The 2026 NFL regular season is almost a quarter of the way complete, and the Ravens are 3-1 for the first time since 2023.
Here are the stats that have defined Baltimore's first four games of the season, starting with a two-time MVP playing at an MVP level.
119.6
That's Lamar Jackson's passer rating, which exceeds the totals from his two MVP seasons and matches his 2024 season, when he had a strong case to win a third MVP.
After an injury-riddled 2025 campaign, Jackson has looked like his usual self again. He's completed just under 71% of his passes and leads the NFL in yards per pass attempt. He ranks 14th in passing yards despite being tied for 25th in pass attempts.
It's not just the fact that he's playing well, but it's how he's playing that's been so fun to watch. He's completed passes using all kinds of arm angles and, in general, is succeeding under all kinds of circumstances – quick throws, intermediate throws, long balls, on the run, on play action, in shotgun, in clean pockets, in cluttered pockets, in the clutch, through tight coverage, facing a blitz. It doesn't matter. Through four games, No. 8 has been great.
What's different about Jackson is that he's running less often than past seasons in which he's been healthy. A big reason why Jackson had career lows in most rushing stats and a sky-high pressure-to-sack ratio last year were due to lingering injuries that limited his mobility.
This season, he's averaging just 4.8 carries per game, but that's been out of choice rather than a lack of physical ability. He's also had some runs called back by penalties. Plus, Jackson has still put together marvelous runs, both designed and on scrambles, and defenses still respect him as a runner, which has opened up teammates elsewhere.
What remains to be seen is how long Jackson's ankle injury, which he suffered late in the second quarter against the Titans, keeps him sidelined and affects him going forward.
6.3
That's Zay Flowers' yards per route run, which is two more than the next-closest wideout with at least 50 routes run (Jaxon Smith-Njigba). Drake London, who the Ravens will face on Sunday night, is the only other wideout above four.
Like Jackson, Flowers has been wildly productive on lesser opportunities compared to his peers: he ranks No. 8 in receiving yards among wideouts despite ranking No. 97 in routes run.
His quickness and understanding of space make defenders look silly. Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle has maximized those traits by oftentimes moving him around the formation, which has put opposing defenses in tough spots.
"'Dec' does a great job of putting him in different positions," Head Coach Jesse Minter said. "You can have a game plan for him when he is the outside receiver to maybe take him away, or maybe when he is the slot receiver, but then he is ending up as No. 3 a lot. He is ending up on linebackers in zone coverages. He is ending up out of the backfield a few times as we have seen this year."
Flowers has really found success when running over the middle, which he's done a lot more in 2026 compared to previous seasons.
According to Next Gen Stats, Flowers has run 15 crossers, catching seven passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown, which came against the Colts, saw Flowers line up next to Jackson in the backfield.
"It is more fun when you know you can get the ball from anywhere," Flowers said. "It does not matter who, whether it is a nickel, linebacker or whichever corner is over me, it is just fun being able to play inside, outside and never know where you are going to line up at."
There's a good chance Flowers' yards per route run will go down as the season continues. Only one wide receiver has finished a season with at least four yards per route run on at least 50 routes in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016) – that was Tyreek Hill in 2023, and he finished with exactly four.
Even so, the fourth-year wideout has looked like one of the NFL's most electric skill positions players and worth every penny of his newly signed contract.
39 and 329
That's how many penalties and penalty yards the Ravens have through four games, the third- and second-highest totals in the NFL, respectively.
It's not just the quantity of penalties that've hurt the Ravens; they've had 121 yards of offense and a touchdown brought back due to penalties. A 49-yard kick return by Chris Moore against the Colts was also nullified because of an illegal block above the waist.
Zooming in further, 26 of the 39 penalties have come from the offense. They have the second-most false starts in the NFL (11). Procedural mistakes were to be expected in Doyle's detailed and motion-heavy offense early on.
Even though mistakes have continued popping up, Minter doesn't foresee the offense getting simplified in hopes of avoiding more penalties going forward.
