Harbaugh

John Harbaugh has gone to the playoffs in each of his first four seasons as head coach, but now is his time for greatness. The Ravens have lost three straight including a humiliating 34-17 loss to Denver on Sunday, and they are on the verge of one of the greatest collapses in NFL history. It's Harbaugh time. If he wants to take that next step and move into the top echelon of coaching with a Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin or a Mike Tomlin, he has to find a way to rally the Ravens.

Ray Lewis is still on the Ravens' injured reserve-designated to return list, but the 13-time Pro Bowl inside linebacker is eligible to return for Sunday's home contest against the Denver Broncos. While not revealing anything about Lewis' availability, defensive coordinator Dean Pees said the decision is out of his hands. “That's totally up to the trainers, [coach] John [Harbaugh] and the organization,” he said. “And I'm not really trying to avoid [the question]. It really is a matter of whoever is out there in practice is who we coach up. Whoever shows up on Sunday, that's who we're going to coach up. As coaches, we're almost out of the loop.

John Harbaugh's decision to fire offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and promote quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell to that position was shocking in terms of the timing, but it wasn't unprecedented in the NFL this season. The Philadelphia Eagles dismissed defensive coordinator Juan Castillo two days after the team fell to 3-3, and the Tennessee Titans did the same with offensive coordinator Chris Palmer one day after that squad dropped to 4-7. Making a change at coordinator wasn't even unheard of among the Ravens.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh and Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had a terse exchange following the Steelers 23-20 victory at M&T Bank Stadium Stadium. Meeting near midfield after  Shaun Shisham's 42-yard field goal as time expired gave the Steelers the victory, Harbaugh extended his hand and said "Congratulations" to Tomlin. The Steelers coach shook it quickly without saying anything. Harbaugh then said said, "Hey, Hey, Hey! ... . " Tomlin looked at Harbaugh and said, "Thank you, good job" before the two headed in separate directions.

Injured linebacker Ray Lewis is rehabbing at the team's facility today, but Ravens coach John Harbaugh said it's “day-to-day” on when he'll return to practice. “He's not practicing today,” Harbaugh said. “We'll just play it, I think, day-by-day, as far as whether he's practices or not. He's not imminent to return to play or anything like that so to me, it's really a non-story. He'll get out there when he's ready to practice, when the elbow holds up.” Currently on injured reserve with a designation to return, Lewis hasn't played since the Ravens' Week 6 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, a game he exited early after tearing the triceps muscle in his right arm while trying to make a tackle.

Bernard Pollard paced the Ravens in tackles with eight, but the strong safety also drew some attention for an almost-costly penalty that he drew in the fourth quarter of the team's 16-13 overtime win against the San Diego Chargers Sunday. Quarterback Philip Rivers overthrew wide receiver Danario Alexander by several yards on first down-and-10 from the Ravens' 47-yard line. But Pollard threw himself at Alexander, who appeared to be a step or two out of bounds, and an official flagged Pollard for unnecessary roughness for a helmet-to-helmet hit on a defenseless player.

Ray Rice's amazing 29-yard catch-and-run on fourth down-and-29 and the Ravens' eventual 16-13 overtime win against the San Diego Chargers Sunday overshadowed a few miscues such as the offense's ineptness in the first half, the unit's inability to create a consistent pocket for quarterback Joe Flacco and some inopportune penalties. Another gaffe that didn't end up hurting the Ravens was the ill-fated decision to go for it on fourth down-and-1 on the Chargers' 14-yard line with 34 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Inside linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and tight end Ed Dickson were knocked out of Sunday's game with injuries, but Harbaugh said tests confirmed that neither injury was serious. He expects both to be “very limited” in practice throughout the week. “We'll just have to see how it goes,” he said. “We'll try to get them to the game on Sunday.” Dickson sprained his knee and Ellerbe injured his right foot or ankle, according to Harbaugh. In other injury news, Harbaugh said he is hopeful that defensive end Pernell McPhee, who has missed four straight games with injuries to his right knee and right thigh, can play this weekend.

In the 24 hours after running back Ray Rice stunned the San Diego Chargers with his game-saving catch-and-run, the football world - teammates, fans, and former NFL players turned talking heads - marveled at the play, saying it was among the greatest individual efforts they had seen. Ravens coach John Harbaugh believes Rice's remarkable play is “going to go down in history.” “We're all going to talk about the fourth-and-29,” he said at his Monday news conference. “I said [Sunday]

Wide receiver Torrey Smith, kicker Justin Tucker and punter Sam Koch were three of several Ravens players summoned to coach John Harbaugh's office Wednesday morning, but they weren't in trouble. Eight players and Harbaugh convened in the coach's office to wish a happy Thanksgiving via Skype to an Army National Guard unit currently serving in Afghanistan. Harbaugh, Smith, Tucker, Koch, linebackers Josh Bynes and Nigel Carr, long snapper Morgan Cox, safety Omar Brown and guard Antoine McClain spoke to the unit, which is based in Laurel, for about nine minutes on Harbaugh's iPad and listened to the soldiers recount their experiences in Afghanistan.