BALTIMORE -- About 30 minutes after Sunday's 27-22 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Lamar Jackson was still visibly distraught in the locker room, staring blankly ahead while seated off in the corner.
In what was a rare occurrence, Ravens coach John Harbaugh sat down next to his franchise quarterback in the locker room and spoke at length to Jackson.
The prevailing message that Jackson took from his conversation with Harbaugh: The Ravens still have four games left.
"Basically, he was saying to just stay locked in," Jackson said.
In a span of four months, the Ravens have gone from being a Super Bowl contender to being on the verge of not making the playoffs at all.
Baltimore (6-7) fell one game behind the first-place Steelers in the AFC North and watched its postseason hopes plummet. The Ravens' playoff chances went from 60% before the game to 30% after it, according to ESPN Analytics.
But the Ravens still control their own destiny and can capture the AFC North by winning their last four games: at the Bengals (4-9), home against the Patriots (11-2) and at the Packers (9-3-1) and Steelers (7-6). Baltimore's chances of winning out are 7%, according to ESPN Analytics.
"The season is not over," Harbaugh said. "[We will be] fighting for the AFC North for the next four games; that's where we stand."
Where the Ravens stand is unfamiliar territory. It's the first time in a decade that Baltimore is playing in December with a losing record.
This is usually the point in the season where Jackson and the Ravens hit their stride toward the postseason. This year, Baltimore has been off its game, which was reinforced in the final moments Sunday.
With the final seconds ticking off the clock, Jackson moved out of the pocket to the Pittsburgh 40-yard line. Instead of heaving a last-gasp pass to the end zone, Jackson got sacked to end a game that had been labeled a "must-win."
Jackson acknowledged that his frustration level is "through the roof."
"I feel like each and every week there's no room for error," Jackson said. "We are professionals. Now, I feel like we are just trying to win as much as we can right now. We've just been talking about the four-game stretch. You just have to lock in and put it all on the line."
Here are the biggest issues standing in the Ravens' way of reaching the postseason:
Lamar Jackson is still not quite Lamar Jackson. For the first time in weeks, Jackson showed flashes of his old self. He scored a touchdown for the first time since Nov. 9, and he kept drives alive with his legs by converting third downs with scrambles.
But Jackson completed less than 60% of his throws for the fifth straight game, which is a career-worst streak. It's even worse in the red zone, where his 42.5% completion rate inside the 20-yard line ranks last in the NFL.
Some of the issues coincide with reduced practice time due to various injuries: knee, ankle and toe. Jackson could continue to miss one practice a week.
"If it's not the best thing to practice because you want to get your body right, I think you have to respect that as a coach," Harbaugh said. "I know you have to respect that as a coach, so I respect Lamar and his judgment."
If the Ravens want to reach the playoffs, they need improved play from Jackson. When Jackson's passer rating is over 75, the Ravens are 65-12 (.844). When his rating is below 75 -- which it has been for the past two games -- Baltimore is 10-12 (.454).
"I always have so much respect for him and the way he plays, the way he fights and competes and everything else out there," Harbaugh said. "When the game starts, and the lights come on, there's nobody you'd rather have."
Red zone offense continues to sputter. Two plays after the overturned Isaiah Likely touchdown Sunday, Baltimore had another chance to reach the end zone on fourth down from the Pittsburgh 8-yard line. Jackson threw a pass to a wide-open DeAndre Hopkins in the back of the end zone, but tight end Mark Andrews thought he was the intended target and leapt for the ball. The pass went off Andrews' hands, and Hopkins was left standing in shock with his arms stretched out in front of him.
This was the latest example of the Ravens' disconnect in the red zone this season. After going 2-of-6 inside the 20-yard line against Pittsburgh on Sunday, Baltimore ranks 30th in red zone efficiency (44.9%).
"We're really just getting back to the drawing boards," Likely said of the red zone problems. "[We're] understanding what's not working, trying to get everybody on the same page to be able to score, put those three [points] into seven [points] or being able to just put points on the board."
This has been one of the biggest head-scratching issues for Baltimore. Last season, the Ravens were the NFL's best red zone offense, scoring a touchdown on 74.2% of their trips inside the 20.
Harbaugh strongly pushed back when asked whether the Ravens were running out of options to fix the problem.
"I'm not a hopeless person, so we don't run out of options," Harbaugh said. "We keep working, and we keep developing, and we keep coming back and keep fighting. We don't throw up our hands and say we're out of options. We don't do that. So, the answer to that is a firm no."
The defense is struggling to stop big plays. On the Steelers' first play Sunday, Aaron Rodgers launched a 52-yard pass to DK Metcalf, who beat Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey along the sideline. This has been an all-too-familiar site for Baltimore lately.
Over the past two games, the Ravens have allowed six completions on passes that traveled at least 20 yards in the air. Only the Detroit Lions have given up more with seven.
On Sunday, Rodgers was 4-of-4 on throws of 20 yards or longer for 152 yards.
"They were good throws and good catches," Harbaugh said. "They were right there, and they were all covered. We've been exceptional in man coverage, but those plays were made, and it was really all they had."
Limiting the deep throws downfield will be a challenge for the rest of the season. Baltimore's next game is against Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who has thrown three touchdowns on passes of 20 yards or longer in his two games since returning from toe surgery. On Thanksgiving night, Burrow threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Andrei Iosivas in Baltimore.
After Burrow, Baltimore faces two more strong-armed quarterbacks in New England's Drake Maye and Green Bay's Jordan Love. Maye has the fifth-most completions on passes of 20 yards or more this season (22) and Love has connected on the third most (23).
The remaining schedule is daunting. If the Ravens reach the postseason, they will have earned that berth. Baltimore's remaining strength of schedule is the ninth-most difficult in the NFL.
After playing at the Bengals (4-9), the Ravens' final three opponents -- the Patriots, Packers and Steelers -- are a combined 27-11-1 (.705).
Three of the Ravens' last four games of the season are on the road. As far as the final regular-season home game against the Patriots, the Ravens haven't found much of an advantage at M&T Bank Stadium this year.
In Harbaugh's first 17 seasons (2008-24), the Ravens had the second-best home record in the NFL at 99-39 (.717). This season, Baltimore is 3-5, clinching its first home losing mark since 2015.
Running back Derrick Henry acknowledged the home losses have "hurt."
"You're supposed to defend your home turf, and we definitely should have a better record at home," Henry said. "That doesn't mean we give up or [shouldn't] still play with confidence [or] believe in each other, and go out there and do what we need to do to give ourselves a chance. But yes, it definitely stings, for sure."