With the Ravens aiming to get off to their first 2-0 start since 2023 in Sunday’s home opener against New Orleans, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. Jesse Minter didn’t have to dwell on 2025 since he wasn’t here, but players noted him being the one harping on their woeful 3-6 mark at M&T Bank Stadium this week. Popular as he is, the first-year coach isn’t afraid to be blunt. Improvement at home is a must.
2. Though officially doubtful, Zay Flowers sitting out is the obvious call when dealing with a hamstring injury that’s lingered for a month now. Especially with a full week to prepare, this offense has more than enough talent to make it work without its No. 1 receiver in the short term.
3. A big part of that figures to be to leaning more into Derrick Henry early in the game. Per PFF, New Orleans surrendered a league-worst seven runs of 10 or more yards in Week 1. Baltimore had six runs of 10-plus yards last week. There’s no need to overthink this.
4. That could be complicated by the status of Ronnie Stanley, who missed much of the week with a toe injury and didn’t appear to do much Friday. Stanley is coming off the healthiest two-year stretch of his career with only one game missed, but he’s now in his age-32 season.
5. Tyler Shough reminds Anthony Weaver “a little bit of like a poor man’s Josh Allen,” which is quite a compliment for someone with 10 career starts. The Saints quarterback moves pretty well and makes some impressive throws, but I’ll take my chances if he’s forced into throwing 50-plus times again.
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6. No one had more receiving yards than Chris Olave in Week 1, and he’s an example why Minter prefers playing so much two-high shell coverage. You’ll live with surrendering some modest gains on the ground and shorter completions to keep the ball from going over your head for game-changing plays.
7. Asked about the Week 1 success of the offense, Lamar Jackson emphasized the need to “keep trying to confuse the defense as much as possible.” Yes, winning enough 1-on-1 matchups is a must, but Declan Doyle used pre-snap motion and creative formations very effectively.
8. How a Flowers-less wide receiver group fares is an obvious factor, but I’m curious to see how much Jackson looks to Mark Andrews. The veteran tight end had a solid opener aside from one drop, but Sunday may reveal what kind of ceiling Andrews truly has at this point.
9. Asked how much he enjoys blitzing, Kyle Hamilton admitted “you feel it on Monday” and later mentioned safety being “where I’ll just settle in in my rocking chair.” Hamilton’s incredible versatility is what makes him special, but it does take a physical toll, which is something coaches have to monitor.
10. LaJohntay Wester moving into the Flowers role on the fly made sense last week, but it’ll be interesting to see how much Doyle’s passing offense changes without its star receiver on the field. Does this team have enough Flowers insurance? The Ravens worked out the 32-year-old Brandin Cooks on Thursday.
811. According to Sharp Football, the Ravens faced third down on a league-low 29% of their sets of downs compared to the league average of 43.8% in Week 1. The best third-down offenses are the ones that avoid being in that position as much as possible.
12. This coaching staff deserves all the praise it received for last week’s win. However, teams have more time to prepare for Week 1 than any other game, and opponents will have more information on Doyle’s offense and tendencies. Remaining a step ahead and adjusting are keys to long-term success.
Prediction: The injuries have piled up more than you’d like to see after only one week of football, but New Orleans forcing overtime against Detroit last week may say more about the Lions than it does the Saints, who will be playing their second straight road contest to open 2026. Shough is an interesting young quarterback who heated up after a poor first half last week, so it’ll be critical for Minter’s defense to pressure the pocket and confuse him before and after the snap as much as possible. That coupled with heavy doses of Henry and under-center play-action passing should be the formula for Week 2 success. That said, this is the kind of sneaky early-season game in which the Ravens would too frequently play with their food and lose in the final years of the John Harbaugh era, and New Orleans proved capable of erasing a 21-point deficit last week. Being without Flowers is far from ideal, but Jackson will toss two touchdowns and Henry will eclipse 140 rushing yards for a second straight week in a 30-17 win for Baltimore.
