The streak is dead. Long live the streak.
Monday night saw the end of the Baltimore Ravens' lengthy preseason winning streak, the fateful defeat coming at the hands of their interconference DMV rivals, the Washington Commanders. A 49-yard field from Joey Slye sealed the deal in the final moments, as Washington prevailed 29-28 to stop the vaunted streak at 24 at FedEx Field.
With Lamar Jackson once again sitting, Josh Johnson and Anthony Brown threw two touchdowns each in the win. Johnson's first was a 26-yard showcase for premier rookie draft pick Zay Flowers while undrafted rookie Travis Vokolek caught both of Brown's
Baltimore's seemingly immortal streak was threatened several times during the DMV civil war. From the home team's perspective, the star attraction was newly-minted starting quarterback Sam Howell, who threw for 188 yards and two touchdowns of his own. The latter came with 12 seconds remaining in the first half, as Howell found University of North Carolina teammate Dyami Brown to take a 17-14 halftime lead.
That proved to be enough to at least counter a strong effort from Johnson, who likewise played the entire first half-hour. The well-traveled Johnson made a sterling case for the role of Jackson's understudy, as he completed 10-of-12 passes for 145 yards, though he did throw an interception in the end zone which Howell and the Commanders were able to turn into a six-pointer.
On the Baltimore defensive side, Travis Jones and Jeremiah Moon each earned a sack of Howell. DeAndre Houston-Carson recovered a fumble in Washington territory that became the latter of Brown and Vokolek's scores. Tae Hayes earned an interception from the arm of Jacoby Brissett while Kyu Kelly nearly became a Baltimore folk hero by stopping fullback Alex Armah one yard short on an equalizing two-point conversion in the fourth quarter.
That tally came shortly after Jake Fromm's touchdown pass to Jarett Patterson. Fromm later wound up leading the drive that would finish the Ravens' streak for good, a 14-yard, 60-yard quest to summer glory that ended with Slye's fateful triple.
The Ravens' 2023 preseason trio concludes on Saturday as they hit the road to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ... against whom they'll attempt to start a new streak (7 p.m. ET, WBAL).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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