The conversation was brief and if you ask both men, it wasn’t all that necessary.
Facing fourth-and-1 on their own 43 with just over a minute to play and nursing a one-point lead, Ravens coach John Harbaugh had already decided that he was going for the first down rather than punting the ball back to the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes. He just wanted to make sure Lamar Jackson was on board, too.
“Lamar, Lamar,” Harbaugh yelled from the sideline, trying to get his quarterback’s attention. “Do you want to go for this?”
Jackson, who had just completed a 6-yard pass to Sammy Watkins to set up the fourth-and-short and a Chiefs’ timeout, has never answered no to that question in his life. Predictably, he didn’t this time.
“Hell yeah,” Jackson shouted back at Harbaugh.
Harbaugh said later that he and his quarterback have each other’s back, that he has “complete confidence in Lamar Jackson to make every play.”
Upon hearing Jackson’s opinion, Harbaugh said into his headset, “All right, let’s go.”
Jackson kept the ball, drove forward and picked up two yards and the first down, setting off a wild celebration on the field and the Ravens’ sideline. Jackson and left tackle Alejandro Villanueva met for a flying chest bump.
