Ravens Report Card, Week 1: Encouraging Start To The Season As Ravens Dominate All Three Phases

The Baltimore Ravens began the 2026 season with a bang in Week 1, scoring 41 points en route to a 21-point victory over the Indianapolis Colts. While it was not a flawless performance, the Ravens never trailed after the first few minutes of the game and quickly opened up a three-possession lead, which they never relinquished.

Let’s break down how every position group fared in this week’s report card.

Quarterback: A-

Lamar Jackson had a strong performance to begin the season, completing 17-of-25 passes for 324 yards and a touchdown — with another 40 rushing yards and a score on the ground. Jackson connected with Zay Flowers for multiple chunk plays through the air and delivered another long 50+ yard pass in the third quarter. Jackson looked to be command of Declan Doyle’s offense and he’s clearly no longer compromised by injuries athletically. The lone blemish of Jackson’s day was a lost fumble where he was strip sacked in the Ravens’ own territory, which led to a Colts’ touchdown. Jackson was sacked almost immediately after turning around in play action, though, and fortunately the Ravens were up by three scores at the time, so it wasn’t a damaging sequence.

Running Back: A

It was just another day at the office for Derrick Henry in Week 1, who rushed for 144 yards on 24 carries with three touchdowns. Henry also added 19 receiving yards on a good catch-and-run reception. Henry’s longest run on the day went for 32 yards, and he grinded out chunk gains as the game progressed to help keep the Ravens’ offense on the field and put the game away. Justice Hill had 28 scrimmage yards on seven touches behind him, picking up a nice first-down gain through the air.

Wide Receiver: A-

Before exiting with a hamstring injury before halftime, Flowers had already set a new career-high in receiving yards with 150 on five catches. He had a long 54-yard touchdown catch and fell just a few yards short of scoring on the second drive of the game. Flowers was uncoverable and had he left the game early, there’s no telling what his final stat line may have been. His performance alone in just two quarters of action is enough to boost this position group’s grade. Chris Moore, who was a practice squad elevation, made an impact with a 54-yard reception in the third quarter. LaJohntay Wester had two catches, and Ja’Kobi Lane had one 11-yard catch before leaving the game early as well with a wrist injury. Lane would have had his first career touchdown reception, but it was called back due to a holding penalty. Surprisingly, Rashod Bateman was held to zero catches on just one target.

Tight End: B–

Mark Andrews’ first target resulted in a dropped pass, and he was also flagged for a false start in the red zone early in the game. That was a discouraging start, but he wound up reeling in four receptions for 49 yards overall. His six targets were tied with Flowers for most on the team. Matthew Hibner turned a short out-route pass into a 13-yard gain to help push the Ravens deeper into the red zone, setting up a score. Hibner wasn’t targeted again in the game, and rookie Josh Cuevas was not a factor in the passing game. Veteran Durham Smythe caught one pass for a short four-yard gain outside of the end zone. The Ravens’ tight ends as a whole seemed to do a good job of pass blocking and holding the edges in run blocking situations.

Offensive Line: C–

It was not the most encouraging start to the season for the Ravens’ new-look offensive line. While they did a good job in run blocking and held up okay for most of the game in pass protection, the penalties from this group were rough. Of the Ravens’ 10 penalties overall as a team, most of them were offensive line pre-snap calls, holding violations and in one instance a chop-blocking flag. It seemed like the Ravens were flagged for offensive line penalties on almost every drive and many times it negated a first-down gain or score. There were some instances where the Colts generated quick pressure up the middle, too, and they did get home on Jackson to force a fumble in the second quarter.

Defensive Line: C+

Travis Jones was a force up front in this game with two notable tackles for loss, one of which he drove Taylor back several yards behind the line of scrimmage. Taylor was able to find running room against the Ravens’ defensive front a number of times, though, and the Ravens allowed 102 rushing yards overall and 5.2 yards per carry. Broderick Washington had a nice pass breakup early in the game that was close to being an interception, and Aaenas Peebles had a quarterback hit as well.

Edge Rusher: B-

Trey Hendrickson’s debut did not result in any splash plays, but he was close to getting home for a sack or possible forced fumble multiple times. Hendrickson had a handful of pressures on Jones and his presence may have helped opened things up a bit for Tavius Robinson, who had a big showing on the opposite side of the defensive front. Robinson racked up four quarterback hits with a sack and tackle for loss. In a contract year, this could be the start of a career-best season for the fourth-year edge rusher. Mike Green and Zion Young did not find their way onto the box score in this game.

Linebacker: B+

Roquan Smith’s interception on the Colts’ second drive of the game was a thing of beauty, as he deceived Daniel Jones and tapped the ball to himself in the air before securing it. The Ravens added another touchdown a few plays later to open up an eight-point lead. Smith led the team in tackles with 11 and also had a quarterback hit. Next to him, Trenton Simpson had two tackles-for-loss, which was tied for the most of any defender.

Cornerback: A-

Marlon Humphrey had a starring performance with a forced fumble on Jonathan Taylor and third-down knockdown in coverage against Alec Pierce. Humphrey looked much more like his prime self than he did last season, which is an encouraging sign for this season. Nate Wiggins also an impressive pass breakup lined up against Pierce. Keyon Martin made a strong tackle in space against a much larger wide receiver. Overall, the Ravens’ corners did a good job limiting big plays in the passing game and were aggressive in coverage.

Safety: B+

Following the defense’s first drive of the game, Kyle Hamilton began being used more as an extra pass rusher and his presence around the line of scrimmage made a noticeable impact. Hamilton finished with five tackles and a quarterback hit. Malaki Starks was victimized a few times against Taylor via a stiff arm and juke move, but also filled the stat sheet with seven tackles, a sack, two quarterback hits and one tackle for loss. Jaylinn Hawkins didn’t make any noticeable impact plays, but he appeared around the ball a few times on some positive defensive plays. The Ravens’ three safeties didn’t seem to leave the field very much at all.

Special Teams: A

Tyler Loop answered the bell in a big way, nailing a career-high 57-yard field goal attempt to close out the first half. That expanded the Ravens lead to three possessions, and he made a 45-yarder later in the second half, while also going perfect on all five extra points. Rookie punter Ryan Eckley’s three punts went for 140 yards, and Chris Moore had a couple long kick returns to set the Ravens up in good field position offensively. LaJohntay Wester also had a long 30-yard return on a kickoff as well and averaged 10.0 yards per punt return on three tries.