Ravens win 17th straight pre-season game.
Thursday, August 29, 2019: What is the best kind of storyline for a fourth preseason game? In Baltimore, we have options.
–Is it the Ravens’ otherworldly preseason win streak, the NFL’s longest in the last 25 years?
–Is it the so-called rivalry between Baltimore and Washington, two cities 40 miles apart?
Either way, a win is a win–something that the pre-season Ravens do plenty of–in prep for the regular-season opener at Miami on Sunday, Sept. 8, at 1 p.m. (WJZ-TV, WIYY-FM).
Perhaps the most critical aspect of Thursday night’s game–as is the last pre-season game, year after year–is who will make the team and who won’t.
“Mike is the guy that jumps out the most,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh recalled when asked about Pierce’s impact. “You’re right. He just blew the game up. He knocked the ball loose and recovered a fumble down there close to the end zone. He was a consideration going into the game, a strong consideration. I don’t know that you can come out of nowhere in the fourth preseason game, but he sealed the deal, for sure, in that game.”
But there’s another side to the coin, of course. Consider Ravens’ rush linebacker Shane Ray, a Denver 2015 first-round pick.
Ray needed the Redskins game to justify Baltimore spending unrestricted free-agent money on him.
Last year’s division-champion Ravens managed just 43 sacks–barely above the middle of the 32-team NFL pack. The team’s top two sack leaders, Za’Darius Smith, and all-time franchise leader Terrell Suggs, have departed in free agency. The additional absences of free-agent departures CJ Mosley, Eric Weddle, and Brent Urban, as well as the season-ending neck injury to corner Tavon Young, means that a staggering 19.5 sacks from last year’s team will not return in 2019.
Given that, it was important for Ray and other players entrusted with pocket pressure to make a significant mark against the Redskins. And they had to do it against a squad that provided a good test, That’s because the ‘Skins have young, strong-armed rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins at the controls.
The fact that Ray had to play in this game meant that his chance at a roster spot was in serious jeopardy. He had just one-half sack in the Ravens’ first three preseason games. But against the Redskins, a team battered by offensive line injuries in recent years (and further hampered by the holdout of perennial Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams), Ray didn’t play much and had just one tackle. His fellow pass rushers–players far down the depth chart–got two sacks.
All told, a defense that allowed 28 points through the first three preseason games (two above the club record of 26 yielded through all four 1998 August games), finished the pre-season by yielding 35 through the month, a sterling performance despite not playing first-stringers all that often.
Inside linebacker Otaro Alaka was a defensive standout. He had a team-high five tackles despite getting shaken up midway through the game. Alaka’s addition to the roster would make the team deeper on the inside, and also extend the Ravens’ string to 16 straight years of an undrafted rookie making the Week One roster.
While Haskins was making his first professional start, the Ravens’ offense turned to sixth-round rookie Trace McSorley, who made a second straight start. Starter Lamar Jackson was again idled in preparation for the regular-season opener.
McSorley was joined by first-round draftee, receiver Marquise Brown, who only recently returned to action, RB Kenneth Dixon, and starting right tackle Orlando Brown, Jr. Brown was given a chance to run back punts, but he muffed both attempts.
McSorley (15-for-27, 171 yards, touchdown, one sack, 87.1 rating) showed plenty of poise behind an offensive line that had just one starter playing (in Brown). He found undrafted receiver Antoine Wesley for 18 yards and, then, 2018 draftee Jaleel Scott twice for 35 yards. That got the team into position for ex-Chicago Bears kicker Elliot Fry’s game-opening 48-yard field goal.
Versatile defensive lineman and part-time fullback Patrick Ricard then scooped up a fumble and ran 35 yards for an apparent score, but replay overturned it. Still, it capped what has been an impressive month for Ricard.
Haskins (10-for-17, 104 yards, touchdown. 96.2 rating) answered back, driving the hosts 75 yards in eight plays, capping it off with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Steven Sims to give Washington a 7-3 lead after one quarter.
Ravens running back Kenneth Dixon, squarely on the roster bubble, shook off an early injury to make two big runs on a 69-yard, 13-play drive. De’Lance Turner also ripped off a 22-yard gain. That set up McSorley’s 24-yard back-shoulder touchdown throw to Jaleel Scott, putting the Ravens back in front in the second period.
Dixon ended the first half with 40 yards on ten carries (66 yards, 13 carries for the game)–and impressive showing for a player that the Ravens are unlikely to keep as a fourth running back behind Mark Ingram, Gus Edwards, and rookie Justice Hill. If Baltimore does keep a fourth, it’s likely to be returner Tyler Ervin.
As for Scott, who caught five passes for 78 yards and a touchdown, the 2018 draftee appears to have won a sixth receiver spot–a slot that may not have even existed for the coaches when training camp started.
The Ravens outgained the Redskins in the first half, 238-136, but their lead could have been bigger were it not for eight penalties to Washington’s five. But the defense, even with backups on the field, forced three Redskin three-and-outs before halftime.
Backup safety Brynden Trawick, who returned to the Ravens this summer, intercepted a Redskin pass to set up Fry’s 21-yard field goal with three minutes left that extended the lead to 13-7. Then, Turner’s blocked punt set up his own one-yard touchdown, which extended the Ravens’ mind-boggling preseason win streak. Turner finished the night with 62 yards on 18 carries.
While all the pre-season wins are nice, now the games count for real.
