John Harbaugh will nevermore, nevermore be head coach of the Baltimore Ravens following a heartbreaking end to the 2025 season.
Turn out the lights, the party’s over.
With a little help from Willie Nelson, former NFL quarterback and narrator Don Meredith would routinely herald closing time before it was cool on the original editions of Monday Night Football. Alas for all but one of football’s 32 finest, it’s over before the desired Vince Lombardi Trophy hoist, as the season, or at least the championship-contending portion of it, has come to an end.
With that in mind, TeamFB7 goes over the season that was for the fallen, looking at what was, what is, and what could be. We come to the last of the non-playoff entries on our ongoing list, as we turn to the cursed ending the Baltimore Ravens …
Team: Baltimore Ravens
Record: 8-9
Date of Playoff Death: Jan. 4
Last Playoff Season: 2024
What Went Wrong
Just when the Ravens were apparently out of ways to lose high-profile games in heartbreaking fashion, fans were thrown for a literal Loop.
Poe himself would’ve had a challenge coming up with more macabre, gut-wrenching bookends for the franchise bearing the title of his famed poem. The campaign began with the infamous come-from-ahead defeat in Buffalo and ended with a memorable miss from rookie kicker Tyler Loop in the thrilling finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In between, the Ravens got a painful reality check of their current standing in the league, one that eventually led to the ousting of seemingly-eternal head coach John Harbaugh.
Like so many stops on these voyages through the damned, it’d be easy to blame a passing injury, namely that of Lamar Jackson. The two-time MVP missed only four games but it was clear that the hamstring issues that ate at a good bit of the early fall affected him all season.
Jackson lacked his usual bit of dual-threat explosiveness (his average carry of 5.2 was lowest since his rookie season and his successful run rate was under 50 percent for the first time) and his on-target rate was in the bottom 10 of qualified passers.
But, again, football is a team sport for better and worse (and, to his credit, Jackson resembled his old self before the heartbreaker on the Allegheny).
The top-heavy nature of the Ravens’ depth chart manifested in the worst ways, especially after Jackson proved to be far from the only medical casualty: the defense had to work without Kyle Hamilton, Marlon Humphrey, and Nnamdi Madubuike at certain points throughout the year. While most of the losses weren’t lasting, the near-season loss of Madubuike removed a sense of aggressiveness that has come to be a Charm City trademark.
Derrick Henry’s Baltimore rushing totals continued to rival those of Brady Anderson but a continued propensity for fumbles at the worst possible times (mirroring similar pratfalls from Zay Flowers) no doubt contributed to a brutal 1-5 start. Henry fortunately began to resemble his former self toward the end of the year but an average carry of 3.2 yards between Weeks 2 and 5 (partly done in by noticeable steps back from guards Daniel Faalele and Andrew Vorhees, while their potential replacement, third-round rookie Emery Jones, dealt with early injuries) contributed to the early hole.
Recurring faces weren’t the only guilty parties in Baltimore: DeAndre Hopkins got off to a sterling start but never returned to the end zone after the first two weeks. The late spring shimmer of Jaire Alexander quickly dulled and he lasted but two games in purple before he was traded to Philadelphia. Rookie Malaki Marks has the makings of a lasting contributor but second-rounder Mike Green struggled to help a pass rush that ranked second-to-last in sack rate. In that latter group, Baltimore had just 30 credited quarterback takedowns, almost half of the tally that placed runner-up in 2024.
Harbaugh’s third losing season and second over the last five years led to the Ravens finally making a change. In his place arrives Jesse Minter, a disciple of Harbaugh’s brother Jim who gained sideline notoriety as the Chargers’ defensive playcaller over the last two seasons.
Silver Linings
— If there was a comeback player of the season, it probably had to be Henry: while early losses were partly blamed on untimely turnovers, Henry continued to showcase his ongoing reliability when the Ravens needed him the most: in spite of the ongoing line struggles, Henry averaged 6.7 yards over the Ravens’ final four games, which featured six end zone visits.
Some could well label the apparent turn away from Henry in the heat of the Pittsburgh moment the final knell for the Harbaugh era, as the failure to adjust limited him to 20 carries in a close game (only five in the second half). Baltimore also got 13 games out of Keaton Mitchell after he spent most of last year on the PUP list, and the undrafted gem proved to be a lightning-in-a-bottle complement to Henry’s thunder (5.8 per carry) while also making literal gains on kick returns.
Derrick Henry the last 3 seasons:
— PFF Fantasy (@PFF_Fantasy) February 6, 2026
💪 3,356 yards after contact
379 more than any other player 🤯 pic.twitter.com/qN6RDohaGY
— Equally inspiring, if not somewhat buried amid the heartbreak, was another strong tour for Flowers, who likewise posted his best numbers as the Ravens inched closer toward oblivion. Flowers would tally four touchdowns over the final four weeks after he was left scoreless for most of the year beyond a six on opening weekend.
