If the Ravens don't turn things around soon, John Harbaugh might not be the coach much longer in Baltimore.
According to NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, Harbaugh is on the hot seat in a season that is now being viewed as playoffs-or-bust. Rapoport also added that there's some serious frustration with the direction of the team: The Ravens have lost three of four games since shooting out to a 3-1 start this season. That 1-3 stretch included a loss to the Browns, who were being coached by a guy (Hue Jackson) who doesn't even have a job anymore.
One other notable aspect of Harbaugh's situation is that a midseason firing hasn't been ruled out. Although Rapoport noted that a midseason move wasn't likely to happen, he did say that a big loss on Sunday to the Steelers could have the Ravens questioning their coaching situation as they head into their bye in Week 10.
Basically, Harbaugh and the Ravens desperately need a win on Sunday, but the problem is, it's not going to be easy. The Ravens will be going into the Steelers game without their starting offensive tackles as both Ronnie Stanley (ankle) and James Hurst (back) have been declared out after not practicing all week.
The idea of firing Harbaugh would have sounded preposterous just five years ago and that's because the Ravens were coming off a Super Bowl win in 2012. However, in the five seasons since then, the Ravens have made the playoffs just once.
Things have been so bad lately that Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti actually thought about firing Harbaugh at the end of last season.
"It was certainly a consideration, but not one that I was inclined to make this year," Bisciotti said back in February. "Certainly, it was a thought."
However, Bisciotti decided to give Harbaugh another season to turn things around.
"I was very proud of the way John kept fighting, held the team together when we were losing in the middle of the year," Bisciotti said.
Although Harbaugh had the backing of the owner at the end of 2017, there's no guarantee that's going to last, especially when you consider that the Ravens now have a new general manager in Eric DeCosta. As NFL.com noted, DeCosta might be looking to make a coaching change because Harbaugh wasn't his hire.
The good news for Harbaugh is that if he can beat the Steelers on Sunday, the Ravens have a very some very winnable games down the stretch. After this week, four of Baltimore's final seven games will be against teams that currently have a losing record (Raiders, Falcons, Buccaneers, Browns). The Ravens will also be facing a Bengals team in Week 11 that might not have A.J. Green (foot).
