Ravens Showed A Much Improved Finishing Factor In Season-Opening Win

The beginning of the end of the John Harbaugh era for the Baltimore Ravens started long before a rookie kicker's miss in last year's regular season finale cost them a division title and caused them to miss the playoffs altogether.

It was a gradual process that turned their reputation around the league from being known as the team that no one wanted to face in big games because of their savvy and clutch factor to one that couldn't get out of their own way or make the necessary plays in crunch time to close out a win or complete a comeback when they needed it most.

To put it frankly, they weren't at their best when their best was required often enough as a team and that pattern of behavior starts at the top with the man at the helm of the franchise's hopes and dreams, the head coach.

During his nearly two-decade-long stewardship of the Ravens, Harbaugh brought a second Super Bowl back to Baltimore and continued to bolster their image as a model organization. However, in the end, they became more infamously known as generational chokers, who literally set records for the most blown double-digit second-half and fourth-quarter leads in NFL history.

It got to the point where it became a self-fulfilling prophecy that they'd find a way to self-implode and inexplicably create new ways to lose big games, mainly in the playoffs.

Last year's season-opening meltdown felt like a microcosm of what they had become and what they repeatedly subjected their passionate fan base to. Facing the Buffalo Bills and what felt like the fraudulent reigning league MVP, Josh Allen, in primetime, the Ravens had them dead to rights, up 15 points heading into the fourth quarter. They went on to squander the lead because they took their foot off the gas and didn't close the game out as strongly as they opened it.

The team never truly recovered from that massive implosion and even let it happen a second time, to a lesser degree, later on in the season at home against the New England Patriots. Had they handled their business in both games, Tyler Loop's missed kick in Week 18 wouldn't have mattered, and they would've had their third straight AFC North title clinched by then.

Times are already changing

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson comes off the field after beating the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. — Sep 13, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) comes off the field after the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Since he was introduced as his former mentor's successor and just the fourth head coach in franchise history on January 29, 2026, Jesse Minter has preached and lived by the mantra 'Being at our best when our best is required.'

The players haven't just bought into it, but they've truly embodied what it means, as their 41-23 road victory over the Indianapolis Colts showcased. Similar to last year's Week 1 bout, they jumped out to an early commanding lead and looked like the better team, far and away.

Instead of folding or reverting to being the same old Ravens again when adversity struck in the form of injuries at the wide receiver position rather than untimely turnovers, as was the case against the Bills, the coaches on both sides of the ball didn't dial back the aggressiveness in their play-calling, and several players stepped up to help them close out the game.

Despite having both two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Zay Flowers and standout rookie Ja'Kobi Lane out with injury by midway through the third quarter, first-year offensive coordinator Declan Doyle continued to stay in his bag and kept calling a great game. He continued to lean on Derrick Henry and the run game and schemed up plays for reserve pass catchers like Chris Moore to make huge plays like the 53-yard bomb that sparked their sixth scoring drive of the game early in the fourth quarter.

LAMAR JACKSON WITH BIG PLAY TO WR CHRIS MOORE!!! 🎯

Tune in on @NFLonCBS and @ParamountPlus. pic.twitter.com/Y1bsBMXJlq
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 13, 2026

The Ravens' seventh and final scoring drive ate up over six minutes of clock and ended in Tyler Loop drilling his second field goal of the game, increasing their lead to 18 points and leaving the Colts with nowhere near enough time to close the gap with less than five minutes.

Minter was willing to concede some yards on the ground to the Colts in the second half once they got up big. But he never turned down the heat on Daniel Jones, who was pressured on 18 of his 34 dropbacks, more than any quarterback in the league in Week 1, according to NextGenStats.

Even up three scores with less than four minutes left to play in the fourth quarter, he didn't relent and put an exclamation mark on what was a very strong overall showing for his first-team defense by sending both starting safeties on a fourth-down blitz, resulting in second-year pro Malaki Starks' first career sack and a turnover on downs.

.@starks_malaki loved how Coach Minter drew it up

Wired back Wednesday! pic.twitter.com/o3giuOavXl
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 14, 2026

"You talk about being finishers and closers," Minter said. "That's obviously stuff we spend a lot of time on, and defensively, I thought we did a great job there. The guys wanted to run the call that we ran on fourth down. So, that was really cool to see them like, 'Hey, let's run this, let's get it.'

"Then on offense, just to be able to grind that thing out, I thought the O-line really took over – Derrick [Henry], obviously, and just all the guys, Lamar [Jackson] just running the operation. Anytime you can end the game with the ball and a six-minute drive with a big lead like that, it's really cool."

It may just seem like an optimal one-game sample size from the outside looking in. However, the difference in the approach and emphasis on finishing has truly resonated with the players from top to bottom, and more results like Sunday's will only strengthen the belief that their fortunes are finally changing for the better in that integral aspect of the game, as it will be required to get over the hump and reach their ultimate goal of making the Super Bowl.

"I feel like that just boosted up our whole team chemistry-wise, our momentum [and] our mindset approaching games, because last year, we kind of had a similar [situation with] the same [type of] lead around that time, and we lost the game," Jackson said. "We had it right there in [our] grasp, and we ended up losing that game. So, just to see our guys prevail through all that and finish the game strong — because those guys did have a momentum shift at the end — and we just prevailed."

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