BALTIMORE -- Baltimore Ravens tight end Charlie Kolar said just about everything you'd expect from a shell-shocked losing locker room filled with players and coaches who can't believe a season of high expectations has quickly dissolved into a 1-4 mess.
Kolar said everybody needs to look in the mirror and take accountability. He rattled off all the areas that demanded improvement and talked about not using injuries as an excuse. He vowed that the Ravens would get back to work.
Then, before exiting the locker room and heading into a warm Baltimore evening, Kolar summed up the general feeling among the Ravens on Sunday.
"I wish I had better answers," Kolar said. "I wish I had better answers."
After an embarrassing 44-10 loss to the Houston Texans in a game that was essentially over by halftime and bore the resemblance of a preseason game for much of the second half, the Ravens looked and sounded like a team without any answers.
That was evident in coach John Harbaugh acknowledging his surprise and disappointment in how poorly his team played in a game that was as close to a must-win as it gets in early October. That was evident in the long pauses and exhales veteran outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy took before answering questions. And that was evident in every corner of the Ravens' locker room, with players unable to explain why good practices and a roster touted as one of the best and deepest in the league isn't showing up on game days.
"Just not translating," said running back Derrick Henry, who had 15 carries for 33 yards, but did score the home team's only touchdown. "Not like we're going in there and lollygagging and not doing our job. Everybody comes to work attentive, wants to get the job done and let it translate to Sundays.
"It's just not. I believe that it will. We just got to keep fighting, keep showing up, keep believing in one another, hold one another accountable, and I believe it will turn around."
The hole, though, that the Ravens have played their way into is immense. They've now lost three straight games -- blown out in two of them, and physically overmatched in the other -- to fall to 1-4, matching the 2015 team for the worst start in franchise history.
Since the NFL's playoff field expanded in 2020, only two teams that started 1-4 or worse have qualified for the postseason. The Ravens' schedule lightens up after next Sunday's home game against a good, well-rested and ticked-off Los Angeles Rams team, but nothing about how Baltimore has looked over the past three weeks suggests it should even fancy itself as a potential playoff contender, even when some injured players return.
For much of Sunday, the Ravens looked more like a team that could compete for the first overall draft pick come April. They were that bad in all three phases in a game where they trailed 24-3 at halftime and 34-3 just past the midpoint of the third quarter. It tied for the biggest home defeat in franchise history and was the third biggest loss overall. The Ravens sent about 75 percent of what was announced of a crowd of 70,077 to the exits by the start of the fourth quarter, a rare regular-season sight at M&T Bank Stadium.
If this wasn't rock bottom, it's going to be a very long next three months.
"Got beaten every way you can get beat. Very disappointed with that. I did not expect to see that. I thought we'd play a lot better than that, based on the way we practiced," Harbaugh said. "They played a really good game and made a bunch of plays. They did a great job on first down, we did not. They built a rhythm throughout the game, and we did not.
"Just a complete disappointment. We're going to have to find a way to turn it around and figure out who we are this next week and then into the bye. After the bye, we're going to have more than half the season left, and we're going to have to find ourselves."
The Ravens have faced plenty of in-season adversity before, but Harbaugh acknowledged that this stretch feels like Baltimore's biggest challenge to date. It starts with getting healthier as the Ravens played Sunday without eight starters, seven of whom made the Pro Bowl last season.
However, the Ravens aren't getting defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike (neck) back this year. And there's no guarantee quarterback Lamar Jackson (hamstring), fullback Patrick Ricard (calf), left tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle), middle linebacker Roquan Smith (hamstring), cornerbacks Marlon Humphrey (calf) and Chidobe Awuzie (hamstring), and safety Kyle Hamilton (groin), all of whom missed Sunday's game, will be back in time to face the Rams, either.
"No excuses. I just watched the Niners have injuries, go out there and play football. (As) professionals, you get paid to play, so we have to play better," said Van Noy, who returned after missing the previous two games with a hamstring injury. "We have to get our s -- together. Just being brutally honest. Coaches can give us the plays, but we have to execute, and it doesn't matter who you are in there. Do your job. Coaches ask you to do something, do it, myself included."
In truth, the Ravens weren't playing particularly well before the injuries hit. Sunday, though, represented a low point. They were that bad in every way. Cooper Rush threw three interceptions in place of an injured Jackson, but it would be hard to single just the quarterback out.
The offense had a nice first drive, but then couldn't get out of its own way or block the Texans. The defense started five rookies and played down to its experience, not forcing a punt until Houston's ninth drive, long after the competitive portion of the game had ended.
C.J. Stroud and the Texans, who came in with the league's 29th-ranked scoring offense, got points on their first eight possessions. Special teams wasn't good, either, as Tyler Loop missed a long field goal, the unit got two penalties and did nothing in the return game.
"It just hurts. It just wasn't good enough," said defensive lineman Brent Urban. "That isn't the standard here. That's not what we're used to."
Perhaps most concerning, the Ravens again didn't play with a level of physicality that measured up to an also-desperate Texans team that entered the game 1-3 and apparently motivated by past losses to Baltimore. There again was very little pushback at the line of scrimmage or anywhere else.
The signs of fight mostly came on the sideline, with tight end Mark Andrews spiking his helmet to the grass with both hands and booting a water bottle after his bobble led to a Rush interception, and cornerback Jaire Alexander trying to tear the football away from Texans wide receiver Jaylin Noel after he scored his first NFL touchdown.
Harbaugh and the players said they don't believe that effort and energy were issues. Even if that's the case, everything else was.
"You have to look at everything," Harbaugh said. "I think it starts with us, as coaches. We have to figure out how to put the guys in the best positions to make plays and do things right. There were a lot of things out there that weren't done correctly. So, we have to ask ourselves, 'How does that not translate to the game?' ... And then, 'What else can we do? What else can we come up with to figure out ways to challenge people and gain some yards and get some stops?'"
Henry was among several players to say that Harbaugh's message hasn't grown stale, and the players haven't quit on the coaching staff. Asked if there is still buy-in with the staff, center Tyler Linderbaum said, "(There) better be."
Several players also defended beleaguered defensive coordinator Zach Orr, whose unit found another rock bottom on Sunday. Over the last three games, Orr's defense has allowed 119 points. In 28 full drives by their opponents during that span, the Ravens have allowed 14 touchdowns and seven field goals while forcing just five punts and no turnovers.
Still, Harbaugh said he doesn't feel like firing Orr or making changes with the defensive staff is the answer.
"You try to do the most productive things, and I do not think that that's the answer," he said.
On Sunday, the Ravens looked like a team with no clue where the answers lie. They looked like a rudderless ship drafting out to sea with only storm clouds and darkness above them and on the horizon.
It's only Week 5, ample time to turn things around. There's also plenty of time for things to get much worse.
"I feel like there's accountability," Van Noy said, "but we will see."