Ravens' Firing of John Harbaugh Feels Long Overdue

After nearly two decades of a mostly prosperous tenure, the Baltimore Ravens have decided to part ways with head coach John Harbaugh. This seismic move comes just a couple of days after what was an agonizing 2025 campaign came to a close in a gut-wrenching fashion that had become too familiar in the final years of his reign.

This time around, it came at the hands of the team's archrival, the Pittsburgh Steelers, with the AFC North crown on the line in a winner-take-all grudge match to close out the regular season. Instead of rising to the occasion after getting new life the week prior when the Cleveland Browns pulled off a miraculous upset, they squandered multiple chances to punch their ticket to the playoffs and become the first team to ever three-peat as division champions in a 26-24 loss.

Not only did the disappointing result cement the team's third losing season in 18 years under Harbaugh, but in a myriad of ways, the entire game itself was a microcosm of not only how this season played out but also of how the Ravens had devolved under his guidance in recent years. They showed that they were a team that failed to live up to their full potential and couldn't overcome the loss of a major piece on one side of the ball, despite having highly compensated players elsewhere at different positions.

Against the Steelers in Week 18, the on-off splits for the defense after two-time All Pro safety Kyle Hamilton left the game with a concussion weren't just staggering; they were inexcusable and spoke to larger issues stemming from coaching. They looked lifeless and woefully inept in all facets, but specially the when it came to basic fundamentals, when it came to simply tackling in the open field, limiting yards after catch and contact and getting proper depth in coverage.

Even without Hamilton on the field, the Ravens still had three defenders left standing who rank among the top 10 highest-paid players at their respective positions, including a pair of multi-time All Pros with inside linebacker Roquan Smith and cornerback Marlon Humphrey. Yet the only one who managed to make a play of note to get off the field and force the Steelers' only punt in the second half was defensive tackle Travis Jones, who recorded the fifth sack of his breakout season.

As they have in so many games since Lamar Jackson's first season as a full-time starter in 2019, the Ravens got out to a double-digit lead in this game at 10-0 early in the second quarter but let it slip away. The only difference between this game and the record-breaking 17 blown leads of a similar nature is that they weren't up by double figures in the fourth quarter or at any point in the second half.

This season felt lost long before rookie kicker Tyler Loop shanked what would've been the game-winning field goal wide right as time expired on the clock and ultimately, the Harbaugh era. Had he made the kick, the first-year specialist likely would've just delayed what felt like the inevitable, given that anything short of a magical run to the Super Bowl or at least back to the AFC championship game would've led to the same conclusion; the time for a change in Baltimore was long overdue.

Players postgame comments spoke volumes

Dec 27, 2025; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey (44) looks on before a game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images | Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images

As if the eerily familiar manner in which the team lost wasn't bad enough, the words and lack thereof from the Ravens players themselves, both at the podium and in the post-game locker room, painted a clear picture that change at or near the top was sorely needed.

After becoming just the second player in NFL history to throw two go-ahead touchdowns of 50-plus yards in the fourth quarter and the first since David Garrard in 2010 for the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Houston Texans, Jackson could barely find the words to describe how he was feeling when asked bout his thoughts on his former head coach's future with the team.

"I'm so caught up in what just happened tonight," Jackson said. "I can't focus on that right now. I just told you. I'm stunned right now. I'm still trying to process what's going on."

Both Smith and Humphrey were much more open and transparent with their assessments of the team as a whole, the defense specifically and their own play from this season, neither of which believed they played up their standard or levels of pay.

An unfiltered Marlon Humphrey gave an honest self-assessment of his 2025-26 campaign:

"My standard of play this year was not how I wanted. I've never been a guy to give up explosive plays like that. ... The preparation I put in, the time I put in, the numbers I put in ... I ran… pic.twitter.com/SrfdZT7Yb4
— Bobby Trosset (@bobbybaltim0re) January 5, 2026

"I can really only speak for myself; I just wait and see if I'm part of the plans going forward or if I'm not. My standard of play this year just was not how I wanted," Humphrey said. I've never been a guy to give up explosive passes like that... The preparation I put in, the time I put in, the numbers I put in – I ran the fastest I've ever ran this past training camp – and nothing really matched up to how I would perform on Sundays."

Smith agreed that losing Hamilton to injury was no excuse for how poorly his unit played in the second half, especially with the game on the line, and pointed to himself as one of the main culprits.

"Your job as a professional is to do your job to the best of your ability, where we can all depend on you to do your 1-of-11, and I didn't do mine good enough tonight," Smith said. "I don't feel like anyone did, because we didn't get the job done."

The four-time Pro Bowler struggled to pinpoint why the defense and the Ravens as a whole continue to underwhelm and fall short year after year despite being one of the most talented and well-balanced teams in the league. He admitted that the players have far too often gotten too lackadaisical and complacent, which has led to consistent failed execution of good play calls in key moments.

Roquan Smith was extremely thoughtful and introspective at the Ravens postgame podium in Pittsburgh:

"Play in and play out, if your job is to do this, why can't you do this play in and play out? Including myself. That's something we have to do if we ever want to get over the… pic.twitter.com/kDoKW24N5W
— Bobby Trosset (@bobbybaltim0re) January 5, 2026

"I feel like that's something we have to do if we want to ever go and get over the hump, and I don't truly know what it is," Smith said. I'm searching for those answers, as well, where it's just like the mental intensity and carrying that over, play in, play out, until the echo of the whistle and just line up and doing it again and having that mindset, because we have to do that if we want to ever get somewhere, and it sucks."

Change is inevitable, and doing it just shake things up isn't a good enough reason to move on from a future Hall of Fame coach that brought the franchise one of its two Super Bowl titles. However, after years of the same underwhelming results despite regularly having elite ingredients to work with in all three phases, with nothing to show for it except a handful of division titles, one title game appearance, and a high regular season win percentage after being so dominant in the postseason early on, the time to move on from Harbaugh was a long time coming.

Honestly, the move should've happened following the 2023 season, and the transition of power should've gone to then-defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, who was rumored to be the next head coach in waiting. Now he has the Seattle Seahawks, who are looking like the Ravens of old with an elite defense and a team overall that excels at playing great complementary football.

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