It isn’t always going to be as easy as the Ravens made it look against the Detroit Lions last week. “We weren’t great,” is how head coach John Harbaugh began his post-game statement in Arizona on Sunday in the aftermath of a choppy effort and 31-24 victory over the woeful Cardinals. And the Coach Hardball truth just about sums it up if you’ve been watching the NFL long enough. This was par for the Glendale desert dome course for the Ravens as a franchise over three decades – a pretty typical 4 o’clock, West Coast slog against the backup quarterback of a 1-6 team. At one point it was 24-7 and a cover and a dream. And then the Ravens allowed a weak team with a motivated backup quarterback a teaspoon of hope and a sliver of belief. And in the end, the old Special Teams Coach needed his team and Nelson Agholor to lean into a second onside kick at the end of the game to escape and survive. The Ravens found a way to win a road game while still trying to figure out a way to consistently move the football, avoid penalties and the punishment it involves,
