We made it! Week 1 is finally here.
With new players and coaching staffs all across the league, especially with continuity being a scarcity, it’s tough to predict what every team could look like early on.
So although we have very little information of how Jessie Minter will deploy the Ravens defense in 2026, we do know what happened the last time the Colts played a Minter led defense.
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The Colts embarrassed the Chargers with 38 points, 5 TDs, and over 400 yards. At halftime it was 23-3, and while the defense got gassed and let the Chargers offense start to come alive, the offense dominated from start to finish.
I mean this respectfully, because there is zero doubt Minter is a good coach, but I was shocked at how “vanilla” his defense looked vs. the Colts. There was a lot of quarters, and not much pre-snap disguise.
One of the weaknesses to a quarters defense is the flats. Corners are mostly going to be 7 yards off and the quarter flat defender is not leveraged to cover that type of ground underneath the corner. Every coverage has its weaknesses, and all in all, defensive coaches do not care if the best answer to beating quarters is attacking the flats.
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That being said, Minter never trapped the flat or made any sort of notable adjustment to stop the Colts from chipping away and Steichen just stayed patient and attacked the flats all day long.
As you can see there wasn’t a ton of air yards on a lot of these throws, but that’s sort of the safe nature of attacking quarters. Daniel Jones was very efficient finding completions underneath and outside the hashes.
But it wasn’t just about attacking the structure of the defense Minter wanted to play. That’s only half the story.
Steichen wanted to get the ball on the perimeter as much as he could, thats where the YAC exists. When the Chargers were loading the box on run downs to stop Taylor, who was running the ball well in this game, Steichen used run actions to move the pocket and get players like Tyler Warren the ball in space. He wanted these linebackers running sideline to sideline whenever possible.
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HOW WILL THINGS CHANGE IN WEEK 1?
I think Jessie Minter and Ravens DC Anthony Weaver will be much more intentional of stacking the box and dedicated a resources to stopping Jonathan Taylor.
Yes, reports coming out of Colts camp are that Daniel Jones has looked great since he’s been cleared from his achilles injury, and that Alec Pierce should be a go for Week 1. But while that’s great for the Colts, it’s an opposing team’s job to make you prove that.
I don’t expect many light boxes for the Colts in Week 1, at least until the Colts punish them for it.
Additionally, I expect Anthony Weaver to have a lot of tricks up his sleeve. He’s challenged the Colts, both in 2024 and 2025, in blocking up exotic pressures.
I don’t expect the Colts to coast offensively. It should be a real battle.
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