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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.
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...
