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The Houston Texans’ summary of possessions in their 44-10 win over the Ravens on Sunday looked like this: touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, field goal, (insert backup quarterback) punt, end of game.

Notice that the Ravens did not force a punt while Texans starting quarterback C.J. Stroud was in the game, making this performance even worse than last week’s, when Baltimore managed to get only one stop against the Patrick Mahomes-led Kansas City Chiefs.

Cries in comments sections for the Ravens to fire defensive coordinator Zach Orr are intensifying.

After the preseason brought hype for a star-studded Ravens defense, the unit hasn’t simply fallen short of expectations. It has been historically bad.

The Ravens have recorded their worst defensive stats in a five-game span to open the season in franchise history across four categories:

They’ve allowed the most yards (2,044).

They’ve given up the most touchdowns (21).

They’ve given up the most points (177).

They’ve forced the fewest turnovers (two).

Despite the galling numbers, coach John Harbaugh said Sunday after his defense’s latest failure that he doesn’t think firing Orr is the right choice.

“You try to do the most productive things, and I do not think that that’s the answer,” Harbaugh said. “We have to go to work, is what we need to do. We need to stick together, is what we need to do. We need to find ourselves. And that has to do with coaches and players [working] together.”

Harbaugh took a risk by promoting Orr, then a young position coach with no play-calling experience, to defensive coordinator in 2024. He’s not known for in-season firings. The last time Harbaugh made a change at coordinator during the regular season was in 2012, when he fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron.

And the head coach’s support of Orr is echoed in a locker room filled with young defensive players.

Only seven starters for the Ravens’ defense on Sunday had experience playing under a coordinator other than Orr: defensive lineman John Jenkins, nose tackle Travis Jones, defensive end Brent Urban, linebacker Trenton Simpson and outside linebackers Kyle Van Noy, Tavius Robinson and Odafe Oweh.

Only three of those players (Jenkins, Urban and Van Noy) have experience outside the Ravens organization. They’re also the only ones past their rookie contracts (the Ravens picked up the fifth-year option on Oweh).

Although Van Noy and Harbaugh called out the Ravens’ fundamentals, they both said coaches are focusing on the right things during practice. Neither is sure why it’s not carrying into games. Van Noy called messaging from the coaches “fine,” although he also said that questioning it is above his pay grade.

Jenkins said Orr understands the game and puts him in positions to make plays.

“I just didn’t capitalize, so I take a lot of the blame,” Jenkins said.

Ravens players have expressed similar sentiments this season. Even when the defense’s Pro Bowl players were healthy, they too took blame rather than placing it on their coordinator’s shoulders.

Star safety Kyle Hamilton, who missed Sunday’s game with an injury, had a lot to say when asked about Orr before Week 4.

“With Zach, it’s unfair to put all the blame on him when there’s 11 guys there on the field that are playing their hearts out, and he’s put us in the right positions,” Hamilton said. “It’s just a matter of us doing the right stuff, and that’s where I feel like the critiques of Zach or whatever [other] coaches are unfair, because he can’t go out there and play for us. As much as he wants to, he can’t. So it’s up to us to go out and get the job done. So it’s not a Zach thing. It’s not a coaching thing on the defensive side of the ball. It’s just that players have to get the stuff right.”

Urban goes way back with Orr. He’s played alongside him and now under him. He said he stands behind Orr 100%.

“For sure,” Urban said when asked if it’s frustrating to see Orr take the blame. “We’re the ones out there playing, and I just look at it like it has to be on us. The coaches can’t go out there and play with us.”

“We have to get our shit together,” Van Noy said. “Just being brutally honest. Coaches can give us the plays, but we have to execute, and it doesn’t matter who you are in there, do your job. [If the] coaches ask you to do something, do it. Myself included.”

A rash of injuries this season hasn’t made things easy on Orr.

The team lost Pro Bowl defensive lineman Nnamdi Madubuike in Week 2 to a season-ending neck injury, and lineman Broderick Washington has been out with an ankle injury.

Van Noy and Jones returned from injuries, but that was offset by other key losses. Hamilton, linebacker Roquan Smith and cornerback Marlon Humphrey, all Pro Bowlers, missed Sunday’s loss. Baltimore also played without veteran cornerback Chidobe Awuzie.

The Ravens had to rely on a large group of rookies. They activated undrafted free-agent rookies safety Reuben Lowery, linebacker Jay Higgins and cornerback Keyon Martin. That trio joined four rookies who had already contributed: safety Malaki Starks, linebacker Teddye Buchanan, outside linebacker Mike Green and defensive lineman Aeneas “Fub” Peebles.

The rookies are playing with high effort; they just have little to show for it.

“In our positions, we have young guys, they have to grow up fast; they don’t have time to mature over time,” Van Noy said. “We need them now to step up, and the older guys need to step up, too. Guys that have been here for a couple years just have to play better, top down. No excuses.”

As much as the players protest that they have a “next man up” mentality, their lack of experience, and in some cases talent, has been noticeable.

But the team was falling below expectation before the injuries starting biting Pro Bowlers.

After holding teams under 100 rushing yards in all but six of 19 games last season, this year’s Ravens haven’t held a team below 100 once.

They gave up 389 passing yards to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills to open the season. No other opponent has come close to that total, but they haven’t needed to try, because they’ve been able to run the ball well.

However, when opposing quarterbacks drop back, they often face little pressure and easily find open receivers.

Two of Baltimore’s losses came against offenses that had struggled to start the year. The Ravens made the Chiefs and the Texans look like some of the NFL’s best units.

Harbaugh called this the most challenging stretch he’s been through with the Ravens, the lowest point. Van Noy said it could get lower. But he’s choosing to focus on the possibility of getting better, not worse.

“I just think we have good enough players that all it takes is literally one play to change it, one win to change the momentum,” Van Noy said. “Somebody has got to do it, and believe that they’re going to do it, and continue to show up and work.”

Next, the Ravens face a high-powered offense in the Los Angeles Rams, a 3-2 team that’s gained over 400 yards in three games.

Whether they get players back or not, the Ravens have to get through the game before they reach their Week 7 bye to heal and reset.

After Sunday’s loss, linebackers coach Tyler Santucci gathered his players in a huddle after the rest of the coaching staff cleared out.

Surrounded by Jake Hummel, who has become the special teams ace; Higgins, who made the team despite going undrafted; Simpson, who is in a prove-it year; Buchanan, who wore the green dot despite being a rookie; and Smith, who had been a staple for this defense before getting hurt, Santucci told his guys to “stay the course.”

“Regardless of circumstance, we plan to fight,” Buchanan said.

Van Noy is hoping they find their fight soon.

“I don’t have many chances left, so I don’t have time to sit and wait,” Van Noy said. “We have to figure it out.”