The Baltimore Ravens have been a powerful force in the NFL for multiple seasons. They have made the playoffs in six of the last seven years, but they have not advanced further than the conference championship game in that time frame.
The 2025 season has been disastrous for head coach John Harbaugh's team. They went into the season as a co-favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, but they have lost four of their first five games. In addition to a hamstring injury to All-Pro QB Lamar Jackson that kept him out of the Ravens' Week 5 home game against the Houston Texans, the Baltimore defense has fallen apart.
The most recent defeat was a 44-10 blowout loss to the Texans, a team that had been dominated by the Ravens for multiple seasons. It would seem that the Ravens have very little chance of turning their season around because of their brutal start. However, Jackson has won multiple Most Valuable Player Awards and Derrick Henry is one of the best running backs in the league as long as he is not fumbling.
The defense is not likely to rise up and become a top-5 unit, but they can certainly play much better than they have to this point in the season. It might look like the Ravens have no chance of playing postseason football, but there are still 12 games left in the season and the Ravens could tear up the script and find a way to right themselves.
They are unlikely to play well enough to win the division — the Steelers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers are 3-1 — but the Ravens could certainly play well enough to gain a Wild Card spot if they can turn things around.
Ravens will have soft schedule after their bye week
The Ravens are going to be up against it in Week 6 when they host the Los Angeles Rams. It doesn't mean they are guaranteed to lose, but the Rams appear to be a better team at this point in the season.
There is a chance that Jackson could return from his hamstring injury in this game. If he does not, the Rams and Matthew Stafford would appear to have an excellent chance to win.
If that happens, the Ravens would fall to 1-5. That would be a brutal position, but the Ravens would get a break after that. They would have a bye in Week 7, and that would give them a chance to recover from injuries and begin again.
Luckily for Harbaugh's team, the schedule eases up quite a bit at that point. Once the Ravens return to action after the bye, they face the Chicago Bears, the Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals.
They will face a major challenge in Week 14 when they host the first-place Steelers. But prior to that game, they have a chance to go on a major winning streak.
At this point, the only team with a winning record in that post-bye streak is the Vikings (3-2). However, the Vikings will either have backup quarterback Carson Wentz in the lineup or untested second-year man J.J. McCarthy. Neither Wentz nor McCarthy are proven commodities at this point.
Improvements on defense are clearly needed
Even though the schedule eases up, that's not enough to turn the Ravens' season around. They will have to show some improvement, particularly on defense.
The defense was at its worst in the loss to the Texans. The Ravens gave up 27 first downs in the game and 7 of those first downs came on third-down conversions. The Ravens allowed 417 yards and the Texans had a 36:33-23:27 time of possession advantage.
C.J. Stroud was able to dominate the Ravens defense as he completed 22 of 27 passes for 244 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions.
Those numbers tell quite a bit of the story for the Ravens defense. Instead of stopping opponents in their tracks, the Ravens are giving up big chunks of yardage.
The Ravens were 10th in the NFL in total defense a year ago and they were 1st against the run. The defense ranked ninth in points allowed.
It's a much different story this year as the Ravens rank 31st in total defense, 29th against the run and they are dead-last in points allowed.
Baltimore is used to participating in the postseason and demonstrating that the team is one of the toughest in the NFL. The Ravens are a long way from that right now. A bye week and an easier schedule could help them get back on track.
The Ravens are in deep trouble right now, but it would be wrong to bury them and declare that they have no chance at the playoffs. They will still have an opportunity after the bye week to turn their season around.
