By admin 
INDIANAPOLIS – Explosive was the word of the summer among Baltimore Ravens players and coaches. There was mystery about how exactly it would manifest once they got to the regular season.
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It didn’t take long to find out.
On Baltimore’s first offensive play of the game, Lamar Jackson faked a handoff to Derrick Henry, rolled back to his left and found Zay Flowers streaking across the field. The Pro Bowl receiver made the catch near the sideline, hit the brakes, spun back toward the middle and raced for what ended up being a 49-yard completion to the Indianapolis 2-yard line to set up a touchdown.
A quarter later and on a second-and-9 from his own 41 with a blitz bearing down on Jackson, the quarterback quick-fired a short pass to Flowers in a soft spot in the defense. Flowers hit the gas, slicing his way through the Colts’ defense for a 54-yard touchdown.
That gave the Ravens all the cushion they needed en route to a 41-23 victory in which Baltimore also forced two turnovers in coach Jesse Minter’s debut.
Flowers finished with a career-high 150 yards on five receptions, but the victory was soured by the franchise receiver suffering a hamstring injury in the second quarter that knocked him out of the game. Baltimore also lost promising rookie receiver Ja’Kobi Lane to a wrist injury after he was ruled out early in the third.
The same left hamstring that sidelined Flowers for almost two full weeks leading up to Week 1 plagued him again Sunday. He came up grabbing his leg after a 12-yard catch at the 5:57 mark of the second and one play before a 32-yard touchdown run by Henry.
With Flowers and Lane out, Baltimore was perilously thin at the position with Rashod Bateman, LaJohntay Wester and Chris Moore, who was elevated from the practice squad for the game, their only other available receivers, and the offense stalled.
That was also just one problem.
Baltimore committed 10 penalties for 86 yards, with the offense being the primary culprit.
Most costly was a holding penalty on center Jovaughn Gwyn – who was making his first career start – that took a 4-yard touchdown pass to Lane early in the second quarter off the board. A holding penalty on rookie guard Vega Ioane also wiped out a first-down completion to Bateman, and an illegal shift early in the third did the same for a first-down pass to Mark Andrews.
Still, the Ravens had enough firepower on both sides of the ball to outmaneuver the Colts.
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Linebacker Roquan Smith intercepted Daniel Jones (19 of 31 passing, 166 yards) at the Colts’ 32-yard line midway through the first quarter to help set up Baltimore’s second touchdown of the game, a 4-yard score from Henry (24 carries, 144 yards). Then, Marlon Humphrey stripped running back Jonathan Taylor and recovered the fumble to set up Henry’s eventual 32-yard score.
That gave Baltimore a 28-6 lead before a strip-sack of Jackson set the Colts up at the Ravens’ 15 and a Taylor touchdown from 3 yards out to cut the deficit to 28-13.
Both teams then traded field goals, which included struggling Ravens kicker Tyler Loop converting a career-long 57-yarder as time ran out in the second quarter.
While the Ravens’ offense struggled to move the ball in the second half, Jackson did connect with Moore for a 53-yard strike on third-and-5 to start the fourth quarter. Three plays later, Henry scored again, this time from three yards.
Jackson also provided perhaps the game’s most spectacular play.
With the Colts’ Arden Key and DeForest Buckner converging on the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player on a third-and-16 from the Colts’ 37 for an apparent sack midway through the opening quarter, Jackson did his best Houdini impression.
He ducked, then slipped through the two defenders like a water balloon on a hot day and raced downfield for a first down.
Earlier this summer, Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton said Jackson looked like he’d gotten faster in what is his ninth NFL season.
He showed it at times on Sunday.
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Ravens got off to the flying start they were hoping for.
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This story was originally published September 13, 2026 at 1:49 PM.