Ravens' Jackson, Chargers' Herbert will take center stage once Harbaugh Bowl kicks off Monday night
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- - Most of the attention surrounding Monday night's showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers has been centered on the first coaching matchup since 2012 between John and Jim Harbaugh.
Once the game kicks off, all the focus will be on quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert.
"To be honest, I don't think about it," Jackson said of the hype around the Harbaugh Bowl. "I can't speak for everyone else. I remember watching them, not literally play against each other, but coaching against each other for the Super Bowl game. I remember watching that. I thought that was dope, but I don't think about it right now."
Jackson directs a Ravens offense that's averaging a league-leading 430.1 yards per game. The seventh-year signal caller also leads the NFL with a 117.3 passer rating and is second with 25 touchdown passes.
Herbert was hampered by foot and ankle injuries the first quarter of the season, which also steepened the learning curve with a new offense. Since their bye in Week 5, though, the Chargers' offense has been more consistent, averaging 368.2 yards - eighth-best in the league over the past six games.
Both quarterbacks have excelled when playing on "Monday Night Football." Jackson is 6-2 with a 124.0 passer rating, 20 touchdowns and no interceptions. Herbert is 4-3 with nine touchdowns and three interceptions.
"Coach Harbaugh has done a great job and we enjoy playing for him so much," Herbert said. "We know how important it is for him. It is another very important game for us, but also understand it is a special moment for him."
Jackson's strength this season has been on intermediate passes. He's completing an NFL-best 69.1% of his passes that are 10-19 yards in the air for 965 yards with 11 touchdowns and only one interception.
Herbert and the Chargers' penchant for wanting to burn opposing defenses with deep balls has been rediscovered under Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman. Herbert has seven touchdowns and no interceptions on passes of at least 20 air yards. He'll be facing a Ravens defense that has allowed the second-most yards and tied for the most touchdowns (seven) given up on deep passes.
There's good reason why there's a lot of hype surrounding this matchup - it is an important game for both teams to solidify their chances of getting to the playoffs.
Los Angeles (7-3) has won four straight and holds the fifth seed in the AFC. Baltimore (7-4) holds the sixth seed and can't afford to go two losses down to the Chargers if they can't catch Pittsburgh for the AFC North title.
Family feud
This is the third matchup between the Harbaugh brothers. The previous two were when Jim was coaching the San Francisco 49ers.
John has won both meetings - 16-6 in Baltimore on Thanksgiving Day 2011 and 34-31 in Super Bowl 47 in New Orleans to end the 2012 season.
Monday night's game is occurring on their parents' 63rd wedding anniversary. Jack and Jackie Harbaugh will not be at the game and are spending Thanksgiving week in Florida.
Battle of the backs
The quarterbacks aren't the only intriguing matchup. Both teams also possess strong run games.
Baltimore's Derrick Henry leads the league with 1,185 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns (13 rushing, 2 receiving). He's also the fourth player in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) with a touchdown in each of his first 11 games in a season.
Henry replaced the two backs now in Los Angeles' backfield - J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards. Dobbins is third in the AFC with 726 yards and his 4.8 yards per carry is second in the conference among those with at least 100 carries. Henry leads with a 6.0 yard average.
Edwards missed four games with an ankle injury, but is averaging 5.1 yards on 16 carries in the two games since his return.
Monday's matchup features the top three players in the AFC in running plays of at least 20 yards. Jackson has 24, followed by Henry (23) and Dobbins (22).
Hello, again
The connections in this matchup run deeper than the Harbaughs.
Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz spent 26 seasons in the Ravens' front office. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter are two of five assistants who also spent time on John Harbaugh's Baltimore staff.
Six players, including Dobbins and Edwards, are also former Ravens. Linebacker Kyle Van Noy was with the Chargers during the 2022 season, while backup quarterback Josh Johnson (San Diego) and outside linebacker David Ojabo (Michigan) played for Jim Harbaugh in college.
Ravens running backs coach Willie Taggart was on Harbaugh's staff at Stanford, but also played for family patriarch Jack Harbaugh at Western Kentucky. Secondary coach Doug Mallory played with Jim Harbaugh at Michigan and also was a defensive analyst on his staff.
Getting after the QB
Los Angeles - tied for fifth in the league with 34 sacks on the season - has 21 in its last four games. Linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu has led the way with seven sacks in that span, while linebacker Bud Dupree and defensive lineman Poona Ford have three apiece.
Baltimore is tied for third with 35 sacks and has recorded at least two sacks in 14 straight games, the league's longest active streak. Van Noy leads the team with seven.
Tuipulotu and Van Noy are the only players in the NFL this season to have three straight games with multiple sacks.
Rare concerns
One player the Ravens could count on pretty much unconditionally through the years has been kicker Justin Tucker, but he missed twice last weekend against Pittsburgh, raising his season total of failed field goal attempts to six.
"If you just take the 10,000-foot view, and you look at where all the kicks have gone, they've gone just wide left," Tucker said. "The adjustment is pretty clear; I just need to make it a point not to let the ball carry to the left. So, that's something that we're going to continue to work on in practice."
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AP Sports Writer Noah Trister in Owings Mills, Maryland, contributed to this report.
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