Ravens open Jesse Minter era with dominant 41-23 win over Indianapolis Colts

INIDANAPOLIS, In. — The Baltimore Ravens began the Jesse Minter era with a commanding 41-23 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, the first time since 2008 the team has opened a season with a new head coach.

The Ravens offense, under first-year play caller Declan Doyle, wasted no time. Lamar Jackson scored the team's first points of the season on the offense's opening drive, giving Baltimore a 7-6 lead.

The defense answered a tough first drive with a takeaway, as Roquan Smith tipped the ball to himself for an interception — the Ravens' first of the season.

Jackson then kept a drive alive with an improbable conversion on third and 16, ducking under a sack to reach the marker for a first down. Derrick Henry followed with a 4-yard touchdown run, going untouched into the end zone to give the Ravens a 14-6 lead. The score moved Henry into a tie with Marcus Allen for the third-most rushing touchdowns in NFL history.

In the middle of the second quarter, Jackson connected with Zay Flowers, who ran through his blockers and took it 54 yards for a touchdown, extending the lead to 21-6.

A Marlon Humphrey forced fumble gave the Ravens the ball back quickly, and Henry rumbled 32 yards for his second touchdown run of the game.

Just before halftime, kicker Tyler Loop — a subject of questions heading into the season — drilled a 57-yard field goal to send Baltimore into the locker room with a 31-13 lead.

Henry added a third touchdown in the second half, scoring from 3 yards out to give the Ravens the breathing room they were looking for.

The Ravens finished with more than 500 yards of total offense and 41 points.

Minter said the win belongs to the players and the work they have put in together.

"There's so much work that goes into this, and it's not about me. It's about these guys and the work that we have all put in together over the time so far. I told them, 'Now, you get a lot of time for that first game, but now we have to get into a rhythm.' Because now it's a normal week and we have to figure out what that looks like, and make sure that we are ready to play our style of football, play to our identity, play to our best version of ourselves every week. If we do that, we will be able to live with the results," Minter said.

Despite the win, concerns emerged from the game. Flowers set a career-high with 150 receiving yards in the first half alone but did not play in the second half due to a hamstring injury he dealt with during the preseason. Receiver Ja'Kobi Lane also left his NFL debut early with a wrist injury. The Ravens also committed 10 penalties.

Minter offered no immediate updates on the injured receivers.

"No real updates right now. We'll kind of see what it looks like. Yes, we will have to see how that looks and see what we have to do this week to get that room ready for next week," Minter said.

The Ravens' home opener is next Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

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