By Tiffany Williams –
As the Baltimore Ravens enter their 28th year they kicked off preseason football Saturday night hosting the Eagles at M&T Bank Stadium, and the Ravens who have not lost a preseason game since 2015, beat the Eagles 20-19.
With Saturday night’s win the Ravens are 24-0 in the postseason dating back to 2016. The Ravens 24 straight wins mark the longest streak in NFL preseason history, surpassing Green Bay’s 19 from 1959-62.
The last time Baltimore lost in the preseason was 2015, and rookie first-round pick Zay Flowers was a freshman at NSU University School.
The Eagles got into this game first with a 45 yard field goal by Jake Elliott with 8:58 on the clock in the first quarter to make it a 3-0 game.
In the second quarter with 13:32 on the clock the Ravens grabbed their first touchdown with Josh Johnson connecting with Devin Duvernay, and the point after attempt by Justin Tucker was good to make it a 3-7 game.
With 11:19 on the clock in the second quarter, Jake Elliott made a 49 yard field goal to make it a 6-7 game, putting the Eagles down by just one.
With 3:51 on the clock in the second the Eagles took the lead back with Trey Sermon running two yards to get the Eagles their first TD. The point after attempt by Jake Elliott was good to put the Eagles on top 13-7.
The Ravens were not going into the halftime quietly and Justin Tucker completed a 60 yard field goal to make it a 13-10 game.
In the third quarter the Ravens took back the lead, making it a 13-17 game with Tyler Huntley connecting with Tylan Wallace to get a touchdown, and the point after attempt by Justin Tucker was good.
In the fourth quarter the Ravens made it a 20-13 game with Justin Tucker making a 43 yard field goal. The Eagles in the fourth made it a 19-20 game with Eli Ricks grabbing a 31 yard Interception return.
With Saturday night’s 20-19 win, Baltimore is now 37-15 in preseason home games, including a 23-5 mark under Coach Harbaugh.
Following Saturday night’s win Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh said, “The effort the intensity. Everybody [was] trying to do whatever they could do to play their best out there. And like I told them, these are opportunities to learn, and you have an opportunity – every single person. We learn a lot as a team. We will [learn] when we watch the tape, and every single person can learn something – whether they played or not – about themselves through the course of this game. So, now what do we do with it? That’s what determines where we go from here. So, hopefully we’ll make the most of it, and I believe in our guys, and I believe that they will make the most of it. [It was] a great game, a fun game. I thought our defense really stepped up in the second half, big time. [There were] two sudden-change stops [and] two turnovers. [You] see those guys make the plays. [We] stiffened up against the run quite a bit, which was great, and that actually ended up being the difference in the game. Then the offense closing it out at the end in the two-minute [or] four-minute drill, that was really good to see. Great, what questions do you have?”
When asked about Justin Tucker’s 60-yard field goal to close the first half, Harbaugh said “He [Justin Tucker] hit it perfectly. He hit it perfect. He hit it right on the screws, and it carried … As soon as it came off his foot, I just thought, ‘Man, that’s going through.’ You could tell, and he hit it straight. But also, credit to the offense. Credit to everybody from the quarterbacks [to] the receivers. ‘Tread’ [Laquon Treadwell] made a couple great plays there. Josh [Johnson] made some nice throws. The offensive line protected. [We were] pretty much penalty free, which is big in that situation. So, they got ‘Tuck’ [Justin Tucker] to field-goal range at 60 [yards], I guess.”
When asked about having Justin Tucker kick Saturday night instead of having another kicker, Harbaugh said “No, we just haven’t been able to with the roster. We wouldn’t be opposed to having another kicker in here, [and] we may still do that. We’ve looked at some guys. We have a good list of guys. We might want to take some workload off him [Justin Tucker]. That’s something we definitely have talked about. We just didn’t feel like we had the roster freedom to do it right now.”
When asked what he sees from wide receiver Zay Flowers that forces defenders to draw penalties, Harbaugh said “Well, if you’re hard to cover, guys will tend to grab sometimes, so that can be part of it. That’s probably the basic premise of the whole thing. He [Zay Flowers] is hard to … He’s got great feet and great acceleration, change of direction. And the defensive back, if he’s in coverage, has to match that. It’s the same in tackling; you’ve got to match that, as well. So, that’s what good players do, and I’m excited to see him continue to grow.”
Zay Flowers, Saturday night was asked about playing in his first game at M&T Bank Stadium and said, “I was excited. I was super excited – to the point where I didn’t really know what to do. So, it was fun. It was a fun experience for the first time.”
When asked about playing in his first NFL game, Flowers said “It was a little bit faster – a little bit – not too much faster, though. Like, I can handle it. Yes, I’ll be able to handle it. It was good experience for the first time, though.”
The Ravens will next play the Washington Commanders on Monday, August 21.
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