Do Ravens players blame John Harbaugh for Week 18 loss to Steelers?

The Baltimore Ravens' 2025 season and their hopes of entering the playoffs as champions of the AFC North disappeared when then-rookie kicker Tyler Loop missed a 44-yard field goal in the closing seconds of their Week 18 game at the rival Pittsburgh Steelers in January. 

Veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was featuring for the Ravens on that fateful night. During a recent conversation, he suggested that at least some Baltimore players blame former head coach John Harbaugh for what happened at Pittsburgh's Acrisure Stadium this past winter. 

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"We felt, as an offense, we should've ran the ball with [Derrick Henry]," Hopkins explained, per Troy Montgomery of Steelers Depot. "As players, we felt like we should've kept handing the ball off to Derrick and let him try to go score...You've gotta give him a chance to go and score and not put it on the rookie. As players, we felt like they didn't trust us to go score."

Hopkins was referencing how the Ravens had possession of the ball at the Steelers' 24-yard line with 14 seconds remaining in regulation and one timeout in hand. Instead of trying to at least give Loop an easier kick, Harbaugh had quarterback Lamar Jackson take a knee to run more clock down. That decision blew up in the coach's face, and it seemingly wasn't popular among Ravens players. 

Ravens players were "hot" after Week 18 loss at Steelers

"That was probably the hottest I'd seen the locker room in a while," Hopkins said about how he and other Baltimore players reacted to the defeat. "Me and Derrick was just looking at each other like, 'Did that really just happen?' I ain't think it was real for a second. I thought I was still dreaming. I was like, 'Ain't no way he missed that...'But really, it shouldn't have gotten down to depending on him to kick a 40-yarder." 

The Ravens surprisingly relieved Harbaugh of his duties later that week, and it was subsequently suggested that he lost some members of the locker room. Perhaps he would be Baltimore's head coach and not employed by the New York Giants today had he given the ball to Henry late in what became Harbaugh's final game with the Ravens.