The Baltimore Sun today published two articles, oddly similar to one another, about scrutiny of John Harbaugh’s conservative decision-making in the Ravens 23-20 loss to the Steelers on Monday. The first piece, from Jamison Hensley, seems a bit more like reporting the mood around town following the loss. The second piece, from Mike Preston, is simply picking for the sake of picking.

My question: why is Harbaugh taking any heat for the loss on Monday?

To fans and sportswriters out there: John Harbaugh managed that game pretty damn well. We can go back wth a microscope and dissect every decision made on every play, but it won’t change the outcome of the game. And outside of Harbaugh, there are plenty of targets to blame on this team for their equally stupid decisions.

This team lost by a 46-yard Jeff Reed field goal in overtime on the road. That’s about as close to victory as you can get without being Kevin Dyson nearly 10 years ago in the Super Bowl. Or without being Correll Buckhalter of the Eagles against the Bears on Sunday.

There’s no ‘blame game’ to be played here. And if there is, I’m certainly pointing my finger and shaking at a number of people before John Harbaugh.

Harbaugh’s two big gaffs were apparently not challenging a close call in the endzone and not passing on a 3rd and goal from the 8 yard line. But Harbaugh had plenty of reason to act exactly the way he did during the game (even Derrick Mason wasn’t throwing his hands up for a challenge). And as much as we hate it, these games are won and lost by the men on the field, not the men on the sidelines.

Personally, I liked the draw play at the goalline… even from 8 yards out. It clearly caught the defense off-guard a bit, and with a little more power, McGahee would have found his way in. As for the challenge? Instant replay continues to be a flawed system with flawed results, so let’s not all walk around saying just how sure we were that it was going to be reversed - especially when Mason hardly reacted.

Preston takes an extra shot at Harbaugh, however, criticizing him for his handling of Jarrett Johnson and, really, the entire team. Preston says that Harbaugh has already missed the boat on “changing the culture of this team” and that Johnson’s unnecessary roughness penalty against Hines Ward is only proof that we’re seeing the same old Ravens.

I don’t know what team Preston has been watching for the past four weeks. This Ravens team still plays with passion, especially on defense. That’s not the kind of culture we want to see changed. And when you play with passion, there are bound to be some emotional moments. They can’t all be avoided, lest we want to become the Rams or Lions and play some truly passionless football.

But additionally, we have seen a culture shift on this team and Harbaugh’s approach does seem to be working. Maybe it’s thanks to an unexpected 2-1 start. Maybe it’s just too early in the season. But so far, we haven’t seen a moment of in-house bickering or scuffling over who is to blame. We haven’t seen finger pointing and head shaking. Every guy that steps up the podium post-game has been reflecting on their own performance and their own ability to help this team. That’s a huge change. And not an easy change to make.

I, for one, have become John Harbaugh’s #1 fan.

So, Mr. Preston, here’s my extra shot at you… It’s Wednesday. The game was Monday. And still, we haven’t seen a full column from you. So far we’ve gotten three different “bullet point” pieces… “Report Card,” “…The Real Thing,” and now today’s “Right and Wrong.” Quick hits are for gameday… but let’s write a complete piece. Even my generation now can handle reading a page.