OTL: Did Complacency & Continuity Crush Ravens’ Championship Window?

There was a time not long ago that calling for the firing of Ravens coordinators amid overall success was considered a reactionary take. Eventually, though, the front office caught up to the realization that the offense needed to improve, and a change was made at OC, albeit too late to avoid what felt like lost seasons. Developing around the same time was the take that the consistent losses in blown leads were indicative of a bigger problem, which would have more devout members of the Purple Patrol telling you that every team loses and the Ravens just had some bad days. With a historical number of such losses, I think we’ve safely established that this team’s struggles go beyond bad luck.

The beginning of the 2025 season has seen the Ravens starting 1-3 in a year that they were supposed to be Super Bowl contenders. It’s been a jarring fall from grace, one featuring the fruition of lasting problems that hovered around this team and were never addressed. Like the sentiments above, there are some takes emerging from these struggles that sound more and more an unfortunate reality with each day that goes by. The first, and easier to accept, is that the Ravens missed the window to reorganize this coaching staff when they had the chance, and it’s costing a young, talented team years of contention.

Mike Mac should be the HC of the Baltimore Ravens if we’re being truthful but no going back. Missed opportunity. https://t.co/YRlJWS0ep6

— RAMEY (@HoodieRamey) September 28, 2025

The optics surrounding Lamar Jackson’s body language over the last week look bleak. Not sure we’ve seen this kind of demeanor since the end of Greg Roman’s tenure in Baltimore.

Begs the question: what’s happening internally? pic.twitter.com/RLskZTgmzv

— Bobby Trosset (@bobbybaltim0re) September 29, 2025

What I think we all recognize is that firing a coach after making the playoffs and having the regular season success that the Ravens seen would have been difficult to justify. In hindsight, many suggested that John Harbaugh should have been given a legacy role (read: cushy desk job) with the front office in a similar manner to Ozzie Newsome’s move away from being a full-time GM. From an outsider’s perspective, it feels like ownership was too chummy with the coaches they have, and even if conversations took place about making a change, maybe it was a matter of the dollars and cents in John Harbaugh’s contract negotiation if he refused to accept a new role that was the inhibiting factor. The other factor, of course, would have been that Mike Macdonald was still an unproven commodity, but there were signs that he could have done the job that look glaringly obvious now.

Mike Macdonald had that defense achieving these numbers before November https://t.co/lWemDlZExh

— The Ravens Realm (@RealmRavens) September 29, 2025

Add to the equation that defensive-minded coaches like Anthony Weaver and Dennard Wilson were allowed to walk, being scooped up by other squads in a hurry, and you wonder if it was hubris or complacency that allowed this exodus.

I don’t disagree with the logic I’m seeing from pundits that one or more firings at this point in the season has the capacity to do more harm than good, but if you stick with the status quo, doesn’t it feel a bit like throwing the season away by just continuing to do more of the same? The counterargument I hear is that a potential change is happening too late, and it leads into the second point I’d raise here, which is the hotter of my two hot takes: through their inaction and repeated failures, the Ravens may have closed their contender window for the foreseeable future.

The Ravens had no answers for the Chiefs on Sunday.@giana_jade describes the scene in the locker room after the 37-20 loss pic.twitter.com/N7sUCV4foW

— Baltimore Banner Sports (@AllBannerSports) September 29, 2025

And this is why I think the make up of the team and the GM have to be put on the list of “issues”.

The #Ravens are weak in the trenches and they were weak in the trenches before the Madubuike and Jones injuries.

Their EDGE rushers have not hit in multiple drafts.

HUGE issue! https://t.co/p89jUuxhhC

— Cole Jackson (@ColeJacksonFB) September 29, 2025

The body language of this team is a mess. The players see the backlash from fans and media alike, and it’s getting to them. Meanwhile, the coaching staff has no answers, and even the bright spots seem to be diminished by the team product as a whole. Where are the midgame adjustments from Todd Monken? Where is the development of the young pass rushers that we were promised with Chuck Smith? Where is any of the cohesiveness on the O-line under George Warhop now that he’s had a full offseason of prep time with this group?

Short of if they’d lost to the Browns, it’s hard to imagine this team being in a worse position right now. By collecting their third loss in their first four games, the Ravens have dealt a major blow to their playoff hopes. Combine that with what looks like wholesale failure to live up to expectation and mounting injuries among star players, it feels like the season may be lost already. They’re professionals, so they won’t treat it that way, but I ask you: does this look like a group that can be successful this season? More than that, do they look like they even believe they can be successful this season? Unfortunately, at this point, the astute business decision may have to be hitting the reset button and burning yet another year of the prime of young stars like Lamar Jackson and Kyle Hamilton in the hopes that, maybe someday down the road, it works to their benefit.

Some will read this and not agree, and I accept that. However, just remember that sentimentality and defense of the status quo is how we got here in the first place.

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