Ravens vs. Saints: 5 things to watch, including Rashod Bateman, Chris Olave and home field advantage

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The last time the Ravens played a meaningful home game, they left M&T Bank Stadium in tatters.

In a Week 16 loss to the New England Patriots last December, the Ravens lost quarterback Lamar Jackson to a back injury, frittered away a double-digit fourth-quarter lead and returned to their locker room needing outside help to return to the playoffs. They got it, then couldn’t help themselves in Week 18.

“Last year is in the past,” running back Derrick Henry said Thursday. “Cannot control what happened last year, so it is a new year. Focus on what we can do this year. That is New Orleans at home.”

After an impressive season-opening road win over the Indianapolis Colts, the Ravens and coach Jesse Minter are looking for a happy homecoming Sunday against the Saints (0-1). Here’s what to watch in the teams’ Week 2 matchup in Baltimore. All stats are courtesy of Sports Info Solutions, Pro Football Focus and the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, unless otherwise noted.

1. What could a Zay Flowers-less passing offense look like Sunday? It’s hard to know, and not just because Declan Doyle’s tenure as offensive coordinator is one game.

In Flowers’ 17 games last season, the Ravens had 477 drop-backs with Flowers on the field — and just 25 with him off it. Jackson went 184-for-284 (64.8%) for 2,468 yards, 17 touchdowns and six interceptions when Flowers shared the field, and 8-for-16 (50%) for 81 yards, four touchdowns and an interception when he did not.

With Flowers (hamstring) questionable to play Sunday and Ja’Kobi Lane (wrist) on injured reserve, wide receiver Rashod Bateman will be expected to step up. Bateman was held without a catch Sunday despite leading the team in routes run (27). Fellow wideout Devontez Walker has seven career catches, LaJohntay Wester has just two, and rookie Elijah Sarratt was inactive in Week 1.

“I cannot be worrying about my stats,” Bateman said Wednesday. “I need to be worried about how we can win a Super Bowl, and at the end of the day, no matter if I have zero yards or 100 yards, we finished with a ‘W’ at the end of the day. I slept good at night because we won rather than lost a game, and I had 150 yards.”

2. The Ravens’ offensive line could enter Sunday’s game with a remade left side, an inexperienced center and a rookie right guard. And the unit still might have the upper hand on New Orleans’ run defense.

In Week 1, the Lions lost left guard Christian Mahogany to a first-quarter injury and started Juice Scruggs (one start in 2025) at center and rookie Blake Miller at right tackle. Detroit still ran roughshod over New Orleans in its overtime win, finishing with one of the NFL’s highest rushing success rates in Week 1 (50%, according to RBSDM.com). Running back Jahmyr Gibbs had 156 rushing yards (5.4 per carry) and two touchdowns.

If left tackle Ronnie Stanley (toe) and left guard John Simpson (groin) are unavailable Sunday — both missed practice Wednesday and Thursday but returned Friday — the Ravens could give Carson Vinson his first start at left tackle. Guard Andrew Vorhees, meanwhile, could reclaim the spot he lost this offseason. Center Jovaughn Gwyn and rookie right guard Vega Ioane made their first career starts Sunday.

The Ravens ranked third in ESPN’s run block win rate last week as Henry rushed for 144 yards (6 per carry) and three touchdowns. He averaged 2.5 yards before contact per carry.

“You guys asked me last week, ‘What do we want it to look like?’” offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said Thursday. “We want our tape to speak for itself — be playing violent away from the football, being high-effort players. I think that showed up in the run game. Obviously, we were physical. We were able to create a lot of space for our backs.”

4. The Saints could have questions about their own star wide receiver’s availability.

Chris Olave, who led the NFL in Week 1 with 182 receiving yards despite some cramping, participated fully in Wednesday’s practice. But he was listed as limited on Thursday’s injury report with a hamstring injury, typically an indication that an issue arose during practice.

Few receivers have been better since the end of last season. Over the past four games, Olave has 34 catches for 534 yards and four touchdowns.

“I think putting a cap on Olave is kind of where it starts,” cornerback Marlon Humphrey said Wednesday. “If you can kind of hold him to the lower side of receptions and yards, then you have a good chance, and then you kind of have to deal with everyone else. But Olave has kind of been the force.”

He’s hard to pin down, too. Olave played 30 snaps in the slot Sunday — 15 on the left, 15 on the right — and another 47 snaps out wide, with 25 on the left and 22 on the right. The Ravens did not ask their outside cornerbacks to travel with assigned receivers against the Colts; Humphrey lined up exclusively on the right side of the defense, while Nate Wiggins played almost exclusively on the left.

4. The Ravens pressured Colts quarterback Daniel Jones on over half of his drop-backs Sunday, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats — but came away with just two sacks. Week 2 could be more bountiful.

As a rookie last season, Saints quarterback Tyler Shough had a pressure-to-sack ratio of 25%, the NFL’s second-worst rate among quarterbacks with at least 100 drop-backs. On Sunday, he wasn’t much more elusive: Shough was sacked five times in Detroit, with a pressure-to-sack rate of 22.7%.

New Orleans’ offensive line, which features three former first-round picks (left tackle Kelvin Banks, right tackle Taliese Fuaga and right guard Cesar Ruiz) and a top free-agent signing (left guard David Edwards), was expected to be a strength this season. But the Saints averaged just 3.6 yards per carry Sunday, and Shough was pressured on over 40% of his drop-backs.

Outside linebacker Trey Hendrickson, who missed practice Wednesday and Thursday with a finger injury but returned Friday, led the Ravens’ pass rush in Indianapolis. His presence created more favorable matchups for outside linebacker Tavius Robinson, who led the team in ESPN’s pass rush win rate, finishing seventh overall among Week 1 edge rushers.

“I thought those guys worked really well together,” defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said of the overall pass rush. “I thought it was coordinated the entire game. I thought we impacted the quarterback and hit [Jones], even though we did not necessarily get the sack numbers.”

5. At a team meeting Wednesday, Minter made clear his expectations for Sunday: The Ravens need to keep their house in order.

“When we play at home, we have to win. We have to use the fans, the energy, the loudness,” Humphrey said of Minter’s message.

M&T Bank Stadium was a house of unexpected horrors for the Ravens last year. After a win in their home opener, they lost six of their next eight games in Baltimore. The Ravens’ 3-6 home mark was the worst in franchise history and their first losing record in a decade.

Sunday’s game won’t be just another home opener. It’ll be the first home game for Minter as head coach, for veteran signings like Hendrickson and for the Ravens’ rookie class. Sunday will also mark the debut of the organization’s “White Noise” uniform combination.

“I have coached in this stadium a bunch of times,” said Minter, an assistant coach in Baltimore from 2017 to 2020. “It is an advantage for the home team, and we need to play that way. So, we need to play the way that lets our crowd really be into the game and really help us. We need to feed off of their energy.”