Ravens Soar in Preseason Finale Against Commanders

The Baltimore Ravens were firing on all cylinders Friday night as they hosted the Washington Commanders for their preseason finale. Holding them to one field goal throughout the entire game, their defense stood strong allowing 177 total yards of offense. With many of their future starters not playing in this week’s game, a handful of players were left auditioning for a roster spot in Baltimore or elsewhere in the league.

Defense stands tall all night

Baltimore shut down Washington’s offense in the run game and the passing game. Forcing seven punts, one fumble and one turnover on downs, Baltimore did not allow the Commanders to gain any momentum on offense all night. Kaimon Rucker and Adisa Isaac highlighted the night with three combined tackles for a loss as they met running backs at or near the line of scrimmage multiple times.

Throughout the game, Baltimore’s secondary was in the right place at all the right times forcing incompletions and throws where Washington’s receivers were unable to make a play. Although they were unable to come away with a turnover, the damage was limited all night as Washington was unable to sustain a drive for longer than 40 yards.

Offensive playbook was wide open

After Tyler Huntley started the game, Joe Fagnano came in to carry the momentum for the rest of the first half with Austin Reed carrying the game until the end. It’s unlikely that Reed will make the final team, but he put out a fantastic tape for teams across the league to bring him in as an insurance option if their starter or backup goes down.

Both the passing game and rushing game were near flawless throughout the night as a combined eight different rushers totaled for nearly 200 yards on the ground. With three touchdowns through the air and two on the ground, Baltimore jumped out to an early lead on their opening drive and never looked back. Fagnano had an exceptional game with 162 passing yards completing 19 of his 27 pass attempts averaging six yards per attempt.

Where does this leave Baltimore?

With the clock ticking on the deadline to finalize their 53-man roster, head coach Jesse Minter has a lot of work to do. Rasheen Ali and Jonathan Ward both made excellent cases to make the team combining for 81 of the total 195 yards on the ground. Journeyman Chris Moore also made his case to remain on the team as he hauled in a spectacular grab in the corner of the end zone getting his knee down to secure the score.

Most of the players on the final roster did not play Friday night, but for those that did, they all made a strong argument why they should remain in Baltimore or on another team elsewhere in the league.