….But it was us.
For 18 years, we heard plenty of John Harbaugh catch phrases and cliches. When the Ravens decided to move on from Harbaugh, they brought in a disciple of both Harbaugh brothers in Jesse Minter. In Harbaugh-esque fashion, Coach Minter imported a new catch phrase into the Ravens locker room:
Be at your best when best is needed.
As we reflect back on the first 5 weeks of the 2026 season, it’s difficult to argue with a 4-1 record and 1st place in the AFC North. Along the way, the Ravens have dealt with injuries to Zay Flowers, Trey Hendrickson and Lamar Jackson. They’ve also had to manage a rash of injuries along the offensive line that has forced 1st round pick Vega Ioane out of position, sliding him to center. Furthermore, GM Eric DeCosta had to go to the trade market early and swing a deal for Eagles center Cam Jurgens.
The biggest factor in the hiring of Jesse Minter was to restore the legacy of the Ravens defense, which has suffered the last 2 years under former DC Zach Orr and has blown the most double digit leads in the league over the last 8 years.
Last night’s 3rd down defense certainly left quite a bit to be desired. The Falcons went 9 for 17 on 3rd down conversions, including 4 that were double digit yards to go. To Minter’s credit, he did take responsibility for the poor calls on 3rd down that contributed to the Falcons extending drives. Last night especially, it was clear that Atlanta QB Michael Penix Jr was pretty flustered when the Ravens brought any kind of pressure and Minter still leaned on a 4 man rush in many 3rd down scenarios. At the end of regulation, Minter called a 3 man rush and fortunately for the Ravens, edge rusher Mike Green absolutely dominated left tackle Jake Matthews and forced Penix into a bad throw.
I would like to see Minter adjust quicker to the flow of the game. Hopefully, the double duty of play calling and head coaching isn’t too much for the rookie coach.
On the flip side, the Ravens kept all world running Bijan Robinson in check for most of the night. While Robinson did average a little over 5 yards per carry overall, the majority of his 86 rushing yards came on 2 carries (where he gained 58 yards). To Minter and Weaver’s credit, they employed a more traditional 7 man front (4 down linemen, 3 linebackers) on several occasions, which contributed to a rather pedestrian evening by Robinson’s standards.
Also worth noting, while the defense did allow the Falcons to move into the redzone on 3 drives, they did deny Atlanta the end zone on 2 of those 3 occasions.
While the defensive renaissance hasn’t been entirely evident to this point, there have been moments.
In another example of being at your best when your best is needed, hats off to OC Declan Doyle for putting together an outstanding gameplan on Sunday night. Knowing that his backup quarterback, Tyler Huntley, does not have the arm talent or vision that former MVP Lamar Jackson has, he seemingly put his coaching ego aside and set Huntley up to succeed. First, he utilized presnap motion and misdirection to create space for Derrick Henry to get downhill in the running game. Next, he did some tendency breaking personnel groupings and formations; particularly, the 3rd and 1, fullback dive to Justice Hill that went for 43 yards.
Also, the utilization of Zay Flowers is fun to watch. The opposing defense can never know exactly where Flowers will line up. Even on a night where the diminutive wide receiver didn’t light up the stat sheet, he can still impact the game.
While the Ravens weren’t able to finish off drives in the 1st half (no thanks to some drops), there was enough success in the running game that allowed Tyler Huntley to thrive in the passing game in the 4th quarter and overtime.
Everyone knows that Huntley will not push the football down the field and that runs counter to how Doyle wants to attack opposing defenses. Instead, Huntley was smart with the football and Doyle created safe throws and screens for the majority of the evening. Despite dealing with various pressures and stunts from the Falcons defensive front, the makeshift offensive line acquitted itself well, especially in crunch time.
We all know the NFL is a week to week league and momentum is only as good as your next matchup and the health of your roster. However, in the course of any season there can be character building wins and Sunday night certainly looked like one of those wins for the “new” Baltimore Ravens.
I would be remiss if I failed to mention that there’s work to be done, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. With that said, on the road in Atlanta, the Baltimore Ravens embodied the slogan of their new head coach. Offense, defense and special teams were certainly at their best when their best was needed
Jamie has been a Baltimore sports fan since he can remember. He grew up in Gwynn Oak and currently resides in Hampstead with his wife and 2 kids. He graduated from UMBC with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He’s currently employed at Verizon Communications in Hunt Valley.