The Baltimore Ravens win their 16th straight preseason game, this time a 26-15 beating on the Philadelphia Eagles in a game that was shortened by lightning with 11:43 left in the fourth quarter.
You could argue the game wasn’t as close as the score indicates, given the fact Baltimore led at halftime 26-0. The Ravens offense started off slow but caught fire midway through the second quarter. Baltimore’s defense was lights out until the third quarter, when the third-team unit allowed two touchdowns.
With such a big win in a preseason game, there are plenty of winners and losers to choose from. We’ll pick three studs and duds to pay specific attention to.
Stud: QB Trace McSorley
Entering training camp, one of the early questions was whether or not Baltimore would keep three quarterbacks on the roster. With backup quarterback Robert Griffin III suffering a thumb injury in late July, more reps opened up for McSorley. Since then, McSorley has gotten better each and every week, earning our Player of the Game award this time.
Against Philadelphia, McSorley completed 19-of-28 pass attempts for 203 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, and he had a rushing touchdown to boot.
If McSorley was considered an afterthought before, he certainly isn’t now. He is making the Ravens coaching staff think long and hard about keeping three quarterbacks.
Dud: Entire Ravens offensive line
Baltimore’s offensive line was a huge weak point coming into this game. They’d seen injuries pile up and inconsistent play at left guard — a starting job so wide open the running backs are trying to run through it. Things didn’t get any better against the Eagles.
The Ravens only had 40 rushing yards at a rate of 2 yards per carry. On a team that leans toward the running game more than anyone else in the NFL, that’s unacceptable. The passing game didn’t get much either, with McSorley having to use his legs to avoid pressure frequently.
Even though Baltimore was playing with mostly their backups on the first-team offense, it was a dreadful showing. The Ravens will need to figure out their depth issues and find a starter at left guard immediately if they want to have any hope of patching up their problems before Week 1.
Stud: WR Michael Floyd
Floyd is in a heated battle on the receiver depth chart. He’s fighting for what is likely the last spot on the team and has tough competition with Jaleel Scott and Seth Roberts each playing well this offseason too.
Floyd had to stand out given he’s entering his eighth season in the NFL and is competing with receivers who mostly have two years of experience or less on Baltimore’s roster. Unless Floyd stands out above someone like Lasley, the Ravens would likely choose the younger player with more potential over the veteran on his sixth team in four years.
But Floyd stepped up in a big way Thursday night. He hauled in a nice 28-yard touchdown pass from McSorley and finished the night with three receptions for 54 yards and one touchdown.
Dud: CB Maurice Canady
Canady couldn’t have a better chance to make Baltimore’s 53-man roster with the injury to fellow cornerback Tavon Young. Young going down immediately put Canady into a spot to not only win a roster spot but a chance to actually see the field as a rotational slot corner. All he really had to do was outplay guys like Justin Bethel, Bennett Jackson and Stanley Jean-Baptiste — something we’ve seen him do before.
But against the Eagles, Canady was downright dreadful. He couldn’t locate the football well, looked confused at times with his coverages, wasn’t physical enough with receivers in press coverage and allowed far too many receptions against him.
It could have been just one bad game for Canady, but he doesn’t really have many more opportunities to impress the coaching staff.
Stud: OLB Tyus Bowser
Bowser finished his night against the Eagles with one sack and two tackles for loss. For a player that has yet to really show up consistently throughout his career, he put together a positive game here and has been showing signs of improvement this offseason.
If Bowser can stack another good game next week, he’ll be well on his way to earning more playing time in the regular season and perhaps a chance to sneak his way into a starting job at some point.
Dud: Penalties
The teams combined for 24 penalties for 203 yards in little more than three quarters. Unbelievable!
You can make the case the officials needed to swallow their whistles on some occasions because it’s preseason. But the Ravens had nine penalties for 88 yards.
That type of undisciplined play from guys who definitely know better isn’t going to cut it in the regular season. That’s the type of performance that loses a close game.
