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ARLINGTON, TEXAS – AUGUST 16: Head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens watches action during the second quarter of an NFL Preseason 2025 game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on August 16, 2025 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

It’s been a really tough start to the season for the Baltimore Ravens. Entering the year, they were considered one of the favorites to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, alongside the Bills and Chiefs. But now Baltimore enters its bye week at 1-5, and six weeks in and the Ravens are comfortably one of the worst teams in the league. Injuries have decimated them on both sides of the ball, and key players have underperformed across the roster.

But Ravens head coach John Harbaugh isn’t throwing in the towel on the season just yet. He still has faith that this team can make a playoff push moving forward, especially with the bye week to reset and get healthy.

“Once again, lotta work [to do],” Harbaugh said in his press conference on Monday. “[We’re] going into a bye week now, and our focus going forward is what we can accomplish in these next 11 games and trying to earn our way into the playoffs. Which, obviously, as pointed out last night is not been done very often with the record we have, but we still believe we can do it.”

Baltimore Ravens HC John Harbaugh on What He Wants to Accomplish During the Bye Week

David Eulitt/GettyKANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – SEPTEMBER 28: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Baltimore Ravens looks to pass during the second quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on September 28, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)

“And really all the focus goes to really two things,” Harbaugh said about what the Ravens need to work on. “The bye week and working through every aspect and issue that we can, find every way we can be at our best going forward with the players we have. It’s going to be good to get players back.”

“And then how we organize ourselves and craft our schemes, and then also how we work on them for the next two days in training camp — or in the bye week,” Harbaugh quickly corrected himself. “I guess you treat it like a training camp maybe, but in the bye week to build those things into our offense, defense, and special teams, and then focus on the Bears game. You know, and being the best team we can be to win that game.”

What Do the Baltimore Ravens Need to Do to Make the Playoffs?

As unsightly as their 1-5 record is, the five losses came against some tough squads: the Bills, Lions, Chiefs, Texans, and Rams. You could argue those are five of the ten or so best teams in the league. Losing to any of them is not a mark of shame, though obviously a contending team — like the Ravens were thought to be — should win some of those games.

Still, if the Ravens emerge healthier from their bye week, the schedule sets up nicely for them to go on a bit of a run. They play the Bears, Dolphins, Vikings, Browns, Jets, Bengals, Steelers, and Bengals over their next eight games.

Now, given their horrific start to the year and the strength of the AFC conference, Baltimore can probably only afford one, maybe two more losses on their year to try and claim a wild card berth. But with a quarterback like Lamar Jackson under center, anything is possible.

Ethan Woodie is an accomplished sports writer specializing in the NFL and college football for Heavy.com. He’s written for Heavy since 2025 and has years of experience writing for NFL Trade Rumors and Pro Football Focus (PFF). Woodie is an expert in draft scouting and his final 2025 Big Board was included in Arif Hasan’s media consensus board for Wide Left. More about Ethan Woodie

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