Oct 5, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh stands on the sidelines during the fourth quarter against the Houston Texans at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Ravens' John Harbaugh Gets Blunt About Crushing Loss to Texans

Originally posted on Baltimore Ravens on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Oct 5, 2025 5:46 PM ET

The Baltimore Ravens have had slow starts to seasons before, and they've dealt with waves of injuries during their recent storied past. But nothing could have prepared fans for the five-week stretch that they've put their fans through to start this fall.

They fell down hard in Week 5, losing 44-10 to the Houston Texans in a crushing loss that went well beyond the single-game scoring disadvantage. The Texans had one of the league's least-reliable scoring units in the league heading into this matchup, and won their first-ever game in Baltimore behind four touchdowns to send the Ravens into a dank 1-4 hole to begin their annual campaign.

The injury-related absences that the Ravens piled up during the previous week certainly didn't help their odds, robbing the star-studded lineup of some of their brightest contributors in quarterback Lamar Jackson and safety Kyle Hamilton, but the team's lack of discipline showed in an unimpressive outing. The Texans, who entered the matchups with as many wins as the Ravens, looked sharp and explosive against the remaining defenders while the Jackson-less offense sputtered out.

Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images

Head coach John Harbaugh hasn't seen any season quite like this, with the franchise record-low 1-4 start coinciding poorly with the Ravens' attempt to capitalize on their championship window. He didn't go into many post-game specifics with the media following the loss, but he was honest in his shock at how hard they flopped in front of their devoted home crowd.

"It's a complete disappointment, and we're going to have to find a way to turn it around," he said. "Figure out who we are this next week, and then into the bye and after the bye. We're gonna have more than half the season left, and we're gonna have to find ourselves."

He and his coaching staff took the blame for their failing to play anywhere near their standard, but stood firm on his stance against firing defensive coordinator Zach Orr, who's already fielded much of the blame for Baltimore's defense to stand on its own without their star players.

Ravens coach John Harbaugh said he doesn’t think it’s the answer to make a change with defensive coordinator Zach Orr pic.twitter.com/NE4GXeWvO4
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) October 5, 2025

"No one wants to be here, but it's where we're at, and you gotta dig yourselves out of it," backup quarterback Cooper Rush recounted in explaining the coaching staff's locker room message directly following the loss.

The season is not over, with a dozen games remaining on the Ravens' schedule before the start of the playoffs, but the team has completely run out of any slack. If they want to salvage any hopes of postseason play and shake off some of their recurring struggles, the time is now that they're nearing the end of their early gauntlet of a schedule.

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

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