Ravens' John Harbaugh Says Firing DC Orr Not the 'Answer' After 44-10 Loss to Texans

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said after Sunday's 34-point Week 5 loss to the Houston Texans he is not considering firing defensive coordinator Zach Orr staff despite a historically poor start to the 2025 campaign.

The Ravens have set a five-game franchise record by allowing a total of 177 points against so far this season.

"You try to do the most productive things, and I do not think that that's the answer," Harbaugh said Sunday night when asked if he was considering defensive staffing changes. "We've got 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 it has to do with coaches and players together."

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Baltimore fell to 1-4 after being blown out by a Texans offense which, after scoring six total touchdowns in four games, racked up five touchdowns against the Ravens.

The 44-10 loss marked the first time the Ravens have allowed 44 points against at home since Harbaugh took the helm of the team in 2008.

The Ravens were missing star quarterback Lamar Jackson on Sunday in addition to a long list of other injury absences including cornerback Marlon Humphrey, safety Kyle Hamilton, interior linebacker Roquan Smith, fullback Patrick Ricard and defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike.

Those injuries led to the Ravens starting five defensive rookies in safety Malaki Starks, linebacker Teddye Buchanan, offensive linebacker Mike Green, cornerback Keyon Martin and safety Reuben Lowery.

Harbaugh indicated after the loss he didn't see those injuries as an excuse for the unit's performance against the Ravens.

"I thought we would play better. I thought we would tackle better. I thought we would play our run defense better than we did," Harbaugh said. "It was not up to the standard. I mean, we have good enough players out there to play a lot better than we did."

The Ravens lost former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald ahead of the 2024 season to his new job as the Seattle Seahawks' head coach.

Orr was quickly promoted to take over for Macdonald, making him the first former Ravens player to take on a coordinator role. He had retired from playing after the 2026 season and spent the previous two seasons as insider linebackers coach.

After a rough start to the 2024 season that saw the defense rank last in the NFL with almost 295 passing yards allowed per game through Week 10, Orr led the unit to a strong finish to the campaign capped off by a four-game win streak against the New York Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers, Texans and Cleveland Browns.

Harbaugh will hope his faith that Orr can replicate that late-season success pays off soon, starting with next Sunday's Week 6 matchup against the visiting Los Angeles Rams. If the Ravens continue to struggle, Harbaugh will undoubtedly face more questions about potential staff changes as the team heads in to a Week 7 bye.