The first year of the Jesse Minter era in Baltimore is set to get underway this weekend as the Baltimore Ravens travel to Indianapolis to square off against the Colts in Week One of the 2026 NFL season. The new beginning in Charm City brings reenergized feelings in town and around the league regarding Baltimore’s potential to make the Super Bowl for the first time with Lamar Jackson under center and Minter in his first year as head coach. However, before that can become a possibility come postseason time, the Ravens must yet again endure the NFL’s 17-game regular season grind, which begins with a road test against a Colts team that has talent on both sides of the ball, even with notable weaknesses that the Ravens will try to take advantage of. With the first week of the regular season about to get underway, the Ravens will look to get off to a much better start than they have in the past couple of seasons.
With Jackson at quarterback and a supporting cast that consists of Zay Flowers, Derrick Henry, Mark Andrews, Rashod Bateman and training camp/preseason rookie sensation Ja’Kobi Lane on offense, along with Kyle Hamilton, Trey Hendrickson, Marlon Humphrey, Roquan Smith, Nnamdi Madubuike and Nate Wiggins on defense, Baltimore has the pieces to make a legitimate push for the Lombardi Trophy this season. Yet, the question hasn’t often been whether they have the talent, but whether they can collectively put the pieces together to go on a run. That first step will get started against the Colts, an AFC South team whose 2025 season consisted of both highs and lows, most dramatically with an epic midseason collapse from an 8-2 start to an 8-9 finish on a seven-game losing streak under head coach Shane Steichen. A high point of the Colts’ early-season success was the consistency of quarterback Daniel Jones, who once again will be QB1 over Anthony Richardson to begin the year. In 2025, Jones threw for 3,101 yards and 19 touchdowns before suffering an injury. Meanwhile, star running back Jonathan Taylor finished the year with 1,585 yards and 18 touchdowns over 17 games. Along with talents such as Alec Pierce, Keenan Allen and Tyler Warren, the Colts’ offense was largely not the main issue during the dramatic fall from grace last season, and thus, the Ravens’ defense under Minter will be tested early on against a respectable group of offensive talents in Indianapolis.
Meanwhile, the Ravens’ offense is facing lofty expectations under first-year offensive coordinator Declan Doyle as they look to take the unit to another level. Baltimore’s offensive unit in 2025 was productive but ultimately derailed by inconsistency and injuries, including an injury to Jackson that kept him out for a large chunk of the second half of the season, leading to the team missing the playoffs at 8-9 following a missed game-winning kick by Tyler Loop in the season finale on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That result ultimately led to the firing of former head coach John Harbaugh by owner Steve Bisciotti. One of the biggest struggles Baltimore’s offense dealt with was the unreliability of its offensive line, which struggled significantly with protection and hindered the passing attack, with former guard Daniel Faalele being a major liability and second-year tackle Roger Rosengarten regressing after a stellar rookie season a year prior. Now, with star center Tyler Linderbaum with the Las Vegas Raiders and Jovaughn Gwyn having been named the Week One starter at center following a training camp battle between Danny Pinter, Ethan Pocic and Gwyn, Baltimore’s front five will look to steady the ship up front. That could leave the door open for breakout performances from the offense, given Jackson’s ability to nonchalantly take over a game when given proper protection in the pocket, while the offensive line will have to go up against Colts defenders headlined by DeForest Buckner.
Given the Colts’ home record in 2025, where they went 6-3 at home, Baltimore’s ability to come away with the first road victory of the season will be tested. Yet, the betting odds remain in the Ravens’ favor to begin the season, with Baltimore being three-and-a-half-point favorites against the Colts in Week One. For Baltimore, getting off to a fast start under a new regime, especially given the team’s past early-season struggles, will go a long way toward showing the fan base that this is indeed a fresh chapter in Ravens football following a tumultuous ending to the Harbaugh era. Now, Baltimore will be eyeing the first win of the Minter era as the Ravens begin what will be a vigorous crusade toward chasing playoff football in year one under Minter.
