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With several stars sidelined by injury and their defense overpowered once again, the Ravens suffered one of the worst losses in franchise history Sunday, losing to the Houston Texans, 44-10.

The Ravens dropped to 1-4 with their third straight loss, tied for their worst start in franchise history through five games. Their 34-point loss inside M&T Bank Stadium was tied for the second worst in franchise history overall. They’ve been outscored 81-30 over the past two games.

The Ravens struggled in all three phases Sunday against a Texans team that entered Week 5 with only one win. On offense, they entered halftime with almost as many three-and-outs (two) as points (three). On defense, they allowed five touchdowns to a Texans offense that had six in its first four games. And on special teams nearly every unit struggled with its execution.

The Ravens, who entered the season with Super Bowl hopes, could be playoff long shots before their Week 7 bye. Of the 28 teams that have started 1-4 since the NFL’s playoff field expanded in 2020, only two have made the postseason: the 2020 Washington Football Team (now Commanders) and 2024 Los Angeles Rams.

The Ravens started Week 5 even more shorthanded than expected. On Friday, the team ruled out quarterback Lamar Jackson, fullback Patrick Ricard, inside linebacker Roquan Smith, and cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey and Chidobe Awuzie because of injuries. Then left tackle Ronnie Stanley and safety Kyle Hamilton, who were considered questionable for Sunday’s game, were held out because of injuries as well.

With defensive linemen Nnamdi Madubuike and Broderick Washington on injured reserve, the Ravens were without seven of the 11 players with the highest 2025 salary cap hits on their team. With their once-promising depth compromised, the Ravens started five rookies on defense, including two undrafted free agents.

The Texans took advantage, outgaining their hosts 417-207. After not finding the end zone once in quarterback C.J. Stroud’s first three starts against the Ravens, Houston scored on eight of its 10 drives. Stroud became the latest quarterback to dice up the Ravens’ secondary, finishing 23-for-27 for 244 yards and four touchdowns before leaving the game early in the fourth quarter.

With Cooper Rush starting in Jackson’s place, Houston dared the Ravens to beat them through the air. Running back Derrick Henry was held to 33 yards (2.2 per carry) and a touchdown. Rush finished 14-for-20 for 179 yards and three interceptions. The Ravens’ first touchdown didn’t come until late in the third quarter.

By then, thousands of fans had left M&T Bank Stadium.

A new low

It was hard to be optimistic about the Ravens’ Super Bowl aspirations last week, but it wasn’t hard to muster optimism about Sunday’s game. Sure, their injury list was long and expensive, but they would still have a handful of impressive playmakers on offense and, besides, John Harbaugh had managed debilitating roster crunches before. In 2020, the Ravens were roiled by COVID-19 and injury, but they played the Steelers close on the road in a late-season game.

On Sunday, the Ravens bottomed out fast and hard. Cooper Rush looked like the turnover-prone player we’d seen in the preseason. The Ravens’ ground game could barely open a hole for Derrick Henry. Their run defense couldn’t stop a terrible Texans ground game. Their pass defense looked clueless against play-action. Even their special teams had ill-timed mistakes.

Good coaches put their players in positions to succeed. There wasn’t a lot of evidence of that Sunday.

— Jonas Shaffer, Ravens reporter

Worse than you could imagine

Five starters out on the defense. Lamar Jackson sidelined for the offense. Ugly was expected. But somehow the Ravens performed below my already low expectations. Every phase of the game failed. The defense did not get one stop against a struggling Houston offense until the Texans turned to their backup quarterback in the final minutes of a rout. The Baltimore offense, with all its skill positions at full strength and a multitude of veterans and Pro Bowlers around backup quarterback Cooper Rush, found the end zone only once. Tyler Loop missed a field goal. Jordan Stout had a great punt erased by a penalty and then kicked it short while backed up in the end zone. This team made the Texans look better than the Chiefs in a game that presented few, if any, bright spots.

— Giana Han, Ravens reporter

Nothing to hang your hat on

An optimist would look at Sunday’s game as an opportunity — for the Ravens’ young players to show they are deserving of playing time, for the defense to display grit despite being so shorthanded, for the coaching staff to prove its worth. Consider the opportunity wasted. Baltimore’s loss to a mediocre Texans team leaves fans with nothing to feel good about. Is this team talented enough to go on a run after the bye? Sure. But no one in their right mind who watched the first five games of the season would believe it’s likely.

— Paul Mancano, Banner Ravens Podcast host

Now’s the time to despair

It’s not so much that the Ravens are 1-4, a hole only 16 teams since 1970 have climbed out of to make the playoffs. It’s that, on a day when they needed to play desperately to breathe life into their season, they were instead hopelessly overmatched. A defense missing most of its Pro Bowl core had no answer for a Houston offense that looked like one of the worst in the league a few weeks ago. And with no Lamar Jackson the Ravens had no hope of going score for score with the Texans. Cooper Rush actually moved them on their first drive, despite Houston selling out to stop Derrick Henry. But the Ravens settled for a field goal at the end of that opening possession. From there, all optimism vanished from M&T Bank Stadium.

Maybe Jackson returns next week and the Ravens pull themselves out of an early grave against a very good Rams team. But right now it’s hard not to feel this season is over with 12 games to go, a stunning fall for a team picked by so many pundits to win the Super Bowl. Injuries contributed mightily to their tumble but can’t explain just how little fight they mustered Sunday.

— Childs Walker, contributor