By Tiffany Williams –
Monday Night at FedEx Field, it was the “Battle of the Beltway” with the Baltimore Ravens meeting the Washington Commanders, and with a 29-28 win, the Commanders snapped the Ravens preseason 24 game win streak.
Baltimore got into this game in the first quarter with 12:21 on the clock with a pass from Josh Johnson to Zay Flowers for a touchdown. The extra point was good to put Baltimore on top 7-0. Commanders got into this game with 3:11 on the clock in the first with Joey Slye making a 21-yard field goal to make it 7-3.
In the second quarter, this game came down to the final minute and seconds. The Commanders got the first touchdown in the second quarter with 1:49 on the clock to make it a 7-10 game to take the lead. 15 seconds later, with 1:34 on the clock, Josh Johnson connected with Tylan Wallace to get a touchdown, and the extra point attempt by Justin Tucker was good for Baltimore to get out front 14-10. But with just 12 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Sam Howell connected with Dyami Brown for a touchdown. The extra point attempt by Joey Slye was good to put the Commanders back out front 14-17.
Third quarter with 7:49 on the clock, Anthony Brown connected with Travis Vokolek to get a touchdown, and the extra point attempt was good to put Baltimore back out front 21-17. With 3:48 remaining in the third, the Commanders made a field goal to make it a 21-20.
With 14:08 on the clock in the fourth quarter, Anthony Brown connected with Travis Vokolek to grab his second passing touchdown of the game. The extra point attempt by Justin Tucker was good to put the Ravens on top 28-20. With 4:08 remaining in the fourth quarter, Jake Fromm connected with Jaret Patterson for a touchdown to make it a 28-26 game. With just nine seconds remaining in the fourth, Joey Slye made a 49-yard field goal to put the Commanders up 28-29.
The Ravens are now 24-1 in preseason dating back to the start of 2016. The Ravens with 24 straight wins still hold the longest streak in NFL preseason history, surpassing Green Bay’s 19 from 1959-62.
Following Monday night’s loss, Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh met with the media and said, “Our defense [had] 45 plays against their first offense in the first half. I thought that was just awesome to go out there, and then a number of plays in the second half, too, so they put a lot of plays on the field, and I thought they were fighting right to the end. That’s what you care about. Offense was explosive, made some plays, different guys made the plays, and that play that [S Ar’Darius Washington] made to get that ball out. That’s one of the best plays you’re ever going to see. Of course, [QB] Josh [Johnson] was pushing the offense up and down the field, so a lot of great things.”
When asked about the preseason winning streak, Harbaugh said, “It’s just, I’m excited. The thing about something like that, I just told our guys, you know, you’re proud of it, of course, you appreciate it, but the thing that you’re proud of is all those games are mostly just like that, you know. Preseason games that people want to write about, some of you in here want to write about and say it doesn’t mean anything, because you never played the game. You never were out there, you never were fighting for a spot on the team and then you have the audacity to say that the effort that somebody puts into that to win and fight and win a game like that is meaningless. Tell me that was meaningless out there, what you just saw. If you like football, was that a meaningless football game, you know? I can’t respect anybody that says that because the effort these guys put into it, that’s what you’re proud of. That’s, that’s why I’m so proud of these guys for the way they fought. It doesn’t matter win or lose. It matters, it matters the way they went about their business tonight, and I’m proud of them for that and always will be.”
When asked about the offensive explosiveness in practice and watching it translate to a game, Harbaugh said, “It was great to see it. I mean, just to see that and the way [WR Zay Flowers] played and just, you know, the offense and just creating plays like that, you know. We did it in the run game as well, and then how about a guy like [TE Travis] Vokolek? You know, going out there and catching those passes and scoring a touchdown, [TE] Charlie [Kolar] stepping up and making the catches. Both quarterbacks played outstanding, [I’m] just really happy with all of that.”
When Quarterback Josh Johnson was asked if Monday night felt like a preseason game, he said, “No. Just like coach [John Harbaugh] said, for us players, we know what this means – to get the opportunity to go out there and play in an NFL game. Especially for young guys, you’re living out your dream. I was once in that situation before, so the atmosphere was great. Guys were really getting it out the mud. Honestly, you saw guys playing kickoff, turned right back around playing defense. We were down to one running back at one point in time. Coach said it’s just the grind, guys pursuing an opportunity, and you know for me, I was just happy to be able to go out there and share with field with those guys. All of us just try to collectively pull out a win, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that.”
When asked about Zay Flowers’ performance, Johnson said, “Zay [Flowers] is different. To see him do what you all see every day – we were able to get the ball in his hands early. He’s a very exciting player, and his moves are wild, and it’s like that every day. So automatically, it injects life into the whole team to see him go out there and just unleash his special talent. I’m excited for the young fella.”
Travis Vokolek, when asked Monday night when the last time he caught two touchdowns in a game, said, “Never. I was telling some guys that I was close to tying my record from college in one night in a pro game. That was cool, but ultimately, we lost the game which stinks. [There’s] a lot to learn from and a long way to go.”
When asked about his touchdown celebration, Vokolek said, “I don’t know where it came from, honestly. I was just telling Zay [Flowers] and Charlie [Kolar] and Mark [Andrews] and those guys that I didn’t know what to do. They’re always harping about doing something after scoring, but I’m not a big celebration guy. It just kind of came to my head. I’ve seen other guys do it, so I just did it.”
When asked about the winning streak, Vokolek said, “It sucks that it ended, but it’s an opportunity to grow and learn from our mistakes on film and just keep getting better every day.”
Next up for the Ravens is a road trip to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, August 26, 2023, at 7:00 PM.
Sports Insider Daily 