The Baltimore Ravens wasted no time turning their Week 1 opener into a track meet. Behind offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, Baltimore rolled up 506 total yards in a 41-23 win over the Indianapolis Colts, and the big gains came early, often, and in bunches.
That explosion was the whole point. Doyle said the Ravens were hunting explosive plays, and his offense delivered them with a mix of motion, shifts, play-fakes, and misdirection that kept Indianapolis guessing snap after snap. Baltimore’s attack was so consistently on the move that it finished in the 98th percentile for explosive play rate, per The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia.
The best example was Doyle’s double-fake screen to Derrick Henry, a design that showcased just how much deception Baltimore was packing into the opener.
The Ravens also put Lamar Jackson in the kind of spots where he’s most dangerous. Jackson completed 17 of 25 passes for 324 yards and a passing touchdown in his 2026 debut, while adding 40 rushing yards and a score on the ground. The Ravens had him under center 67% of the time against the Colts, per CBS Sports’ Jacob Gibbs, the highest rate of his career.
That fits the numbers Jackson has already built since 2024. When he’s under center, he’s posted a 61% success rate, a +0.43 expected points added, and 10.2 yards per attempt. Warren Sharp noted that after using shotgun on 61% of first-half early downs last year, Baltimore used only 37% shotgun in the preseason, the fourth-most under center rate in the NFL.
When Doyle lines up Jackson that way and pairs it with play-action, the whole offense gets harder to read. That was the story in Week 1: Baltimore stayed unpredictable, and Jackson kept finding answers.
The little things mattered too. The Ravens didn’t just create space - they finished blocks downfield and turned good plays into huge ones. On Jackson’s scramble after he escaped pressure in the backfield, Vega Ioane drove a defender into the turf while Mark Andrews sealed the third-down conversion.
Later, Zay Flowers’ 54-yard touchdown got help from Matthew Hibner opening the lane and Ja’Kobi Lane giving Flowers just enough room to finish the run.
Derrick Henry’s 34-yard touchdown run was another example. Chris Moore was there helping clear out Colts safety Cam Bynum, and Henry did the rest.
That kind of detail is becoming part of the identity. Jesse Minter and his coaching staff have been preaching that relentless mentality all offseason, and in Week 1, the Ravens looked like a team already carrying it onto the field.
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Jesse Minter confirmed Flowers status ahead of Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints, keeping the door open for a quick return while still leaving the Ravens with a little uncertainty to monitor. Hamstrings can be tricky, even when the initial concern is mild, so Baltimore will be watching closely as the week unfolds. For now, the news is as good as the Ravens could have reasonably hoped for after watching one of their top playmakers head to the sideline. [Read more 🡒]
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Chris Moore Just Made The Ravens Roster Decision A Lot Harder
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Jesse Minter made clear he noticed the impact, and Moores 174 all-purpose yards only sharpened the question of whether his performance was enough to push him toward the 53-man roster. With another wide receiver dealing with an injury, the Ravens suddenly have a tougher call to make about whether Moores special teams spark and playmaking on offense are enough to earn him a longer stay. [Read more 🡒]