives.
Greg Roman is in his first season as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator. Roman, 52, has often worked with Jim Harbaugh during his career — at Stanford and with the San Francisco 49ers before they split upon Harbaugh’s return to the college ranks.
Roman has also worked with John Harbaugh, as he spent the 2017-2022 seasons on the Ravens’ staff. He was the team’s offensive coordinator from 2019-22 before he resigned following the 2022 season. He was replaced by Todd Monken and spent 2023 out of coaching before teaming up again with Jim Harbaugh in Los Angeles.
The Ravens spent a first-round pick on Nate Wiggins in the 2024 NFL draft, and he showed why on a play in the first quarter. He broke up a pass from Justin Herbert to Jalen Reagor at the first-down marker by delivering a blow to Reagor just as the ball arrived.
However, Wiggins followed that up by committing a personal foul on the punt, which will back the Ravens up inside their own 20-yard line.
Baltimore quickly got a first down after back-to-back runs of 5-plus yards by Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, but the drive stalled out after fullback Patrick Ricard was called for a leg whip on a first-and-10 completion to Nelson Agholor.
The Chargers will get the ball back inside their own 15-yard line.
The Chargers didn’t waste any time getting going against the Ravens. Herbert marched them 70 yards on the opening drive and finished it with a 5-yard scramble up the middle.
Herbert completed 2-of-2 passes for 35 yards and added 9 yards on two runs. Cameron Dicker makes the extra point and Los Angeles has an early 7-0 lead.
ESPN’s Laura Rutledge interviewed Jim Harbaugh before his matchup against his brother, John Harbaugh, on Monday night. Jim had a unique way of describing his thoughts about the game.
“I’d lay down my life for my brother, but I wouldn’t let him win a football game.”
The Harbaugh parents are not attending the matchup between their two sons. Instead, they are celebrating their anniversary and Thanksgiving in Florida with their daughter Joani, son-in-law (and former Indiana men’s basketball coach) Tom Crean and their grandchildren.
“We are choosing to go down there and celebrate Thanksgiving with them and be able to watch the game with them,” Jack said on “The Lounge,” per the Ravens’ official website. “And we’ll have a lot of fun and enjoyment doing that.”
Jim Harbaugh is 0-2 vs. his brother John in the NFL. His 49ers team lost to the Ravens in Super Bowl 47 (34-31), as well as on Thanksgiving in 2011 (16-6).
John Harbaugh is the older of the Harbaugh brothers. He was born on Sept. 23, 1962, making his 62 years old. Jim, 60, was born just over a year later on Dec. 23, 1963.
The Chargers and Ravens will kick off at 8:15 p.m. ET.
ESPN again is the broadcast home of “Monday Night Football.” The longtime team of Joe Buck (play-by-play) and Troy Aikman (color) will be on the call, with Lisa Salters adding reports from the sideline.
Viewers can also tune in to ESPN2 for the “ManningCast” featuring Peyton and Eli Manning.
Here’s how the USA TODAY Sports staff feels tonight’s Chargers-Ravens “MNF” matchup will tilt:
The Ravens are favorites to defeat the Chargers, according to the BetMGM NFL odds. Not interested in this game? Check out expert picks and best bets for every NFL game this week.
McConkey was listed as “questionable” ahead of Monday night’s game vs. Baltimore but was not on the inactives list; that indicates he will be in the lineup.
Cord-cutters looking for a live stream for the matchup can turn to Fubo TV. Fubo TV carries NBC, as well as CBS, FOX, NFL Network and the ESPN family of networks, meaning you can catch NFL action through the remainder of the season.
ESPN+, the proprietary streaming service of ESPN, will also carry the game.
This “Harbaugh Bowl” will also feature some interesting subplots. It will be a reunion of sorts for several members of the Chargers organization. L.A. general manager Joe Hortiz served 26 seasons in Baltimore’s front office and five Chargers coaches spent time on the Ravens staff during their coaching careers.
But there’s even more to the matchup, writes USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon.
The Ravens are a tough test for the Chargers’ top-ranked scoring defense. Los Angeles allows a league-low 14.5 points per game, but Baltimore is scoring 30.4 points per game, which is good for second-most in the NFL. The Chargers had trouble slowing Joe Burrow down in the second half last week and allowed a season-high 27 points to the Bengals. Lamar Jackson should be expected to post similarly strong numbers and make this a high-scoring contest.
Of course, Justin Herbert has been playing at a top-tier level for the Chargers recently, so he could turn this game into an offensive showdown. The Ravens have the NFL’s worst passing defense, so Herbert should be able to get Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston open for deep plays.
The Ravens have played in higher-scoring games than the Chargers this season, so one would presume that type of contest would benefit Baltimore. Still, Jim Harbaugh will be motivated to exact revenge upon his brother for his loss in Super Bowl 47. The younger Harbaugh has never beaten his older brother, so that will give the Chargers extra motivation throughout this game.
Dobbins’ injury history led him to a one-year, prove-it deal with the Chargers in April.
Thus far, Dobbins is demonstrating that he’s one of the better running backs in the NFL. He’s not only a focal point in the Chargers’ offense, his 726 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns both rank in the top 10 in the league.
Here’s how he keeps his attitude positive and is charging up L.A.’s culture change.
The Chargers vs. Ravens game is being played under SoFi Stadium’s roof but because the sides of the stadium are open, the weather could have a small impact on the contest.
Temperatures are expected to be around 53 degrees during Monday night’s game, per Weather.com. There will only be 3 mph of wind, so with the partially closed nature of SoFi Stadium, the weather conditions figure to have minimal impact on the game’s result.
The Ravens travel west to take on the Chargers in their building on Monday night.
Yes, the Chargers and Rams both call SoFi Stadium home. Rams owner Stan Kroenke built the stadium as part of the Rams’ move to Los Angeles in 2016 and has rented it to the Chargers since it opened in 2020.
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