INDIANAPOLIS — Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle stood near the middle of the field at Lucas Oil Stadium with his eyes transfixed on the play sheet and game script that he cradled in his hand.
He then walked swiftly toward the end zone, stopped and reversed course, his eyes looking down the whole time. For the only time all day, he was oblivious to what else was happening on the field.
As dozens of Indianapolis Colts fans pulled an oversized flag onto the field to practice the pre-game ceremony, Doyle didn’t budge. He wasn’t being disrespectful; he just didn’t realize he was about to get run over. Luckily, a Colts staffer hustled onto the field to get his attention, so Doyle retreated to the sideline and kept studying his play sheet.
That’s Ravens OC Declan Doyle (near the K). He’s been walking up and down the field, his eyes never leaving his call sheet/game script. He was so engrossed in it that a Colts official had to give him heads up to move out of the way from flag. pic.twitter.com/9lZVQ8ZEhV
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 13, 2026
It was more than three hours before the Ravens were set to begin their 2026 season, Doyle’s first as an NFL play caller. The 30-year-old, however, had been preparing for this moment for much of his life. The pre-game session was nothing more than a final dress rehearsal ahead of what ultimately became a tour de force performance.
“Shout to ‘Dec,’ because he was dialing it up,” Lamar Jackson said later.
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The Ravens gave Jesse Minter his first win as a head coach Sunday, blasting the Colts, 41-23, in a game that felt pretty much over by early in the fourth quarter. After a difficult first drive, Minter’s defense did its part by forcing two early turnovers that resulted in Ravens touchdowns and then shutting the door on any Colts’ comeback in the fourth quarter.
However, the star of Sunday’s show was the Jackson-led offense, which racked up 506 total yards — the 10th most in a game in Ravens franchise history — eclipsed 200 yards rushing and 300 yards passing, and averaged just under eight yards per play.
The Ravens added points on seven of their 12 full possessions. They scored touchdowns on four of their opening five drives, with their only miss coming on a failed fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line. They set the tone early, never giving the Colts much reason to think they were in the game.
“I thought Declan — man, first NFL game, came out of the gates on fire and did a great job,” Minter said. “I think the confidence grows when you prepare well. We put a lot of time over these last couple of weeks into this game plan, with it being the opener and the extra time that you have. You want to see the preparation pay off, and I felt like it really did in all three phases.”
The scary part of the offensive output is it could have been so much more. The Ravens played the entire second half without top wide receiver Zay Flowers, who the Colts couldn’t deal with when he was on the field, and rookie No. 3 wide receiver Ja’Kobi Lane. Flowers aggravated a summer hamstring issue and Lane’s wrist injury could be concerning. Lane returned to the sideline in the second half with his wrist hidden under his sweatshirt.
Offensively, the Ravens also committed eight penalties, costing themselves 65 total yards, four first downs and a touchdown. Making his first career start at center, Jovaughn Gwyn’s holding penalty negated Lane’s first NFL touchdown. The Ravens were stopped on fourth-and-goal two plays later.
There certainly were enough negative plays for Minter and Doyle to have teaching moments all the way up to the Week 2 home opener against the New Orleans Saints (0-1). But there was so much the offense did well that both men had to be elated about the offense’s potential, too.
The Ravens had nine plays of more than 15 yards in the first half alone. They added two more in the second half when their wide receiver group consisted of Rashod Bateman, practice squad elevation Chris Moore and second-year return specialist LaJohntay Wester.
“It was definitely a great start,” said running back Derrick Henry, who rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns and also added a 19-yard reception on a well-designed screen pass. “We knew what we were capable of. We just had to go out there and do it. It wasn’t perfect, for sure, but definitely a great game to build off of and carry that momentum into next week. Just keep building on the positive and fix the things we need to work on.”
All summer, Doyle kept things close to the vest. The Ravens ran a vanilla offense throughout training camp practices and during joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings and Washington Commanders. None of the top offensive playmakers saw action in the preseason.
Yet, Henry was among the veterans over the past couple of weeks who spoke vaguely, yet excitedly, about the state of the Ravens offense. There was clearly a group-wide confidence and a sense of “Wait until you find out what we already know.”
The Colts found out with the rest of us, and they had no consistent answers to anything the Ravens were doing. In fact, the only one who really stopped the Ravens on Sunday was the Ravens, with the one turnover and litany of penalties.
“I had a blast,” said tight end Mark Andrews, who had four receptions for 49 yards. “I thought that we did a lot of different things. We have so many gifted players. ’Dec’ has so many tools at his disposal, and he is using them. It is just so much fun, and we are going to continue to get better and focus and make big plays.”
It’s not that we haven’t seen a performance like this before from a Jackson-led offense. In fact, there have been seasons where they’ve occurred pretty regularly. If nothing else, Sunday was a reminder of how dangerous Jackson, who threw for 324 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 40 yards and a score, can be, when he’s healthy, which he wasn’t for most of last season.
“We’re on a great pace,” Jackson said. “We just have to stay locked in. This is Week 1. A lot can happen in the season, but this time around, hopefully it goes our way throughout the whole season.”
Doyle has been demanding of Jackson, meeting with him regularly to discuss the state of the offense and imploring him to hone in on the details. Jackson has responded accordingly and spoken boldly about the offense’s potential.
The influence of Doyle, who has been mentored by Sean Payton and Ben Johnson, was noticeable. Jackson lined up under center far more often than he has in his NFL career. Baltimore relied heavily on its “11” personnel and made good on its vow to hunt explosive plays in the run and pass game.
There were wrinkles, too. On Jackson’s 5-yard touchdown run on the Ravens’ first drive, left tackle Ronnie Stanley lined up to the right of right tackle Roger Rosengarten and rookie tight end Matt Hibner lined up at left tackle. Jackson ran behind Hibner and scored untouched.
On Flowers’ 54-yard touchdown, the wide receiver lined up in the backfield and found plenty of time and space underneath. He wasn’t touched until he got inside the Colts’ 10-yard line.
“I love him,” Moore said of Doyle. “He knows the full game. He knows the full offense — he knows the run game, he knows the pass game — he knows it all, and he knows how to exploit a defense through that. So, it is just fun to see him go out there and do it.”
Doyle finally took his foot off the pedal with two minutes to go. The Ravens had just gotten their 23rd first down on a 7-yard run, and Doyle called for victory formation. On the sideline, Ravens football analyst Rick Minter put his arm around his son to celebrate his first head coaching victory. In the press box, Ravens assistants hustled downstairs to join the celebration.
Doyle was the last man out of the Ravens’ coaching box. When he exited, he had a visitor waiting to congratulate him. Doyle’s brother, Dillon, is a defensive quality control coach for the Colts. The two exchanged a hug and Doyle then walked briskly to the elevator.
It was about as good of a play-calling debut as he could have imagined.
