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John Harbaugh's Intentions With Ravens Questioned by Ryan Clark After Loss to Lions

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Nick Meyer | Last updated Sep 23, 2025 5:06 PM ET

The Baltimore Ravens have been tabbed as an AFC favorite this season with Lamar Jackson reprising his role as MVP candidate and Derrick Henry running wild so far this season.

A blowout win over the Bengals in Week 2 had fans thinking the Ravens were on their way to AFC favorite status.

On Monday, the Ravens squared off against a top contender from the NFC, the Detroit Lions, and left their home stadium dismayed after a 38-30 home loss that raised plenty of questions with the Chiefs on the docket for next week.

Following the loss, ESPN analyst Ryan Clark shared his thoughts on Ravens coach John Harbaugh, calling him out for previous comments on the team's mindset.

Clark Calls Out Ravens Boss

The Ravens boss Harbaugh was called out by the controversial ESPN commentator as he shared his thoughts on a recent comment.

"Congrats to the Lions.. what a game, but Baltimore needs to change its mentality," Clark said.

"John Harbaugh said that people saying it's 'Super Bowl or Bust' for the Ravens are silly... and they look like a team that believes that.

"We saw one team on the Lions who strained, paid attention to detail, & executed as if a championship was on the line.

"Then, another behaved like showing up was enough. You're only as good as your record. Right now the Ravens are just a 1-2 team that's only beaten the Browns. Thankfully for Detroit fans the Lions play like it's 'Super Bowl or Bust'"!

Congrats to the Lions.. what a game, but Baltimore needs to change its mentality. John Harbough said that people saying it’s “Super Bowl or Bust” for the Ravens are silly… and they look like a team that believes that.

We saw one team on the Lions who strained, paid attention… pic.twitter.com/QyHSICfTCX
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) September 23, 2025

Chiefs Next Up for Baltimore

Next up for the Ravens are the Kansas City Chiefs, who won their first game of the season against the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football.

Few if any fans thought the Chiefs and Ravens would both be 1-2 on the season heading into their Week 4 matchup, but that's the reality of the situation with both teams not quite playing up to their usual standards so far.

The Chiefs have the home field but the Ravens have plenty of positives to build upon after their relatitvely close loss to Detroit on Monday.

The Ravens need a win in the worst way, and now the preparation begins for what should be one of the most watched games of the 2025-26 NFL season.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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