Jim Harbaugh might have made NFL history on Sunday when he chose a Gordon Lightfoot song to celebrate the Los Angeles Chargers’ 27-17 win over the Tennessee Titans.
But given Harbaugh’s constant drive to inspire and build mental toughness in his team, it made sense.
After the Chargers secured their third straight win, improving to 6-3, Harbaugh played “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” in the locker room for two reasons.
First, it was the 49th anniversary of the sinking of the freighter on Lake Superior, which took the lives of 29 crew members. Second, Lightfoot’s 1976 folk ballad has themes Harbaugh wanted to emphasize.
Starting this week against Cincinnati, the Chargers are entering a difficult stretch that will be crucial for their playoff hopes.
Harbaugh wants his team to be the storm, not the ship, over the next six games. “There’s some (symbolism), but that’s just kind of for us,” Harbaugh said about the song by the Canadian singer-songwriter, who passed away last year at 84.
After facing Joe Burrow and Cincinnati on Sunday night, the Chargers will host Lamar Jackson and Baltimore in a Monday night game on Nov. 25. It will also be the third meeting between Harbaugh and his older brother John, the Ravens’ coach.
In December, the Chargers face tough matchups with away games against Atlanta and Kansas City, followed by home games against Tampa Bay and Denver.
“These games just show you who you are, competitively and especially from a mental standpoint,” linebacker Khalil Mack said. “You have the strength of the offense on their side with the quarterback. Just making sure we are clicking on all cylinders. But we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”
A key to the Chargers’ success in their recent stretch of four wins in five games has been their ability to play well on both sides of the ball.
Quarterback Justin Herbert has now gone seven straight games without an interception. He’s also the seventh quarterback since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, and the first since Philip Rivers in 2018, to have a passer rating of at least 90 in each of the first nine games of the season.
The defense, allowing a league-low 13.1 points per game, is the fourth in NFL history since 1990—and the first since the 2013 Kansas City Chiefs—to hold opponents to 20 or fewer points in each of the first nine games.
Harbaugh doesn’t believe this upcoming stretch will end the Chargers’ success. Instead, he sees it as an opportunity to push his team toward a playoff spot.
“I know who we are and what we are. I know our guys are, they’re going to be in the battle rhythm. It’s a big challenge this week, but I know our guys are not afraid of any challenge or any new challenge,” he said.
