NFL Football
2026-09-13 - Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : NFL Week 1
Sunday 13th September 2026 - Scheduled 1pm EST
6pm (British Time)
Preview
No one will ever downplay the successes under Head Coach John Harbaugh, but the Baltimore Ravens may also have felt the team had lost some freshness after missing out on the post-season last year.
They decided to move on from Harbaugh after more than a decade since the last Super Bowl win and the challenge for the new Head Coach is finding a way to help Lamar Jackson and the Ravens produce the best Football in January. Since winning the Super Bowl in the 2012 season, the Baltimore Ravens are just 4-7 in Playoff games and Jesse Minter will be getting the opportunity to build on what John Harbaugh left behind.
Better health for the Quarter Back will be important, but the Ravens will also need someone to step up in the Receiving corps to give Jackson somewhere other to look than at Mark Andres and Zay Flowers. The latter has only just been cleared to play in Week 1, while Baltimore will still lean on the Offensive Line and look to establish the run to open up the passing game.
Running against the Indianapolis Colts was a challenge for teams last year, and so it may be up to Jackson at Quarter Back to try and help establish the ball on the ground.
If he can do that, the Ravens will feel they can make enough plays to push the ball through the air and they are facing an Indianapolis Colts team that are under pressure after capitulating down the stretch in the 2025 season. The Colts opened at 7-1, but finished the season with a losing record and missing out on the post-season, although that was largely down to losing the starting Quarter Back to injury.
Daniel Jones had been revitalised in moving to Indianapolis, but he will be looking to show all that he has recovered fully from the achilles injury that cost him significant time last season. The Quarter Back is very happy with the Colts, but Michael Pittman Jr will not be around to throw to and Daniel Jones is going to be very comfortable leaning on Jonathan Taylor and the run game.
Indianapolis can take confidence from the way Jonathan Taylor ripped through the Los Angeles Chargers, who had Jesse Minter as Defensive Co-Ordinator, while the Ravens are going to be missing their best run stopper. The Colts are almost certainly going to be looking to run the ball as often as they can and keep the pressure away from Daniel Jones as he eases back into competitive action, but they will be confident they can do that.
This is an early chance for both of these teams to show they can improve on 2025 and reach the Playoffs in 2026 and the expectation is both are going to look to grind this out on the ground.
Questions have to be asked about Daniel Jones and his health, but the Colts have to feel they can run the ball perhaps more effectively than the Baltimore Ravens and that makes the points they are receiving feel very appealing.
Baltimore could blow past the line if Lamar Jackson has one of his better games, but the Indianapolis Colts can run the ball effectively and keep Jackson on the sidelines for long enough to perhaps pull the upset.
Prediction
Take the points with the home underdog in this Week 1 clash.
The Pick :
Indianapolis Colts 23-20 Baltimore Ravens
