Game played in New Orleans harkens memories of Hurrican Katrina in 2005. Ravens donate $1 million to Harvey relief.
At a time of year, when football usually becomes more important, it doesn’t seem that way now.
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Thursday night the Ravens played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, a place ravaged 12 years ago this week by Hurricane Katrina. In fact, the Ravens were the last visitors to play there before that storm hit in 2005, getting out of town barely 36 hours before it made landfall.
Baltimore returned there this week in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, which has caused unspeakable devastation to nearby southeast Texas. The devastation had spread so far and wide that the final preseason game — which was also the case when the Ravens and Saints met in 2005 — could have been canceled — as the scheduled game between Dallas and Houston was.
But New Orleans was also the city in which Baltimore won the second of its two Super Bowls five seasons ago. Winning is a habit the team has mastered, albeit sometimes in games that don’t really count. To that end, the Ravens completed a second straight undefeated preseason–and the seventh in team history–by defeating the Saints, 14-13, at a much-less-than-full Superdome.
The Ravens’ organization donated $1 million to relief efforts.
With the league-mandated cutdown deadline to 53 active-roster members coming up this Saturday at 4 p.m., the Ravens wanted to keep top-flight players healthy, while sorting out the bottom of the roster to see which prospects could provide depth.
Indeed, the Ravens (4-0) got another superlative effort from their rebuilt defense, a unit about which they will face many tough decisions when it comes to letting players go.
Even without 40 players dressing — including the entire starting defensive line of Brent Urban, Brandon Williams and Michael Pierce — the Saints (2-2) found the going tough.
With starting quarterback, Drew Brees, sitting out, second-stringer Chase Daniel — backed up in his own end after a Kenny Allen punt was downed by Chris Matthews in the coffin corner — was picked off by defensive tackle Carl Davis, the Ravens’ third interception of preseason.
Carl Davis (photo, PressBox Baltimore)
Davis, a 2015 third-round pick, is part of a loaded defensive line corps who was playing for his job. This month, the Ravens have emphasized getting their hands up to knock down passes, and they did so six times against Buffalo last week.
Davis’ interception set up a fourth-down, one-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Mallett (3-for-8, 19 yards, touchdown) to Chris Moore, a 2016 fourth-rounder who has struggled this month, to give the Ravens an early 7-0 lead.
This year’s first-round pick, cornerback Marlon Humphrey, was playing for the first time in two weeks, but he seemed eager to please. Humphrey forced a fumble on a run play that inside linebacker candidate Patrick Onwuasor fell on at the Saints’ 16 late in the first quarter. But backup quarterback Thad Lewis (8-for-13, 55 yards), who saw more playing time than expected, fumbled the ball back to the Saints as the second period began, the first lost fumble Baltimore had incurred all month.
Patrick Ricard (photo, PressBox Baltimore)
Undrafted defensive lineman/fullback/tight end prospect, Patrick Ricard, made his presence felt again by blocking ex-Raven backup kicker Wil Lutz’ 49-yard field goal to temporarily preserve the shutout. Since 2014, the Ravens have blocked more kicks than any other team in the league.
Ricard has a chance to make the roster with his multiple roles. If so, it would mark the 14th straight year the Ravens have had an undrafted rookie make the team.
That set up a 66-yard, 12-play drive that ended with Bobby Rainey’s two-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead. Receiver Michael Campanaro provided a key block on the scoring run.
Rainey, who returned to the Ravens this year after spending time in Cleveland, New York (Giants) and Tampa Bay, was playing in place of Terrance West and Buck Allen (held out of the game) and Danny Woodhead (hamstring).
The seven-minute drive succeeded despite the Ravens’ fielding a fourth different offensive line in as many preseason games–with none of the probable 2017 starters on the field. Former starting center, Jeremy Zuttah. was in his old position, surrounded by tackles De’Ondre Wesley and Marquice Shakir, and guards Matt Skura and Jermaine Eluemunor.
For the first time all month, the defensive depth broke down, allowing a 94-yard, 13-play scoring drive.
Just before halftime, Chase Daniel’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Josh Hill not only cut the Ravens’ lead in half, it prevented Baltimore from setting a franchise-record-low for preseason points allowed. The score was set up by a pass-interference call on Reggie Porter.
Lutz connected from 28 midway through the third period to bring New Orleans to within 14-10, then kicked a 48-yarder early in the fourth to make it a one-point game.
A possible game-winning 59-yarder was wide right, and the Ravens had their unbeaten preseason as they now turn their attention to their 22nd regular-season opener in Cincinnati (Sunday, Sept. 10, 1 p.m.; WJZ-TV; WIYY-FM). But with bigger societal priorities in the forefront, the Ravens completed their preseason in a somber place and with a heavy, sympathetic heart.
The fourth preseason game is usually meaningless and the Ravens have only hosted such a game six times in their history (none since 2008). However, Thursday night might have been a good time to do just that.
All the better to put a greater focus on the task at hand while remembering those lost.
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Joe Platania, a Baltimore native, was the 1998 Maryland Sportscaster of the Year, a 2010 Maryland Sportswriter of the Year finalist and has covered the Ravens throughout their entire history. He has spent 38 years in Baltimore sports media.
