The Ravens hosted the Houston Texans on Sunday for their 2023 season opener at M&T Bank Stadium and went to sleep with a costly but unique 25-9 win under their collective wings.
The victory, albeit positive, came at a steep price if only because of the many banged-up and lost-for-long players that went down throughout the game. That was only one of the negatives, of course, as the whole team looked a bit rusty at times and never fully clicked against a lowly, inexperienced opponent.
Of course, the win was also possible because of some positive and encouraging signs showcased by the Ravens' Flock and their members--from coaches to players--that should end up painting a brighter picture as the season grows older and everybody starts to get more into the rhythm of play and the newly installed systems.
With that said, here are some positives and some negatives from the Ravens' Week 1 historic 25-9 win over the Texans on Sunday to kick their 2023 season off with a 1-0 record.
Positive: A win is a win, and the Ravens are 1-0
Hear me out. Four AFC North teams played a football game on Sunday and only two of them won their games: Baltimore and Cleveland.
The Browns demolished the supposed division favorites and Super Bowl contenders Cincinnati Bengals beating them 24-3 with Joe Burrow passing for fewer than 90 yards on the day.
The Steelers went down hard losing 30-7 to the 49ers and looking even worse than everybody expected on Sunday.
Baltimore wasn't even remotely close to the peak of their game and expectations and what they know they can do, but still put 25 points past Houston while allowing the Texans to score fewer than 10 points on them through four quarters of play.