BALTIMORE — Season opening games are a throwback to the old days, according to Ravens first-year coach Jesse Minter.

He’s right.

At least against Indianapolis, which will host the Ravens on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium (1 p.m.), Minter has some idea of the Colts’ tendencies because the Chargers played them in Week 7 last year, when Minter was Los Angeles’ defensive coordinator.

The Colts might want to look at Chicago in 2025, when Declan Doyle was the Bears’ offensive coordinator, but the Ravens haven’t played their starters in the three preseason games. Basically, it’s potluck for Indianapolis because the Ravens have been so vanilla.

Openers can be ugly, and there can be a stench.

“I think the first game always comes down to: Can you take care of the football?” Minter said. “Can you run the football? Can you make mistakes that beat yourself, not turn the ball over? Can you come up with some explosive plays that may break the game open a little bit?

“Then on defense, can you get off blocks? Can you make tackles? A lot of guys haven’t tackled a lot between now and the last time they played — even last season — probably on both sides. So, that’s what the opener is about: handling adjustments, knowing that it’s not going to be exactly what we’re practicing for, because they are going to have new plays, we’re going to have new plays — that’s the opener. The team that can adapt and adjust and stick together and not beat themselves and being able to overcome things you may not be ready for — that’s the thing that we’re working towards.”

That’s true for any game, but especially in the opener.

At least in this game, Minter has faced Indianapolis coach Shane Steichen before, losing, 38-24, on Oct. 19. Back then, the Colts were one of the hottest teams in the NFL, jumping out to a 7-1 record. But quarterback Daniel Jones suffered a torn Achilles tendon against Jacksonville on Dec. 7, and the Colts never recovered, losing their final seven games.

The Colts couldn’t win without Jones because opposing teams started stacking the line against running back Jonathan Taylor, who finished with 1,551 rushing yards last season. Against the Chargers, Taylor rushed for 94 yards on 16 carries and had touchdown runs of 23, 8 and 9 yards. Ravens defensive lineman Calais Campbell said Tuesday that Taylor is the No. 1 runner in the game.

With Jones back along with Taylor and wide receivers Alec Pierce and Keenan Allen, the Colts could cause some problems. There is also the fatigue factor. It takes a couple of games for players to get in proper condition.

“I think you are always worried about that,” defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said of conditioning. “These guys just have not really been tested by a long drive, per se. The one thing I do feel confident in is — if we are in that situation — every defensive player we have active on gameday should be ready to go in and play, and we have the utmost confidence that they can go in there and execute at a high level. So, if anybody is in that particular situation where we feel like they are dragging a little bit — which, again, I do not expect out of our group — we know we can make that sub, not miss a down and then put them right back in.”

Defensively, the Colts have to make some adjustments. The Ravens have shown little in the preseason, and not much in terms of tendencies. It’s a West Coast offense, based on timing and rhythm, and several teams run the same scheme, like San Francisco, the Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia and Kansas City.

Doyle has a brother, Dillon, who is in his second year as a Colts defensive quality control coach. They haven’t spoken to each other in quite a while, Declan said, smiling.

“I want our brand of what we want to be: physical, detailed [and] we want to be explosive,” Declan Doyle said. “I want that to show up when the tape is on mute. I want you to be able to see that, and I want everybody that puts our tape on to feel that way — feel like we’re physical [and] feel like we’re physical outside. We play with great pad level and block after catch, run after catch. We take care of the ball; we’re great fundamentally. That’s really the vision for what we want to be.”

Doyle has a lot of respect for Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who is plenty familiar with Baltimore from his time leading Cincinnati’s defense from 2019 to 2014.

The Ravens haven’t played starting quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry in the preseason, so there will be some uncertainty. Unfortunately, more and more teams aren’t risking playing starters in exhibition games because of the threat of injuries.

Regardless, it’s still football. If Anarumo wants a true look at the Ravens’ offense, go watch the tape from the Chicago games a year ago.

Also, when Rex Ryan was the Ravens’ defensive coordinator from 2005 through 2007, teams didn’t blitz much, but Minter had cornerbacks coming off the edge for sacks. Some things have changed, and some haven’t.

The Ravens, though, have some new formations and trick plays. It will make this game interesting because openers can be fun, but dull.

“I think the first game of the season is your one time to put it out there that people may or may not know what you’re going to do,” Minter said. “I was telling the staff, the opening of the year, to me, is like a training camp game. You can’t make assumptions about what the other team’s going to run because they’ve been studying themselves all summer, just like you’ve been studying yourself. And so, it’s not one of those games where you go into it and use all these tendencies and things, because again they’re looking at themselves, we’re looking at ourselves. I have a high level of respect for how they operate.”

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