Harbaugh Confirms Orr After Humiliating Ravens Loss to Texans

Harbaugh Confirms His Confidence in Defensive Coordinator Despite Ravens’ Loss

Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh has expressed his support for defensive coordinator Zach Orr, despite the recent and overwhelming defeat to the Houston Texans with a score of 44-10. This loss adds to a series of defensive problems that have plagued the Ravens so far this season.

“I don’t think that’s the answer,” Harbaugh said when asked about the possibility of changes to the defensive staff. “We have to work, that’s what we need to do. We need to be united, that’s what we need to do. We need to find ourselves. And that has to do with coaches and players working together.”

John Harbaugh

The loss against the Texans marked the second time in franchise history, in its 30 years, that the Ravens have fallen to a 1-4 record. The team couldn’t stop quarterback C.J. Stroud and the Texans’ offense, allowing 44 points, the most conceded by the Ravens in a home game during Harbaugh’s 18 years as coach. Baltimore’s defense, which allowed five touchdowns to the Texans, has shown consistent difficulties throughout the season. Defensive issues have been a constant for Baltimore and Orr, who replaced Mike Macdonald in 2024 and is in his second season as defensive coordinator. The Ravens have conceded 177 points this season, the most in a five-game span in team history. Outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy expressed the need to improve the team’s performance.

“We have to fix this,” Van Noy said. “Being brutally honest. The coaches can give us the plays, but we have to execute them. It doesn’t matter who’s out there. Do your job. If the coaches ask you to do something, do it. Myself included.”

Kyle Van Noy

Injuries have also affected the Baltimore team. On Sunday, the Ravens were without seven players who were selected for the Pro Bowl last year, including two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson. Baltimore has a 4-10 record in games without Jackson, who is out with a hamstring injury. This was the fifth consecutive loss without Jackson on the field. It is unknown if Jackson will be able to play next Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.

“No excuses,” Van Noy said. “I just watched the San Francisco ‘Niners’ have injuries, go out and play football. There are no excuses for injuries. As professionals, we get paid to play, so we have to play better.”

Kyle Van Noy

Other Pro Bowl players who couldn’t play with the Ravens were: safety Kyle Hamilton (groin), offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle), cornerback Marlon Humphrey (calf), middle linebacker Roquan Smith (hamstring), fullback Patrick Ricard (calf), and defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike (neck), who is out for the rest of the season. Baltimore was forced to field five rookies on defense to cover for the injured players.

“I thought we would play better,” Harbaugh said. “I thought we would tackle better. It didn’t live up to expectations. We had good enough players to play a lot better than we did.”

John Harbaugh

The 34-point loss is the second-worst margin of defeat under Harbaugh and represents Baltimore’s biggest home loss since 2013. Harbaugh called the situation “a complete disappointment.”

Image: In the Super Bowl era, only 4.1% of teams (16 out of 382) that lost at least four of their first five games managed to recover and make the playoffs.

The Ravens’ running back, Derrick Henry, expressed his belief that the coaches’ messages are getting through to the players. When Van Noy was asked if he has seen enough accountability after the recent losses, he paused for five seconds before answering.

“That’s a good question,” Van Noy said. “I think I’ll be able to answer that better after the week, to be honest, being completely honest. I feel like there’s responsibility, but we’ll see.”

Kyle Van Noy