With their defensive starters resting and Marlon Humprhey out with a foot injury, Baltimore’s defense allowed 39 total plays, and 221 yards as Washington used a late first half touchdown to take a 17-14 lead into the locker room.
Sam Howell was lights out for Washington, going 19-25 passing for 188-yards and two touchdown with a 123.4 QB rating.
With the second half set to begin, here are key takeaways and observations from the first half.
Zay Flowers-Emmanuel Forbes
The two combatants from joint practice linked up early-on and will have fruitful matchups for years to come.
Zay Flowers make Emmanuel Forbes miss and picks up an addition 7 or so yards. Expect to see Flowers make A LOT of players miss this year.
— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) August 22, 2023
Ravens starters on offense
QB: Josh Johnson
RB: Justice Hill
FB: Patrick Ricard
OL: David Sharpe, John Simpson, Sam Mustipher, Ben Cleveland, Daniel Faalele
WR: Devin Duvernay, Zay Flowers, Tylan Wallace
Starting OL: Sharpe at LT; Simpson at LG; Mustipher at C: Cleveland at RG; Faalele at RT.
Rest of starters: Flowers, Duvernay and Proche started at WR. Justice Hill at RB. FB Patrick Ricard and QB Josh Johnson.— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) August 22, 2023
Josh Johnson hot start
Johnson got off to a hot start and finished the half 10-12 for 145-yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Josh Johnson vs. the Eagles (five drives): 8-for-12 for 45 yards, 1 TD
Josh Johnson vs. the Commanders (one drive): 3-for-4 for 50 yards, 1 TD
— Jonas Shaffer (@jonas_shaffer) August 22, 2023
Travis Jones stout
The former UConn defensive tackle had three stops, one sack, one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit.
Kevon Seymour
Seymour’s strong summer continued with pass defended on Commanders wide receiver Dyami Brown.
Seymour logged two tackles as well in the first half.
James Proche
Another week sees the longshot at the wide receiver on the receiving end of a turnover.
In Week 1 of the preseason against Philadelphia Proche fumbled, and on Monday night, Proche allowed Washington rookie cornerback Jartavius Martin to just take the football away for a spectacular interception.
Commanders rookie CB Jartavius Martin just took it away for the INT 🫢
🎥 @NFL
— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) August 22, 2023
Charlie Kolar
Kolar had two catches for 61-yards on three targets in the first half.
Big play @charliekolar_!!
Tune in on ESPN and @wbaltv11. pic.twitter.com/GmlpIOAm7N
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 22, 2023
Tylan Wallace
What Proche won’t do, Tylan Wallace will.
His connection with Josh Johnson is impeccable and they hooked up again for a touchdown.
Ar'Darius Washington
Washington was active and logged four tackles with two passes defended in the first half.
Jeremiah Moon
Moon logged an easy sack with under one-minute left in the first half.
Moon had an active first half, logging two tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, and one quarterback hit.
Random notes
A core player on special teams the past three seasons, Kristian Welch led the Ravens with five tackles and one tackle for loss.
Melvin Gordon led Baltimore with five carries for 18-yards.
