Baltimore Ravens suffered a 44-10 defeat to the Houston Texans, a loss in every possible way.

John Harbaugh’s injured teams have in the past at least went down swinging. But the punches that they threw against the Texans was few and far between. It was never a fair fight.

Houston scored five touchdowns on their first sevendrives, almost doubling the total of their previous four games. It’s no secret that the Ravens have been the hardest hit by the injury bug. However, that doesn’t excuse a defense that was scattered and out-of-place for much of the game. The Ravens defense was beaten soundly in the trenches for the third consecutive week and they were always behind (by a few steps) in coverage. The Texans’ offense, which entered Week 4 ranked in the bottom 10 of all NFL teams, had no trouble moving the ball. This is a sign that the Ravens’ defense remains in disarray and has no hope for improvement.

The offense was not much better. Cooper Rush had a good start, and the offense was able to drive down the field in their first drive. Harbaugh chose to remove the offense from the field. Due to the low probability of multiple drives into Houston territory, kicking the field goal is opposite the aggressive decisions which defined Harbaugh’s defiant coach in 2021 and in 2022.

The Ravens were unable to sustain their drive outside of their pre-determined opener, as they had been unable to do so throughout the rest of the year. Rush was forced to pass in every situation, and three interceptions in the second half ruined any hope of an offense that could have put up a decent showing. The first was a result of Mark Andrews’ bobble and drop in another forgettable display from the veteran tight-end.

Zay Flowers, Baltimore’s top player, caught all five of his targets on Sunday for 72 yards. This included a 56 yard deep ball which led to the Ravens only touchdown. DeAndre Hopkins also had some nice catches, but neither player received enough opportunities to have an impact in the game.

The Texans were not as aggressive in their coverage of Nate Wiggins, the lone player they did not target. C.J. Stroud focused instead on Teddye Buchanan over the middle and Trenton Simpson, but the young linebacker pair could not meet the challenge. Houston’s offensive assault was too much for the rest of the young talent on the team, who struggled to keep pace with it.

The Ravens, despite their constant focus on the special teams, consistently lost field position battles with ineffective kick-returns and a KeyonMartin penalty erased Jordan Stout’s best punt for the day.

Baltimore’s conventional wisdom is to move on and forget about this defeat, but the team must take a hard, long look at themselves. The Ravens had a long list of injuries when they entered this game, but the inability of their depth to be ready to play was a reflection of their player evaluation and development. The calls for coaching changes will increase this week. Harbaugh rejected any such idea after the game.

He said: “You do your best to be productive, but I don’t think that’s the solution.”

Harbaugh added, “I believe fundamental football is the fastest fixable thing,” pointing out the frequency with which the team played behind the sticks both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Rush and Kyle Van Noy both echoed this sentiment in their press conferences. Van Noy made it clear he would expect the team to quickly make changes.

“I haven’t many chances left. I don’t want to wait.” “We’ve got to figure it out,” said he. He cut off the question when asked about his injuries and replied “No excuses.” Professionals are paid to play. Gotta play better.”

With the loss, the Ravens fall to 1-4 and are tied with the Cleveland Browns in last place of the AFC North. The Ravens will play the Los Angeles Rams at home in Week 6, before a Week Seven bye, which, frankly, can’t come soon enough.