Ravens Have More to Blame Than Injuries vs. Texans

The Baltimore Ravens are banged up, bruised and battered after their third straight loss against the Houston Texans in Week 5.

While the team was missing starting quarterback Lamar Jackson, star cornerback Marlon Humphrey, All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith and Pro Bowl left tackle Ronnie Stanley among others, a 44-10 loss exposes more than just an injured lineup. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh spoke about what needs to be fixed that is in their control.

"I think fundamental football is the most quickly fixable thing," Harbaugh said postgame.

"And I expect to see us play fundamentally-sound football. I don't think we did that, all the time, today. It wasn't egregiously bad, but this run defense, it's just not OK. That's not something that should happen. We haven't fixed that, really, all year yet. That's the No. 1 thing that we have to start with. We can't let them get the yards [teams are] getting on first down. You can't play behind the sticks the whole game, on both sides of the ball. And that's been pretty much a theme throughout the course of the whole season so far."

Baltimore Ravens running back Keaton Mitchell runs for a gain past Houston Texans defensive end Dylan Horton. | Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

The absences are a big part of the problem, but it isn't the complete issue. The losses are exposing the flaws in the roster and the team, which has led to a 1-4 start to the season.

With another tough matchup in Week 6 brewing against the Los Angeles Rams, the Ravens have to play clean, tidy football in order to have a shot against the NFC West contender. With Jackson out, there is reason to believe the Ravens will adopt a run-heavy game plan against the Rams, but that wasn't the case against the Texans.

"Yes, it was disappointing. I give them credit for stopping it, and we have to find a way," Harbaugh said of the run game. "That kind of goes back to the fundamental football part. We have to find a way to generate that part of our game."

The Ravens are still capable of winning football games, but they have to sharpen up if they want to find a way back towards the top of the AFC North.

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