To open up the 2026 regular season, the Baltimore Ravens secured a convincing 41-23 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Here are the Baltimore Beatdown staff’s reactions to the game:
In a game filled with some major highs and major lows, at the end of the day, it’s just nice to start the season with a win — something the Ravens didn’t do the last two seasons. They dominated for the most part on the way to a 41-23 win on the road. Lamar Jackson looked like Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry looked like Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers showed why he’s a top wide receiver in the NFL, both when he was on the field and when he wasn’t. Jesse Minter’s defense showed up after a rough opening drive. Despite the dominating win, there’s going to be plenty for this team to work with, starting with double digit penalties calls in this one. The offensive line also looked rough at moments but also opened up holes in the run game and Jackson did have moments with plenty of time in the pocket, despite it being inconsistent. The offense as a whole also went from looking like a Top 10 unit in the NFL to a bottom-tier unit after Flowers left due to injury. They will need to be better at having gameplans ready in the future. Overall, despite the penalties being maddeningly frustrating and worried surrounding the offense is Flowers misses more time, it’s hard to be unhappy after a Week 1 win. **— Zach Canter**
It’s tough to draw up a better opening performance for the new Ravens regime. The offense was simply unstoppable in the first half with Zay Flowers racking up over 150 yards and Lamar Jackson looking healthy and back to MVP form. Unfortunately, Flowers left the game with a hamstring injury that’s been nagging him since training camp. Hamstrings are particularly tricky and the Ravens might have to plan on being without their star receiver for a few games. Additionally rookie Ja’Kobi Lane left the game with a wrist injury. Defensively, the Ravens already looked greatly improved. They gave up some yards to Jonathan Taylor but Daniel Jones and the passing game were largely ineffective (I also counted about 3 holds that weren’t called on Trey Hendrickson). The addition of Nmandi Madubuike in the coming weeks will provide an additional boost. Obviously, the Flowers and Lane injuries will be ones to watch and they need to clean up some penalty issues but this was a great start to the Jesse Minter era. **— Stephen Bopst**
It’s hard to come away from Jesse Minter’s first game as anything but impressed. Both sides of the ball were dominant with small lapses throughout the game. The main negative is of course the amount of penalties committed on offense, but I expect that to be ironed out as the starting offensive line gels. I am worried about the passing attack without Zay Flowers, so hopefully his injury will not keep him out for long. Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry look as good as usual, which makes the sky the limit for Declan Doyle’s offense, who I thought called an excellent game in his first outing.
Defensively, I was impressed by the secondaries ability to keep everything in front of them. Paired with consistent pressure on Daniel Jones up front, Baltimore’s defense was as advertised through one game. Adding Madubuike to the mix is an exciting thought now. **— Dustin Cox**
The good far outweighed the bad for the Ravens in Week 1. After a disappointing defensive opening drive, Jesse Minter’s unit settled in and helped flip the game with forced turnovers. Allowing 23 points is not the most ideal number, but the Colts racked up some points and yards with the game all but out of reach in the second half. It was refreshing to see the Ravens come up with multiple takeaways and connect on explosive plays consistently on offense. Lamar Jackson had a sharp performance, and his agility looked night and day compared to last season as he dealt with injuries. The offensive line held up pretty well in pass protection and opened up running lanes for Derrick Henry.
However, the Ravens were also victimized by a number of pre-snap penalties and other offensive line violations throughout the game. Their ability to score in bunches and rip off chunk yardage helped compensate for this, but they had several positive plays called back by penalties and lost 10-20 yards at the same time. This will need to be cleaned up moving forward. The only other significant concern coming out of this game is the status of Zay Flowers (hamstring) and Ja’Kobi Lane (wrist). Flowers was halfway to 300 receiving yards in the second quarter before exiting due to injury. **— Frank Platko**
The Ravens looked like a complete team during Sunday’s win over the Colts. Offense, defense, and special teams all played complementary football with Baltimore’s new coaching staff putting their best players in positions to shine. Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle was cooking with Zay Flowers in the first half but his injury – as well as Ja’Kobi Lane’s – places a lot of pressure on the rest of receiving corps who did not show up for much of the game. But on Sunday, neither that nor way too many offensive line penalties really mattered with Lamar Jackson kicking off another MVP campaign and Derrick Henry rumbling for 6.0 yards per carry and three touchdowns. Minter’s defense was taken by surprise by the Colts’ pass-heavy opening drive, but quickly tightened up and forced two turnovers that led to touchdowns. Anthony Levine’s special teams unit contributed throughout the game with solid punt coverage and several big returns from LaJohntay Wester and Chris Moore. Outside of the injuries, it’s hard to ask for a better start to the Ravens’ new era. **— Nikhil Mehta**