Baltimore won its NFL-record 24th straight preseason game. The Ravens haven’t lost a preseason game since September 3, 2015, when it closed out the exhibition season with a 20-19 road loss at Atlanta.
Saturday, August 12, 2023, M&T BANK STADIUM, BALTIMORE: Nothing is a certainty in the parity-ridden world of the National Football League. But if anything can be counted on these days, it’s this: the Baltimore Ravens don’t lose preseason games.
Since the streak began in 2016, the Ravens have amassed four second-place AFC North Division finishes, four playoff berths, and two consecutive division crowns in 2018 and 2019 (the 2020 preseason was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). That number would be even higher, but in 2016 and 2017, the Ravens were barely eliminated from the playoff chase over the season’s final two weeks, with one gut-wrenching play making the difference each time.
The Ravens’ curious but otherworldly run continued Saturday night with a 20-19 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2023 August opener before an announced home crowd of 70,647. Last year, the Ravens’ 3-0 August mark helped them steamroll past the late-60s Green Bay Packers to set a new league preseason win streak record.
As expected, none of the Ravens’ high-profile regulars played Saturday against the Eagles. Still, a few well-placed veterans did to acclimate themselves to both their new team and new offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Also, a few noted Ravens vets, such as pass rusher David Ojabo, running backs Gus Edwards and Justice Hill, and receiver/returner James Proche, saw action.
Monken, who has NFL stops in Cleveland and Tampa Bay on his resume, earned a reputation at the University of Georgia — the two-time defending national collegiate champions — by utilizing every available passing target as a legitimate weapon and not just as a checkdown, making defenses guard seemingly every blade of grass inside the boundaries.
Even without running back JK Dobbins participating in training camp, the Ravens still see themselves as a run-first team. Baltimore has accumulated over 10,000 rushing yards over the last four years, something no other NFL team has ever done over such a span.
The Monken approach could allow for them to display better balance — Saturday, they rushed for 133 yards and passed for 139 — enhance their already-stellar time-of-possession game and keep their defense fresh.
Going into Saturday, it was unclear whether this approach would work in a preseason game, particularly against a Philadelphia team that has plenty of questions itself, even after coming off a Super Bowl appearance.
Many of the Eagles’ defensive standouts did not return to the team this year; the unit was plucked nearly clean in free agency. On top of that, both principal coordinators had to be replaced. Hence, the visitors — the same team Baltimore played in its first-ever preseason home game at Memorial Stadium in 1996 — had plenty on their plate as they headed to Charm City.
They found a two-tiered cauldron of hot, humid weather — 87 degrees with 68 percent humidity — and a Ravens team anxious to fulfill the mostly optimistic forecasts surrounding them.
Speaking of anxious, former high-round draft pick Malik Harrison, at one time penciled in to start at inside linebacker alongside Patrick Queen, sacked Eagles quarterback Marcus Mariota on the third play of the game and had three tackles on the Eagles’ first possession.
Mariota, filling in for starter Jalen Hurts, would eventually run for two first downs on the opening drive, including a 14-yard scamper on third-and-13. But the wildly inaccurate Mariota missed on a pair of passes, and Jake Elliott’s 45-yard field goal capped off a 13-play drive with the game’s first points. Former special teams ace Del’Shawn Phillips led the team with nine first-half tackles as he fought for an inside linebacker spot.
Josh Johnson (photo, ESPN)
The Ravens couldn’t capitalize on holding the Eagles out of the end zone as 37-year-old quarterback Josh Johnson, who has played for a league-record 14 teams (including three stints in Baltimore), could do no better than three-and-out on Baltimore’s first opportunity with the ball. Johnson would complete eight of 12 first-half passes, scoring a 101.0 rating. Tyler Huntley took over in the third quarter, completing eight of 11 tosses for 88 yards, compiling a 126.3 reading.
Mariota took advantage of his time with the Eagle starters on offense by finding Greg Ward with several passes and sending ex-Detroit running back DeAndre Swift through the Raven reserves to drive into Baltimore territory.
The Eagles would outgain the Ravens by a 3-1 first-quarter margin, holding the ball for 12 1/2 minutes. Philadelphia would end the half outgaining the Ravens by a 271-114 margin, holding the ball for nearly 22 of 30 minutes. But two penalties slowed the drive, forcing the visitors to settle for Elliott’s wide-right 46-yard field goal try.
Suddenly, the Eagles were making more mistakes, interfering with rookie first-rounder Zay Flowers on a pass pattern and failing to contain the outside on a 37-yard improvised Justice Hill run deep into Philadelphia’s half of the field.
Flowers was held as the small, quick rookie tried to get open in the east end zone as the second quarter began. Flowers then blocked for a Hill right-side run before Johnson, completing a 64-yard, five-play drive, found Devin Duvernay for a seven-yard touchdown in the right corner of the end zone and a 7-3 lead.
Elliott cut the Ravens’ lead to one with a 49-yard field goal before the Eagles again cranked up their effective run game midway through the quarter. Tanner McKee then hit Ty Cleveland at the Ravens’ 2 before Tre Sermon plowed in for a go-ahead touchdown.
The crowd still managed to erupt with glee just before halftime as Justin Tucker boomed a 60-yard field goal — which looked longer than his NFL-record 66-yarder two years ago — to cut the Eagle lead to 13-10. New long snapper Tyler Ott provided a perfect toss to holder Jordan Stout; Nick Moore is gone for the season with an Achilles injury.
While Tucker didn’t need any preseason work, the Ravens’ new propensity for back-shoulder throws did translate well from the practice field to game situations.
After halftime, the Ravens edged back ahead when Huntley unleashed a ten-yard back-shoulder throw to Tylan Wallace to take a 17-13 advantage. Proche fumbled a punt return at the Ravens’ 14, giving the Eagles a golden opportunity to re-take the lead. But a fourth-down end-zone McKee pass was incomplete, and the third quarter ended with the hosts still leading by four.
Tucker added a 43-yard field goal with 10:29 remaining, coming from a Daryl Worley-forced turnover in Eagle territory. Worley is part of a crowded secondary room that is getting an opportunity to shine in the wake of Rock Ya-Sin’s knee injury and other nagging ailments in the unit. Worley would show great persistence on a sack of former Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book, taking him down for a 23-yard loss.
The Eagles would again rally; corner Eli Ricks picked off an Anthony Brown pass and ran it back 31 yards for a touchdown. However, a two-point conversion pass was intercepted by Ar’Darius Washington to keep Baltimore ahead by one at the 7:03 mark of the fourth quarter. But the Ravens held on, and the streak continued.
The Ravens will have some extra time off to prepare for their next game, a Monday-night nationally-televised encounter on the road at Landover’s FedEx Field against the Washington Commanders (Monday, August 21; 8 p.m.; ESPN). The Ravens and Commanders will hold two days’ worth of joint practices against each other before that game, hosted by the Ravens at their Under Armour Performance Center facility.
The three-game preseason concludes with another road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It’s August, and winning is what Baltimore does in August … whether it matters or not.
