Sep 7, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh reacts during the first quarter against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Ravens Coach Receives Surprising Hot Seat Ranking

Originally posted on Baltimore Ravens on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Sep 11, 2025 1:00 PM ET

Few coaches exited Week 1 with a worse image than John Harbaugh, who showed all of his Baltimore Ravens' worst tendencies just one game into their much-anticipated season.

The Ravens completely folded against the Buffalo Bills for all to see on Sunday Night Football, succumbing to a Josh Allen-led comeback to completely lose their 15-point advantage in the final four minutes. Their 41-40 loss made them one of the biggest losers of the weekend, an embarrassing position they've grown all to familiar with.

The longtime Ravens head coach has stood at the wrong end of more blown double-digit leads than any other coach since 1991 with 17, and they've only grown more embarrassing in transitioning into the Lamar Jackson era. The team's shot at winning the Super Bowl is as good as it's been in over a decade, and that lack of clutch steering has accounted for nearly half of this core's recent losses.

Ravens have lost 17 reg season games since 2022. They had double digit 4Q leads in 8 of those games.

At some point you have to ask questions about why this keeps happening. The main constant through it all has been Harbaugh and I feel like it’s fair to direct blame to him. https://t.co/uDfDWOc3tQ
— Drew (@DrewBanned) September 8, 2025

Bleacher Report took a temperature check of just how safe every head coach's job seems after the season's first returns, and despite Harbaugh's dipping popularity among the public, he was considered one of the safer play-callers in the NFL.

He didn't quite make the cut for the "Ice Cold" tier, full of the winning coaches who'll likely keep their jobs at their current stops for several more years, but his seat was still considered mildly cool.

Brad Gagnon ranked Harbaugh within the same class as some of the longer-tenured head coaches in the game who's teams aren't as consistently productive as their reputations may imply. His name was lumped in with Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers, Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams and Sean McDermott, the Bills coach who most recently got the better of Harbaugh.

Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

"The second-longest-tenured head coach in the NFL signed a three-year extension in the offseason," Gagnon wrote. "He appears extremely safe, but the Ravens suffered another disappointing playoff failure in January followed by a meltdown in Week 1."

His recent contract extension will play a larger role in his job security than a lot of fans will take into account, with most front offices usually wary of heaving to eat the majority a freshly-signed asset's money. Many of Baltimore's locals probably don't care, though, as the sentiment is generally out on Harbaugh returning to glory at the front of a Lamar Jackson pairing.

His star quarterback held his own in putting points on the board throughout the majority of the Ravens' opener, with Allen's eventual win standing more as a testament to the MVP's clutch heroics as opposed to his making Jackson look bad. Regardless, the Ravens once again find themselves living up to their unfortunate reputation, and fans want change.

This article first appeared on Baltimore Ravens on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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