The New York Giants have been getting a fresh wave of optimism since John Harbaugh arrived, but Stephen A. Smith isn’t buying the full sell just yet.
On ESPN’s First Take Monday, while the show was talking through the Los Angeles Rams’ schedule, Peter Schrager floated the idea that the Giants could be a problem for Los Angeles in Week 2. Smith wasn’t interested in letting the hype run away from reality. He said he respects Harbaugh, but he also went straight to the coach’s Baltimore track record.
“I respect the hell out of John Harbaugh. I truly, truly do.
He’s a Super Bowl champion,” Smith said. “Man ain’t won a Super Bowl since 2012 now.”
Smith didn’t stop there. He pointed to the late-game failures that piled up during Harbaugh’s 18 seasons with the Ravens.
“How many double-digit leads has he lost since 2008?” Smith asked.
“The man’s been around for a while. He’s lost more double-digit leads than anybody.
Come on. I think the number’s at 46.
Let’s not act like he’s invincible now.”
The exact figure Smith cited was a little off, but the broader point landed. According to NFL Research, Baltimore blew 46 fourth-quarter leads during Harbaugh’s tenure, tied for the second most in the NFL over that span. Eighteen of those losses came after the Ravens had built a double-digit lead in the second half.
That’s where the warning signs for the Giants start to show up. New York went 1-7 in one-score games last season and lost five fourth-quarter leads. Harbaugh has already made late-game situations a major part of training camp, which looks like a direct attempt to fix the same kind of problem that kept biting the Giants in 2025.
Smith’s skepticism isn’t hard to understand. Harbaugh’s last season in Baltimore ended at 8-9, and his Super Bowl title is more than a decade old now.
He was brought in to steady a franchise that has finished with fewer than seven wins in each of the last three seasons. That kind of turnaround takes more than energy and a good sideline speech.
At the same time, the Giants aren’t asking Harbaugh to be flawless. They need him to bring structure, competence and some sort of calm in the fourth quarter - areas where this team has been far too shaky. That’s the job.
Harbaugh’s Ravens tenure still included 11 double-digit-win seasons and 12 playoff appearances. The Giants, meanwhile, have made the postseason only twice since 2012. Even if Harbaugh is no longer at the peak of his Baltimore run, he still looks like a major upgrade for a team that has been stuck in the mud.
Smith’s caution makes sense, especially for a club that spent last season finding new ways to give games away late. It also explains why Harbaugh is spending so much time on those situations already in August.
He knows why Baltimore eventually moved on. The bigger question is whether he’s brought the right answers with him to New York.
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