The guys wearing white jerseys beat the guys wearing red jerseys, and the Baltimore Ravens won a record 20th consecutive preseason game, topping the Washington Whatchamacallits by a score of 37-3.
In reality, a successful final preseason game is typically determined by teams being able to dodge catastrophic injuries, and the Ravens failed miserably on that front — watching star running back JK Dobbins be carted off the field in the first quarter with a knee injury that looks like it could extend for some time. Other than that proverbial dose of yellow color in the punch bowl, there was little to find fault with by the Ravens’ performance on Saturday night.
Let’s hand out some grades. This will most-likely be one of the most positive Report Cards of the season.
Offense: A
Scoring 37 points, putting up 491 yards of offense and averaging 6.1 yards per play pretty much speaks for itself. They passed well. They ran well. They got the ball in the end zone five times. Yeah, this was a good performance, by any measure.
Quarterback: A+
Lamar Jackson made his preseason premier, and looked good moving the team down the field on the opening possession, particularly with a gorgeous 23-yard pass to tight end Mark Andrews. Jackson was 3-for-4 in his one series, and moved the team into field goal position (which was, well… you’ll see in the “Special Teams” section).
Tyler Huntley was the game’s MVP. He went 24-33 for 285 yards and four touchdowns, and added another one on the ground. He was superb moving about the pocket and scrambling to gain time to find receivers. He has improved each preseason game, and the Ravens have to feel pretty good about Mr. Huntley serving as Jackson’s understudy.
Running backs: B+
We’re going to take the Dobbins injury out of the equation, and just focus on on-field performance. Dobbins looked tremendous in his two carries, picking up 15 yards and raising expectations for his 2021 campaign even more before, you know, that thing I don’t walk to talk about right now.
His running mate, Gus Edwards, also looked very good with the starting offensive line on the field, netting 27 yards on three carries. Summer phenom Ty’Son Williams churned out 42 yards on four carries, building his resumé once again. Fellow youngster Nate McCrary was the work horse, picking up 68 yards on a tough 22 carries. Ben Mason and Patrick Ricard picked up six carries between them, which was thunderous in its own right.
Receivers: B+
The improvement of second-year receivers Devin Duvernay and James Proche has been significant all summer, and both showed up against the Whatchamacallits, combining for eight catches, 99 yards and Proche’s rather-remarkable touchdown catch on a contested back-shoulder throw from Huntley.
Take note.
?: WBAL pic.twitter.com/sKtBzL2dEy
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 29, 2021
With so many injuries in the receiving room overshadowing them, these two have been good. Binjamin Victor looked good as well, earning 85 yards on five catches and a touchdown. Tylan Wallace is showing his possession skills, and plucked three catches and a touchdown. Deon Cain has a tantalizing toolkit and showed that against Washington, consistently getting a step downfield, but having two deep passes fall off his fingertips. He probably should have caught both. Andrews and Josh Oliver both had nice catches as tight ends, and Eric Tomlinson got himself open twice on Huntley scrambles, one producing a touchdown.
Offensive Line: A-
This has been the clear-cut weakness of this team all offseason, and they weren’t facing Washington’s stud defensive linemen, but the starters did a nice job with the run and in pass protection. Jackson faced some pressure and was sacked twice, but both of those seemed more like coverage sacks.
The second unit, where the real competition is taking place, really looked good. Of course, they were playing second- and third-stringers instead of starters this time around. That matters.
Defense: A
They gave up three points (in the 2:00 drill of the first half), 173 yards of offense and held Washington to a 9-percent third-down conversion rate, per NFL Network. I’m feeling like a homer here, but… this was absolutely dominant, regardless of the competition.
Defensive Line: A
They consistently pushed back the line of scrimmage, stopped the run themselves and got in on the quarterback quite a bit. In the Ravens defense, it is critical the defensive line wins the fistfight up front. Tonight, they did. Then they kicked them a little bit. And called them names.
Mean names.
Linebackers: B+
Patrick Queen and Malik Harrison were both active when on the field. I’m feeling confident about this duo at this point. Rookies Odafe Oweh and Daelin Hayes both got pressure on the quarterback, and outside of a penalty on Oweh, they both looked like they will get some time this season. Chris Smith played well once again. He will be in the NFL this year, somewhere. He’s a versatile guy who plays strong.
Defensive Backs: A
Marcus Peters got beat by a step on a comeback at the start of the game, but later ended the drive on a third-down pass-break-up. Chris Westry had an up-and-down game in coverage, showing good coverage, but also getting beat downfield on a sideline throw. Nigel Warrior seemed to make quite a few positive plays, and Brandon Stephens showed up again, though announcer Mike Nolan did point out one play where Stephens appeared to miss his assignment in a zone coverage.
They gave up 128 yards of passing. The whole game. That’s an “A” in today’s league, especially when your team wins by 34 points.
Special teams: C
The Ravens placed Jake Verity on full audition against Washington, having the undrafted kicker handle all the kickoffs, field goals, extra points, punting and power-washing the Washington locker rooms to display his versatility before final cutdowns. Verity did punt the ball pretty well, averaging 50.5 a kick, and booted five touchbacks. But he pulled a 40-yard field goal wide at the end of that first possession of the game, and had an extra-point blocked. Proche had a couple nifty punt returns, but Tylan Wallace just didn’t look particularly natural in the role.
Coaching: I don’t know
There were some Sunday-morning quarterbacks on social media criticizing the coaches for playing Dobbins and risking injury. That’s nonsense. It was the only preseason possession for the starters this year, and the injury happened in the first half of the first quarter. If it was the third quarter and the Ravens were winning 30-3, I’d be carrying a torch, too. But it wasn’t. With a week off before the season-opener, and no opportunity to go live with the starters before tonight, one possession was not too much to ask. Bad luck happened. It does that sometimes.
So, why no grade?
It’s the preseason. There was no specific game-planning, and I don’t really know what they had hoped to accomplish against Washington. The 20th consecutive win is a testament unto itself to this staff, and we should applaud their ability to have a team prepared to play over and over again.
