Fair or not, John Harbaugh was put under a microscope the moment he became the 21st head coach in New York Football Giants history. Their success (or lack thereof) became even more magnified once his former employer, the Baltimore Ravens, cruised to a dominant Week 1 victory.
The Ravens' 41-23 blowout win over the Indianapolis Colts was a significant outcome for folks in New York in more ways than one. Perhaps most notably, though, it marked an emphatically impressive start to Baltimore's post-Harbaugh era, led by his protégé-turned-successor, Jesse Minter.
Harbaugh's a Super Bowl-winning sideline general/potential future Hall of Famer trying to revitalize one of the NFL's most storied franchises in the country's biggest sports market. Everything he's done since arriving in East Rutherford, good or bad, has naturally generated headlines and buzz and will continue to do so. Conversely, Minter and Co. are intrinsically connected, and they aced their first test, but so did the new-look G-Men squad.
A wire-to-wire 28-20 primetime defeat of the Dallas Cowboys erased the outside noise surrounding Harbaugh's Giants — at least for one day.
John Harbaugh's Giants respond to Ravens' blowout of Colts with exciting SNF win vs. Cowboys
Minter seemed quite comfortable making his debut as a rookie head coach on the road. The Ravens were prepared and executed at a high level, looking like one of the best and most well-rounded teams in football. They cleared 500 yards of total offense (506) for the first time in nearly two years. Their defense generated two turnovers and two sacks while limiting the Colts to a lowly 4.7 yards per play.
Baltimore's shellacking of the Colts was a massive takeaway from a loaded 1 p.m. ET window, and the Giants weren't on until Sunday Night Football. Additional suspense mounted as Big Blue Nation waited for kickoff. As if Harbaugh wasn't already facing enormous pressure and the uphill battle of Cowboys star quarterback Dak Prescott's decade-long dominance over New York. Suddenly, Minter's presence loomed large, and yet somehow, none of it mattered in the end.
It became clear early in Harbaugh's opening contest that things would be a little different moving forward. The Giants forced a quick three-and-out, then responded with a long, strong 10-play, 83-yard touchdown drive on the next possession. Dallas was knocked on its heels and never truly recovered despite cutting the deficit to eight with roughly five minutes remaining.
John Harbaugh zigs when Jesse Minter zags
There's no denying that Minter deserves credit for coming in and molding the Ravens in his image. They found themselves in playoff (and even Super Bowl) contention annually, yet their old-school mentality under Harbaugh felt stale and outdated. Something had to change, so they took a more modern approach.
However, Harbaugh appears to be sticking to his guns, and his philosophy can still bear fruit, as Dallas experienced firsthand. He continued running play-action at an above-average clip and used 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end) at an abnormally high rate. New York didn't blitz a lot and instead focused on keeping the ball in front of them and limiting big plays.
Styles make fights, as the saying goes. Just because Harbaugh's game plan was falling flat in Baltimore doesn't mean he can't be effective elsewhere. This could be one of those rare situations where all parties involved benefit from a clean slate.
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