OTL: Why Are Ravens Coaches Always a Day Late & Dollar Short?

Well, Flock, Sunday was another rough one… but you knew that already, didn’t you? In fact, you probably knew going into it that it had the capacity to get ugly, and you were acutely aware of the problems getting in the way of the Ravens enjoying even a modicum of success this season. However, so much of the reason these problems built up over time was that those who should have been aware of them either didn’t know or didn’t care, and that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

WHO HAS IT BETTER THAN US pic.twitter.com/bIiHuWX9ou

— Cole Jackson (@ColeJacksonFB) October 12, 2025

I’ll acknowledge that fans of the Ravens, me included, have set standards very high because of the level of season-to-season success that they’ve achieved. Playoff appearances were basically an expectation, which is more than a lot of teams can say, and that made the post-Super Bowl swoon that much more jarring during that era.

Still, one of the things I’ve found myself saying repeatedly when there have been glaring issues, especially in the last five seasons or so, is “Why does it seem like the coaches are the last ones to see what everyone else already sees?”

What do you notice on this play? pic.twitter.com/RQ5Vsx7jwj

— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) October 13, 2025

Monken’s toast.

Red zone play calling has been beyond atrocious.

From the 4 yard line:

Henry for 3
Tush push for 0
Tush push for 0
Henry for a loss

Ugly. https://t.co/xz9GpvIIop

— Matt Wise (@TheMattWise) October 12, 2025

Tyler Huntley sparking some life into this offense, finally.

(Should’ve happened sooner but that’s just me.)

— Melissa Y. Kim (@melissaykim) October 12, 2025

Horrible guard play. Ineffective play from a misfit backup QB. Abysmally poor play calling in the red zone. All these points of criticism sound way too familiar, because they’re not just from this season. Some of these issues have gone back years, but we were told by the coaching staff that concerns were either overblown or that they were being fixed. There was a lot of “we’re working on it,” but the informed viewer (or in our case, those of us watching the team at Camp during the offseason) could have told you that these were still glaring issues without any signs of improvement. In fact, there were warning signs about how this season could go from the very beginning of this year.

OTL: Winning Cures All, But Let’s Not Ignore the Problems

It’s taken so long for the team to embrace the things we’ve all been clamoring for, and you’d think the people in the building would be on top of it right away. Yes, fans and media have a tendency to be impatient with anticipated results, and sometimes patience does end up paying dividends, but with the benefit of hindsight, the fanbase has been right about most of these issues, if not everything. Check out this breakdown from Coach Evans regarding Derrick Henry finally having a good performance:

Derrick Henry finally had a great game rushing for over 100 yards. The outside zone run was used 20 times. Why has it taken so long for the team to realize this is the best run based on the team’s personnel? #NFL #DerrickHenry pic.twitter.com/Mdzeo1apWc

— Ivan Evans (@CoachEvans9) October 13, 2025

You know who’s been calling for Henry to have outside zone runs the entire season, even going into last year? The entire RSR crew. I saw how effective those lanes were in Training Camp, and I’ve been pounding the table for them ever since, but the coaches still insist on sending Henry up the gut behind a pair of guards that have looked lost since the season started.

The next natural question, of course, is why? Why is the team the last horse to cross the finish line in terms of awareness? There are a few possible answers here, and my gut says it’s a combination of factors. Maybe this falls on ownership being too sentimental in the good ol’ boy system of keeping coaches they know rather than outsiders, even when their staff has overstayed their welcome. Maybe the same can be said for the draft strategy of continuing to dip into the same wells for prospects from familiar coaching trees (Michigan, Penn State, etc.). Some of it is hubris from the old guard of coaches that always believe they know better, rather than the team getting younger the way that we’ve seen other teams do to turn their fortunes around. Maybe the most obvious of all, though, is how much they’ve relied on Lamar Jackson’s heroism to shield them from their shortcomings.

2025 Ravens WITH and WITHOUT Lamar Jackson:

PPG: 32.8 —–> 6.5
YPG: 338.0 —> 251.8

In 4 weeks of play prior to injury, Lamar led the league in touchdowns (10) and passer rating (130.5). The 32.8 PPG was ranked No. 3.

We already knew Lamar was colossally… pic.twitter.com/qcLa9YSNTz

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) October 13, 2025

The Ravens’ only hope after the bye is Lamar Jackson pic.twitter.com/MwHuAnX1G7

— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) October 12, 2025

It’s time for a gut check with this team. Ownership needs to take this on the chin and take accountability (a bit of a dirty word right now in Baltimore) for where this season is headed. If I’m making the call, I lean into a terrible season instead of trying to salvage this thing and use the highest draft capital in franchise history to build around the young cornerstones on either side of the ball.

Granted, I’m not in charge, and I’m not making the decisions. Then again, given the track record of fans vs. coaching and management over the last few seasons, maybe it’s time they start paying more attention to those voices from the end of the bar.

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