OWINGS MILLS – The typical drudgery of NFL games that don’t count usually goes away for at least one night, replaced by the importance of an annual preseason game worthy of a closer look.
As the Baltimore Ravens (1-1) play the Washington Redskins (2-0) tonight at M&T Bank Stadium, the third preseason game figures to provide a telling snapshot of where the team stands.
That’s because the Ravens plan to play the majority of their starters for as long as three quarters.
"This is the biggest dress rehearsal for a real game," Ravens outside linebacker Jarret Johnson said. "We matched more film for them than we did the other games. The first preseason game, you barely watch any film on your opponent. Second, you watch a little bit.
"This game, we actually broke down some plays and watched them on film and game-planned them a little bit. This is definitely the biggest dress rehearsal as far as a preseason game."
Just like dress rehearsals for other occasions, the Ravens want this one to go smoothly.
They’re coming off a 31-13 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs where the reserves did most of the damage.
Yet midway through the preseason, the first-team offense hasn’t been in sync very often.
Quarterback Joe Flacco has yet to throw a touchdown pass and has completed 15 of 30 throws for 184 yards and no interceptions for a 69.3 passer rating.
For Flacco, it’s a matter of building time with tight ends Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta as well as new wide receivers Lee Evans and Torrey Smith.
"That’s always an evolving process of getting familiar with your guys, and then you are always growing as a quarterback to learn NFL defenses," offensive coordinator Cam Cameron said. "Defenses are evolving. I have already seen some things in preseason tape that are new, that defensive coordinators are coming up with in the offseason.
"So, you have to continue to grow and evolve. If you don’t continue to grow, you are going to struggle. He needs to just continue to grow as a quarterback, get used to his guys, and we should get a little bit better every week this season."
Former Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice got on track with an electrifying 26-yard touchdown run against Kansas City, but it was against the Chiefs’ backups with All-Pro outside linebacker Tamba Hali on the bench.
And the offensive line cut down on sacks allowed, surrendering two last week after allowing six sacks to open the preseason against the Philadelphia Eagles.
"We want to get better every week," rookie offensive tackle Jah Reid said. "Every one of these games is a chance for us to improve. We’ve all got to get better each time we hit the field."
Winning the game isn’t paramount to the Ravens, though.
Ideally, they would like to finish on top of the Redskins and have a sharp outing on offense and defense against a team that has already beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts this month.
"We want to win, we always want to win," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "The guys who are going to have to win the game in the fourth quarter are going to be the young guys, just like they were able to do last week. And that was good to see. But yes, we want to see us developing into a winning and a championship football team.
"The things that you will be able to recognize, whether it’s on offense, defense or special teams, we want to play well. They’re going to go against a team that’s playing really well in the preseason. If you watch the tape on the Redskins, they are dominating in the preseason. That’s a huge test for us. They’ve done a great job with their team, and it’s just a great opportunity for us to get better."
Harbaugh emphasized that he won’t play key players such as middle linebacker Ray Lewis, defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, free safety Ed Reed and outside linebacker Terrell Suggs for an extended period of time.
Still, the majority of the starters will play most of the game. It should provide a telling look at competitions for starting jobs at strong safety between Tom Zbikowski, Bernard Pollard and Haruki Nakamura and at inside linebacker between Jameel McClain and Dannell Ellerbe.
"Our plan will be to play them into the third quarter, maybe the whole third quarter," Harbaugh said. "You will see certain guys that won’t go that long, as usual. There are other guys that really need the work, so we will be pushing them into the second half."
The Ravens haven’t operated defensively like they’re running the vanilla schemes that new coordinator Chuck Pagano had discussed at the beginning of camp so as to keep from unveiling packages intended for the regular season.
Known for his aggressiveness, Pagano has blitzed liberally and run line stunts to create more pressure after the team had a franchise-worst 27 sacks last season.
The Ravens had 14 quarterback hits against the Chiefs, including five sacks. That doesn’t mean that Pagano has actually opened up the playbook, though, as he’s typically running three-man or four-man rushes.
"We kind of expected it," Johnson said. "That’s Chuck, his personality. I can’t believe he said he was going to be vanilla. I hope this is vanilla, because during the season, we’ll really be bringing it."
Pagano said the Ravens overcame a lot of three-step drops to generate pressure against Kansas City.
"If you look at Kansas City’s game plan, they weren’t exactly letting us get to the quarterback," Pagano said. "It was a lot of three steps, a lot of screens, a lot of quick gains and things like that. Really, getting that many shots on them with what they came in with as a game plan is a testament to our defense and the way they played. ..
"I guess that’s just letting them play. They’ve still got to line up and they’ve still got to block. Whether they see it now, it doesn’t matter. We can show the same thing and not be running it and run something different. So, that’s just a matter of cutting these guys loose and wanting to show a little more aggression than we’ve been."
Even though this is just a preseason game, the Ravens and Redskins’ fans don’t always treat it that way.
And the players acknowledged that they get a bit more competitive when it comes to playing the Redskins.
"I really want to play in this game," said Johnson, who has been dealing with a back injury. "This is the biggest thing for the starters, and it being the Redskins, kind of a little rivalry. So, I really wanted to play in this game. We’ve played really well. We’ll find out."
Aaron Wilson covers the Baltimore Ravens for the Carroll County Times.
