Ravens notes: With playoffs in sight, team is driven by 'gut-wrenching' experiences in past two years, Harbaugh says

Two years ago, the Ravens were seconds away from a Week 16 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and a shot at the AFC North title. One year ago, the Ravens were a late fourth-and-12 stop away from the playoffs in a Week 17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Six days from a potential division-clinching game, coach John Harbaugh needed no reminders.

“We all know where we've been,” he said at his weekly news conference Monday. “We don't need to talk about anything. We've all learned from all of our past experiences, this year, last year, previous years. The guys that have been here, the guys who weren't here, they're not going to understand it anyway until they experience it. The guys that were here, that drives us, certainly.”

After the Ravens’ 22-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday night and the New Orleans Saints’ 31-28 victory over the Steelers on Sunday, the Ravens (9-6) lead the AFC North heading into their regular-season finale against the Cleveland Browns (7-7-1). With a win at M&T Bank Stadium, or a loss by the Steelers (8-6-1) to the visiting Bengals (6-9), the Ravens would clinch their first postseason appearance since 2014.

Harbaugh said the Ravens’ close calls and missed opportunities over their playoff drought have humbled them.

“Like any experience, you want to learn from those experiences,” he said. “When you have a gut-wrenching experience, a tough one, like we've had the last two years, you take those with you. It makes you stronger. It forges you as a person, as a competitor.”

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Philip Rivers #17 of the Los Angeles Chargers chases Tavon Young #25 of the Baltimore Ravens after he recovered a fumble and ran it for a touchdown during the second half of a game at StubHub Center on December 22, 2018 in Carson, California. (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

Harbaugh: 2019 return is ‘nonstory’

Harbaugh said the team’s unexpected announcement Friday night that he would return as coach next season, and that both sides were working on a contract extension, was a “nonstory.”

The 11th-year Ravens head coach downplayed the significance of the news after the win in Carson, Calif., on Saturday night, and said his return was, “in absolute honesty,” not part of the team’s narrative.

Harbaugh echoed those comments Monday, saying that the team’s focus is on winning. He did not comment on the extent of his contract negotiations with team owner Steve Bisciotti.

Harbaugh’s contract expires after the 2019 season but, he said, “Everybody's on a one-year deal. You're on a one-week deal, as far as I'm concerned, in this league. And the players and coaches, that's how we are. We get that. Players and coaches understand that. We don't think too much about all that. You try to go out and do your best the very next day. Have the best day you can have, and that's how we look at it. So all that stuff is just really not something that you dwell on or think about. There's so many other things to think about.”

Ex-Raven Perriman ‘a factor’

In September, after wide receiver Breshad Perriman did not make the Ravens' season-opening 53-man roster, Harbaugh said he was "excited" to see the 2015 first-round pick get a "fresh start" elsewhere.

Perriman actually got two. After spending time with the Washington Redskins after his cut, the fourth-year NFL veteran caught on with the Browns in mid-October. He has come on strong of late for Cleveland’s surging offense, with a combined 10 catches for 214 yards and one touchdown over the past four games.

He has 13 receptions for 295 yards in nine Browns games overall, both more than his 13-game totals last year.

“Breshad is playing very well,” Harbaugh said. “He’s made numerous big plays. He’s playing fast. He’s doing a great job. He’s going to be a factor that we have to contend with, for sure, with our defense. He’s bringing that — what you always expected him to bring to the table, he’s found that there in the last few weeks, and they’ve done a good job with him.”

Not to jump the gun but ...

If they Ravens make the playoffs, they would host a wild-card game on either Saturday, Jan. 5 or Sunday, Jan. 6.

Tickets for this potential game will be available for public sale beginning this Wednesday at 11 a.m., the team announced Monday.

Tickets can be purchased online at baltimoreravens.com/tickets or ticketmaster.com or by phone at 410-547-SEAT (7328) or 800-745-3000. Fans may call 410-261-7283 for ticket information only.

If the Ravens do not host the game, automatic refunds will be provided to anyone who has purchased tickets via Ticketmaster.

The Ravens can earn the AFC North title and at least one home playoff game with a win Sunday against the Browns or a loss by the Steelers to the Bengals. The Ravens could also finish as high as No. 2 in the AFC, which would secure a wild-card-round bye.

“It’s incredibly exciting to be in the position to offer fans tickets for a potential home playoff game,” Ravens senior vice president of ticket operations Baker Koppelman said in a statement. “Our city and fans are clearly ready for some postseason football at M&T Bank Stadium.”

Extra points

» Asked about the success of Mark Andrews, who leads all rookie tight ends in receiving yards (498), Harbaugh said the “rookie wall is a phantom. It’s a mirage. It’s a figment of your imagination. The only walls in life are the ones that we build ourselves. If there’s a wall, we’re climbing over it, we’re getting around it — whatever. There’s no wall.”

» Harbaugh said he watched most of the Saints' win over the Steelers but maintained that he abstained from rooting for a specific result.

"Whatever's going to happen is going to happen. I swear to God, you get all emotionally caught up in all those kind of things, and you just — they drive you crazy. I don't know how people even watch these games. It's just too crazy."

» Harbaugh called the Browns’ offense, led by rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield, “almost like a touchdown-checkdown kind of team. They throw shots all the time, in the pocket, out of the pocket, drop screens to everybody. They've got playmakers out there.”

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A cheerleader performs during the first quarter of the NFL Wild Card game. The Chargers thwarted the Ravens, 23-17, to advance. (Karl Merton Ferron, Baltimore Sun)