Why Joe Flacco is John Harbaugh’s best chance at saving job

No decisions made by NFL head coaches have more significant wide-ranging implications than decisions they make regarding their starting quarterbacks.

These decisions, based on the result, can alter the course of a game, a season and even the future of the head coach making the decision.

Welcome to John Harbaugh’s world at the moment.

The Ravens’ head coach of the last 11 seasons faces a difficult call on which quarterback he will start when Baltimore plays the Falcons Sunday in Atlanta.

Will it be rookie Lamar Jackson, who’s started the last two games in place of Joe Flacco, the incumbent who’s been out with a hip injury?

Or will Harbaugh turn back the Flacco, who’s 4-5 as the team’s starter this season, including 0-3 in his past three starts?

As of Monday, the day after Jackson — the Ravens’ first-round draft pick out of Louisville —helped them beat the Raiders Sunday, Harbaugh was still mum about the starter decision.

“I’m not going to get into any of that, for a lot of reasons,” Harbaugh told reporters after the game. “Whether the decision has been made or not, it’s not important for anybody to know but us. If I decide to do it one way or another, I don’t want our opponent to know. So, I’m probably not going to announce it for obvious reasons, just to make it tough for our opponent.”

Flacco, who as of Monday hasn’t been cleared to practice, is expected to see a hip specialist this week. After the initial injury on Nov. 4, the Ravens were told that Flacco would need three to four weeks to recover. Sunday will be four weeks.

I believe that Flacco, if he’s healthy, should return to the starting lineup. If Flacco is healthy and Harbaugh stays with Jackson, it might be difficult for Harbaugh to turn back to Flacco should Jackson struggle.

If Harbaugh starts Flacco and Flacco struggles, it’s a lot easier to bring a spark to his team by turning back to Jackson, who’s popular in the locker room.

Harbaugh went to Jackson three weeks ago with Flacco having injured his hip and with the Ravens having lost their last three games. In his two starts, Jackson has completed 27-of-44 passes with one TD pass and three INTs. He has also rushed for 190 yards and a TD on 37 carries.

The Ravens, after making the playoffs in Harbaugh’s first five years in Baltimore and in six of the first seven, winning the Super Bowl in 2012, have missed the postseason the last three seasons and are currently on the bubble as a wildcard team at 6-5 with road games at Atlanta, Kansas City and the Chargers remaining.

It looks like Harbaugh might need to make the playoffs this season to remain in Baltimore for a 12th year.

Head coaches, in the volatile NFL world of coaching change, are all about self-preservation. So, which quarterback will give Harbaugh the best chance to retain his job?

Flacco has the experience. He’s a former Super Bowl champion. He’s the winningest quarterback in franchise history. He, too, has been a big part of the last three seasons without a playoff berth. And he’s been underwhelming this season with 12 TDs and six INTs in nine starts.

Jackson has injected some energy into the team after the three-game losing streak, albeit with wins over a 5-6 Bengals team that’s free-falling in a current three-game losing streak and the 2-9 Raiders, one of the worst teams in the league.

Jackson deserves immense credit for the respectful way he’s handled himself during his two starts. When he was asked, after the Ravens’ win over the Raiders, if he’s proven himself enough to remain the starting quarterback even if Flacco is healthy enough to return, his response was as admirable as it was humble.

“I don’t feel I’ve done enough; there’s always room for improvement,” he told reporters.

“He’s got a winning spirit,” Ravens receiver Michael Crabtree told reporters said. “Everything he does, he does well. He practices hard, you can’t beat that. He’s only going up from here. I am just a witness and a receiver, at his disposal.

“It’s the Lamar show. You just have to sit back and watch because he’s electrifying.”

Ravens tight end Mark Andrews told reporters, “Both of those guys are extremely talented guys. Whatever happens, we’re in good hands.”

After the Ravens’ win over the Bengals, when Jackson ran the ball 27 times in his first NFL start, he actually apologized to Crabtree for not getting him the ball.

Harbaugh vehemently defended Jackson as a passer after that first start, saying, “He is a quarterback,” not merely a runner.

“I thought he threw it well,” Harbaugh said after the win over Oakland. “I have to see the tape, I guess, to know for sure, but he threw the ball well, I thought. Hopefully, that talk will go away at some point in time.”