For all it has accomplished, Baltimore hasn’t exactly been well-known for big aerial plays, often getting its work down through the grit of tight ends (where Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely continued to produce). Forced to take a larger role amid Rashod Batman’s meandering, Flowers has been a welcome change of pace and it’ll be interesting to see how he fits with a new modern mind in offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.
Looking Ahead
Notable Free Agents: CB Chidobe Awuzie, RG Daniel Faalele, S Alohi Gilman, WR DeAndre Hopkins, QB Tyler Huntley, DT Dre’Mont Jones, TE Isaiah Likeley, C Tyler Linderbaum, LT Joseph Noteboom, EDGE David Ojabo, FB Patrick Ricard, P Jordan Stout, EDGE Kyle Van Noy, S Ar’Darius Washington
Potential Cap Cuts: LB Roquan Smith ($20 million*), CB Marlon Humphrey ($19.25 million), DT Broderick Washington ($4.01 million), LB Trenton Simpson ($3.6 million), LG Andrew Vorhees ($3.6 million), RB Justice Hill ($3.1 million), EDGE Tavius Robinson ($3.1 million)
(*—post-June 1)
The past few years of big Baltimore spending have mirrored their success in special teams: there was a lot explosiveness, plenty of pomp … but all it led to was a de facto field goal.
Considering the Ravens have just over $113 million in 2026 guarantees dedicated to Hamilton, Henry, Jackson, Madubuike, Andrews, and Ronnie Stanley, it’s almost surprising that they currently carry $22 million in cap space to work with. But taking into account what this season exposed, it’d foolish not to expect general manager Eric DeCosta and Co. to explore some restructuring (i.e. extensions for Jackson and Smith, a few painful but potentially necessary cuts, a la Humphrey) heading into the Minter era.
With whatever space is generated, the Ravens would be wise to try and re-gain their identity in the trenches considering the struggles they had on the interior offensive line and in the pass rush. At the forefront of that cause will be the curious case of Linderbaum, who is destined to become the NFL’s highest-paid snapper (an honor currently belonging to Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey). That will likely force them to part ways with Marlon Humphrey, which could led to an overhaul in the secondary.
Even though the Ravens have most of their headliners locked up, they’ll be looking for depth with some experienced role players (i.e. Hill) potentially up for grabs. Baltimore is picking 14th in its return to Pittsburgh, just the second choice it has had in the upper half of the first round over the last decade. Finding a complement to undisputed top options Andrews and Flowers could be on the table (Hopkins was the second-leading listed receiver at 330 yards) and the Ravens might be able to soothe the blow of another Jackson injury with a more mobile backup option.
Is There Hope?
When a franchise staple is bid farewell, it’s usually the harbinger of a rebuild or otherwise tough times ahead, especially when that mainstay wore the primary headset. There’s enough talent left in Baltimore, however, to justify both a changing of the guard and sizable expectations.
Harbaugh obviously has a place in the league, as the New York Giants were readily willing to prove. At some point, however, the Ravens could no longer fly by on culture and vibes, leading to the departure of Harbaugh and the implementation of a strategist like Minter. The hire feels less of a indictment of Harbaugh and more of an attempt to keep up with the NFL’s changing pace.
This is probably the closest the Ravens have come to a rebuild on their three-decade ledgers and there’s an opportunity for it to flow as smoothly as possible. There’s a strong mix of modern NFL affairs and the culture that Harbaugh flourished in.
Minter will turn over offensive playcalling to 29-year-old coordinator Doyle (who held the same role for the resurgent Bears last year) while fellow arrivals Anthony Levine (special teams) and Anthony Weaver (defense) have served as B-branded glue guys of Ravens past. Minter reps the best of both worlds by merging modern game-planning with knowing the expectations of Charm City, having spent four seasons as a defensive assistant at the end of the prior decade.
But the more things change the more they stay the same, which honestly is perhaps the way Baltimore likes it: the Ravens will go as far as their familiar faces — at least those who return — take them. What Minter and Co. do with that sterling hodgepodge and what DeCosta does to work with their talents will ultimately be the determinator in how quickly the Ravens make the flight back up AFC leaderboard.
Previous Obituaries
- New York Giants
- Arizona Cardinals
- New Orleans Saints
- Tennessee Titans
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Washington Commanders
- Atlanta Falcons
- New York Jets
- Cleveland Browns
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Minnesota Vikings
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Miami Dolphins
- Dallas Cowboys
- Detroit Lions
- Indianapolis Colts
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags