Months of waiting, one Sunday

Minter was hired in late January and got the schedule in May. Days out from the opener, he was still asking himself whether the team had enough answers.

“There is a lot of self-thought during the week of, 'Man, do we have enough?'”

A new era, finally visible

After an offseason of dramatic change in Baltimore, Week 1 at Lucas Oil Stadium is the first real look at what the franchise has become.

Watch the pre-snap look

The biggest change under new coordinator Declan Doyle may show up before anyone moves. Formation, not scheme talk, is the tell.

Jackson under center

For eight seasons Lamar Jackson worked mostly from shotgun and pistol, nearly two-thirds of snaps last year. The outside-zone run game pulls him closer to the line.

The Bears blueprint

Doyle's last offense, under Ben Johnson in Chicago, ran under center just under 50% of the time. That is the model Baltimore is borrowing.

He's already good at it

Over three seasons Jackson has completed 73.2% of under-center drop-backs at 9.3 yards per attempt, with 16 touchdowns and one interception.

“He's very natural at it. You would never notice that he hasn't been under there that much.”

An untested interior line

Left guard John Simpson, center Jovaughn Gwyn and rookie right guard Vega Ioane face DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart. Only Simpson has ever started an NFL game.

The Colts gutted their defense

Indianapolis lost 51.7% of its 2025 defensive snaps, including Samson Ebukam, Zaire Franklin, Kenny Moore and Nick Cross.

A soft spine in the middle

Linebacker Jaylon Carlies has six career starts. Rookie safety A.J. Haulcy is nursing an ankle. Nickel Justin Walley missed all of last year with a torn ACL.

Even the strength needs projection

Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward look like a strong cornerback pair, but injuries and Gardner's midseason trade meant they never played together.

Hendrickson's favorable matchup

Baltimore signed Trey Hendrickson to fix a bad pass rush. He lines up against Bernhard Raimann, who allowed a career-high eight sacks last season.

They've met before

In 2023, Hendrickson posted five pressures and two sacks in just 29 pass rush snaps against Raimann. His presence alone forces the Colts to spend blockers.

“Sometimes just the sheer fact that he is out there is going to affect the quarterback.”

The Achilles question

Daniel Jones says he is fully healthy and took nearly every first-team rep in camp. He tore the Achilles in his plant leg in December and did not play in the preseason.

“I guess the last part is playing in a game.”

Two versions of Jones

Through eight games last year he was the league's most efficient pressured quarterback. In 2023 and 2024 he threw three touchdowns and five picks under pressure.

“You never can go in and think he is a wounded animal by any means.”

Judged by the finish

Last opener, Baltimore led Buffalo by 15 in the fourth and lost 41-40. Late collapses cost John Harbaugh his job, and Minter has drilled high-leverage moments since day one.

Shorter camps, open verdict

Minter cut practice length and first-team reps, and the Ravens stayed healthy. Whether they are battle-tested enough shows up at kickoff.

“We won't really find that out until Sunday when the game starts.”