WR Zay Flowers
WR Zay Flowers
After the Ravens' joint practice with the Washington Commanders, Head Coach Jesse Minter was asked about what it meant to see the team's top players shine in practice.
Baltimore didn't play its starters in the preseason games, but they were on-point in joint practices.
"You want your best players, your most vocal players, your leaders, to not necessarily have to play the best, but play with the right mentality, play within the scheme, do the things that they are supposed to do," Minter said. "Because now they can lead by example, and they can hold guys to that standard."
The Ravens' leaders led the way in a dominant 41-23 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 1. Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, and Zay Flowers paced the offense, becoming the first trio in franchise history to post 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards, and 150 receiving yards in a game.
In offensive coordinator Declan Doyle's first game as a playcaller, the Ravens produced the first game in their 31-year history with this trifecta:
🏈 300-yard passer (Lamar Jackson)
🏈 150-yard receiver (Zay Flowers)
🏈 100-yard rusher (Derrick Henry)
Source: ESPN Research
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) September 14, 2026
Defensively, Roquan Smith and Marlon Humphrey came up with the Ravens' two turnovers with an interception and forced fumble, respectively. Top outside cornerback Nate Wiggins locked up wide receivers all game long, and Kyle Hamilton was all over the field. Trey Hendrickson didn't get a sack in his first game, but he put Colts quarterback Daniel Jones under a lot of pressure.
Here's a look at the Ravens' top Pro Football Focus grades and snap counts:
Top @PFF grades from Ravens' Week 1 win in Indy:
Offense
Zay Flowers - 93.7
Lamar Jackson - 83.1
Chris Moore - 81.8
Matt Hibner - 81
Vega Ioane - 73
Defense
Roquan Smith - 91.4
Marlon Humphrey - 91
Travis Jones - 77.4
Kyle Hamilton - 75.2
Jaylinn Hawkins - 73 pic.twitter.com/eWjO72DA5Q
— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) September 14, 2026
Ravens offensive snap counts:
QB: Jackson 68
RBs: Henry 37, Hill 31
WRs: Bateman 53, Lane 27, Moore 25, Wester 20, Flowers 20
TEs: Andrews 49, Smythe 42, Hibner 23, Cuevas 6
OL: Simpson 68, Ioane 68, Rosengarten 68, Stanley 68, Gwyn 68, Vinson 7.
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 14, 2026
Ravens defensive snap counts
OLB: Robinson 44, Hendrickson 40, Green 17, Young 12
ILB: Smith 54, Simpson 32,
DL: Jones 31, Campbell 29, Washington 21, Jenkins 13, Peebles 10
CB: Wiggins 54, Humphrey 48, Martin 23, Awuzie 6
S: Starks 54, Hamilton 54, Hawkins 52
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 14, 2026
Flowers' 93.7 grade is the second-highest of his career, only trailing a 2024 game against the Denver Broncos in which Flowers had five catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns. With five grabs for a career-high 150 yards all in the first half before a hamstring injury, Flowers averaged a whopping 13.6 yards per route run.
Zay Flowers' season opener:
5 catches, 150 yards, 1 TD, 13.6 yards per route run pic.twitter.com/CtvNPL4Apl
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) September 14, 2026
Flowers did much of his damage from the slot, as Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle found ways to get him in space and away from top Colts cornerback Sauce Gardner. Flowers lined up outside on just 36.4% of his snaps against the Colts and matched up against Gardner just twice, catching one pass for 12 yards, per Next Gen Stats.
One definitive feature of Doyle's new offense is more snaps with Jackson from under center. That allows the Ravens to be more effective with play-action passing. Jackson was 7-of-8 for 128 yards on play-action passes versus the Colts, per Next Gen Stats. The 16 yards per attempt was the third-highest mark of his career in which he had at least eight play-action attempts.
Hendrickson generated eight pressures (31.8%) and the Ravens had a 58.6% pressure rate and two sacks when he was on the field. His first sack as a Raven will have to wait, but he had a ripple effect on the entire pass rush.
When Trey Hendrickson was on the field, the Ravens posted a 58.6% pressure rate and two sacks. Without him, 20.0% pressure rate and zero sacks.
Hendrickson generated all eight of his pressures across 21 matchups against Colts LT Bernhard Raimann.#BALvsIND | #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/Mrx78Hlwm7
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 13, 2026
The Ravens' offensive line has some pass protection and penalty problems. Rookie Vega Ioane and veteran Ronnie Stanley were flagged twice, John Simpson had one penalty, and Jovaughn Gwyn's holding penalty took a touchdown off the board. However, the unit blocked extremely well in the run game. Derrick Henry finished with 110 yards before contact against the Colts, the third-highest single-game total of his career, per Next Gen Stats. Henry was hit at the line of scrimmage on just 8.3% of his carries, the lowest rate of his Ravens career.
Making the first starts of their career, Ioane and Gwyn had some tough snaps with Colts interior defensive linemen DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart. It was a tough assignment, but Ioane was still the Ravens' highest-graded starting offensive lineman overall (73) and Gwyn had the offensive line's best run-blocking grade (88.2). Gwyn's run blocking grade was tied for the highest mark among any center in the NFL in Week 1 (Los Angeles Rams' Coleman Shelton).
Humphrey yielded three receptions on four targets, but just for 29 yards, per PFF. He also had a deep pass breakup. On the other side, cornerback Wiggins shut down his Colts foes with zero catches allowed on just two targets and 34 coverage snaps, per Next Gen Stats. The Ravens are banking on Wiggins to become a shutdown cornerback this season and he did it in Week 1.
Nate Wiggins allowed zero receptions on two targets over 34 coverage snaps, per @NextGenStats.
He was the only outside corner in Week 1 thus far with at least 25 coverage snaps to allow zero receptions.
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) September 14, 2026
Smith's 91.4 PFF grade was tied for the third-highest mark of his Ravens career.
Cornerback Keyon Martin will have a substantial role, as he took 23 defensive snaps. Undrafted rookie outside linebacker Ethan Burke played exclusively on special teams while second-round rookie outside linebacker Zion Young had 12 snaps.