Salty Vic Fangio calls out Ravens for late-game antics

The reasons for Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio to not be a happy camper on Monday were aplenty.

In its first true test of the season, the Broncos flopped, losing at home to the Baltimore Ravens, 23-7.

But it was something that happened when the game was out of reach, something Fangio said he’d not seen in his four decades in professional football, that had the Broncos head coach fuming on Sunday … and salty on Monday.

After a Drew Lock interception in the endzone essentially sealed the game for the Ravens, Baltimore’s offense took to the field with just seconds left to send off the Broncos to their first loss of the season.

But with Baltimore needing just three yards to tie an NFL record for consecutive 100-yard rushing games (43, which was set by the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1974-’77), Ravens coach John Harbaugh opted not to just kneel the ball and get out with a win.

Instead, star quarterback Lamar Jackson rushed around the left edge for five yards, leaving Baltimore with 102 yards on the day and an NFL record in tow.

“One hundred percent my call,” Harbaugh said after the game. “That’s one of those things that’s meaningful. It’s one of those things that, as a head coach, you’ve got to be mindful of your team and your players and your coaches and what it means to them.

“It’s a very, very tough record to accomplish, and it’s a long-term record. I’m not going to say it’s more important than winning the game, for sure. It’s certainly not. But as a head coach, I think you do that for your players, and you do that for your coaches, and that’s something they’ll have for the rest of their lives.”

But the record-tying play, a record in which Jackson admitted he “didn’t even care about,” not only poured salt into the Broncos’ wound but sparked some fireworks on the Denver sideline.

WATCH: The Broncos sideline was enraged as the Ravens decided to run the ball on the final play of the game rather than take a knee. #9sports #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/QshWgAbkpX

— 9NEWS Sports Denver (@9NEWSSports) October 4, 2021

And on Monday, Fangio took to the podium with some choice words to express how he felt about the situation.

“Yeah, I thought it was kind of bulls***, but I expected it from them. You know, 37 years in pro ball I’ve never seen anything like that,” Fangio said. “But it was to be expected, and we expected it.”

On a follow up, Fangio said he knew something like that could happen with the Ravens because “that’s just their mode of operation there.”

“Player safety is secondary,” Fangio said.

Broncos tight end Noah Fant said on Monday that he wasn’t “offended” by the play, but it’s not exactly how he would conduct himself at the end of a game.

“It just kind of seemed like … obviously the statistical things are important for them. If it was me, I’m getting a win and getting out of there,” Fant said. “To each his own. They did it. They did whatever. So, it doesn’t really matter. We still lost, so that’s all that really matters to me, matters to us. We’ve just got to get a win in those games.”