"You do want to use motions and shifts and cadences as a weapon, and I think when we see our offense really operate, it creates problems," Minter said. "It creates explosives. It creates running lanes [and] it creates angles blocking. Some of our best runs [against the Titans] were with multiple motions and guys crack-blocking and guys getting around the edge."
Some penalties have been controversial, including Nate Wiggins' pass interference on Cowboys wideout George Pickens and Kyle Hamilton's unnecessary roughness penalty on Titans quarterback Cam Ward. The Ravens also haven't been alone in getting flagged a lot, as this season has seen an abnormally high number of penalties called across the NFL.
But players and coaches have understood that they need to minimize their infractions going forward.
"Obviously, it is unacceptable [and] obviously self-inflicted," inside linebacker Roquan Smith said. "When you have penalties, you shoot yourself in the foot, and that lowers your chances. It takes all of us, not just one of us. It takes all of us, play in and play out, to play [with] clean technique and fundamentals. When we do that, things normally go in our favor. But obviously, if we do not, we allow teams to stay around."
"If we can get out of our own way," Minter said, "I think there's a high ceiling for us."
12
That's how many Ravens have left games and/or missed time due to injury since the start of the regular season. That list doesn't include Danny Pinter, who was in line to be Baltimore's starting center before suffering a season-ending injury during joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings in August.
The Ravens have found ways to recuperate in wake of those injuries, including Ioane moving to center (and excelling). But the injury bug hasn't been kind to Baltimore early on, and the Ravens will hope that trend doesn't continue further into the season.
12.1%
That's Baltimore's pressure-to-sack ratio, which is tied for the fifth-lowest in the NFL.
The Ravens are tied for eighth in quarterback pressures (58), but they only have seven sacks. Minter acknowledged that the Ravens have room to improve their pass rush.
"We can be a little bit more coordinated, and then I thought four or five times where we had opportunities to sack the quarterback, we are either leaving our feet too early or not taking that extra step," Minter said.
However, within the non-sacks are positive plays for the defensive front, including rushed throws and rollouts that turn into throwaways. Last Sunday, the Titans also had extra blockers on the field often, making it more difficult to sack the quarterback.
"I thought we forced [Cam Ward] to move around a lot," Minter said. "We got him moving his feet."
Plus-0.2
That's the difference between Derrick Henry's yards after contact per carry (2.2) and yards before contact per carry (2), which is by far the lowest of his career.
Of running backs with at least 40 carries this season, those two yards before contact per carry are the second-most, but those 2.2 yards after contact per carry are the second-fewest. He did run through a Titans cornerback near the goal line to score a touchdown, however.
Henry is playing at an elite level. He has a league-high seven rushing touchdowns and is on pace for almost 1,600 rushing yards. But his yards after contact, which have been one of his many superpowers in the past, will be something to monitor as the season goes along.
4
That's the number of receivers who have tallied at least seven catches and 80 receiving yards against the Ravens this season.
- Titans' Carnell Tate: Nine receptions, 145 yards
- Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb: Seven receptions, 112 yards
- Cowboys' George Pickens: Seven receptions, 82 yards
- Saints' Chris Olave: Eight receptions, 86 yards, one touchdown
Lamb, Pickens, and Olave are some of the NFL's top wideouts, while Tate has started his rookie season hot. But getting beat in man coverage is something that the Ravens will want to lessen going forward.
The Ravens have a few more top-tier wideouts on their regular-season schedule, including London, the Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, the Panthers' Tet McMillan, and more. How the Ravens respond to those tests will go a long way in determining how successful their defense is this season.
2
That's how many field goals from at least 50 yards Tyler Loop has made through four games – one more than he did all of last season, when he was 1-of-4 from that range.
Both kicks were electrifying: one was a game-winning 56-yarder to beat the Cowboys in Dallas in Week 3, and the other was a 64-yarder in Week 4 against the Titans to end the first half.
Loop is 6-of-8 on the season. One miss was a blocked field goal against the Saints, and another was a 40-yarder against the Titans that Loop pushed wide left after a subpar operation.
Loop has shown the ability to make clutch kicks and from long range, two areas where he struggled at times last season. Whether that continues to affect how Baltimore's offense operates closer to scoring range remains to be seen, but he has turned into more of a weapon.
