4 positives, 4 negatives from Ravens Week 1 win over Houston Texans

Negative: Baltimore and Lamar dominated the score but not the game

The Ravens won on Sunday. That's cool! They beat the Texans by 14 points worth two touchdowns of distance. That's great! The problem is that this wasn't even close to a total domination by the actual on-field action by Baltimore. Far from it.

The main cause, because quarterbacks rule the game and are the one piece making it all work (or not), was the mediocre performance of Lamar Jackson in his first game since last December. Call it rust, call it what you want, but there's no lie about that.

Jackson failed to complete a pass for a touchdown and to score a rushing touchdown. He fumbled the rock twice and threw a costly interception on a red-zone pass. He was sacked four times, and sacks are a quarterback (not offensive line) stat.

Lamar had an efficient 17-of-22 day, yes, but he only completed passes for a total of 169 yards and although he led all Ravens players in rushing yards with 38, 14 of those came on a single play and he was never a true ground threat.

The interception was a bit confusing in that Jackson threw an ill-advised pass across his body in the first quarter that went nowhere other than the hands of Texans' cornerback Steven Nelson at the 16-yard line. No touchdown, and field-goal attempt wasted.

Jackson can excuse himself a bit on the poor performance by the offensive line in the first half of Sunday's game, but that's pretty much it. He can give you flashes and shadows in equal terms, but he's been better than worse most of the time.

Let's hope this was just a poor combination of a rusty quarterback not playing in months and under a new offensive coach, call it a day, and expect better results going forward.