The Preseason is Here!

The Ravens open their 2023 preseason when they host the Philadelphia Eagles tomorrow night at M&T Bank Stadium – the only regular season tune-up to be played at The Bank in 2023.

The Ravens have not lost a preseason game since 2015, posting an impressive (to some) 23-0 record dating back to 2016. The 23 straight wins mark the longest streak in NFL preseason history, surpassing Green Bay’s 19 from 1959-62.

Since their inception, the Ravens are 70-32 in all-time preseason play, posting a 43-12 record under head coach John Harbaugh (2008-22). At The Bank, Baltimore is 36-15 in preseason home games, including a 22-5 mark under Coach Harbaugh.

What To Look For

If the Ravens successfully extend their preseason winning streak to 24, the win will have little effect on their success during the 2023 campaign. The preseason is laced with conflicting agendas. In the modern era, it’s in vogue for veterans to sit and those who do play will be limited. Even then, it’s more like punching the clock for them. They won’t be balling out. Instead, they’ll be looking to survive. To escape the game unscathed.

And let’s be clear, it’s not as if teams plan to exploit an opponent’s weakness via schematic engineering, aka a game plan. The goal is to get in the work, get bodies into playing shape and to observe players competing as part of an effort to build the roster from the bottom up – to achieve quality depth. And it is that depth, that at least in part, speaks to the significance of this unprecedented preseason winning streak.

“I think [the streak] just proves the depth we have here, the type of scouting and the draft [acumen] that the front office has. It just shows that we’re always a ready team when it comes to preseason.” ~ Ravens FB Pat Ricard

Meanwhile, the players on the bubble are fighting for survival – for their careers and earning power. So, they ball out, play with their hair on fire while those assured of roster spots are on cruise control. Consequently, the results are a mirage.

All that said, here’s what I’ll be looking for:

• How are the relative unknowns at CB competing?
• Is there depth at edge?
• Will Ben Cleveland play with purpose?
• How will the young O-Linemen (Aumavae-Laulu and Faalele) play?
• What does Todd Monken’s rushing attack look like?
• Which of the defensive rookies will play fast?

Ultimately, the real victory lies in the experience and emerging from the game injury free.

[Related Article: Down on The Corner(back)]

Second Chances

Back on March 14, 2021, Ravens DT Broderick Washington was arrested and subsequently charged with with 5 counts of misdemeanor Destruction of Property, felony Destruction of Property, and Tampering with a Vehicle, following a late night/early morning incident in Arlington County, VA.

Washington had just completed his rookie season, playing in 8 games and posting 2 tackles. As a fifth-round pick, I have to admit that I thought he might be done with the Ravens. But the team stuck with Broderick, obviously seeing something in the player that they could develop. They must have also seen something in the character of the man – one deserving of a second chance.

And since, Washington has not let the team down. Quite the contrary.

Congrats to Broderick on his recent contract extension. He took advantage of that second chance. Here’s hoping that the Ravens’ faith in him pays dividends throughout the balance of his three year extension.

By the way, Broderick Washington was selected in the fifth round in 2020 with the pick the Ravens got from trading kicker Kaare Vedvik to the Vikings during the 2019 preseason.

An all-time trade steal that just got even better with Washington’s three-year extension.

— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) August 11, 2023

Ravens v. Bengals

The Ravens divisional rivals have certainly had their fair share of success against the John Harbaugh-led squad over the past 15 years. And since the arrival of Joe Burrow, the intensity of this rivalry has elevated. Recently, the heat was turned up another couple of degrees when Cincinnati WR Tyler Boyd started flapping his gums.

OBJ responds to Tyler Boyd

Ravens vs Bengals gonna be fun this seasonpic.twitter.com/8FIwuGGW3P

— ð™•ð™–ð™˜ð™® (@NewEraZach) August 11, 2023

The Soulja

Former Ravens WR Marquise Brown, asked to be traded away from the team that drafted him, away from his BFF Lamar Jackson. Brown got his wish to go to a team that features a more prolific aerial attack. So he landed in Arizona with Kliff Kingsbury at the controls. This offseason the head coach was fired and replaced by Jonathan Gannon, the Eagles former defensive coordinator. And word is that Gannon plans to take some of the air out of the Cardinals offensive attack and move more towards a balanced offense.

What goes around comes around.

Count me among those who are happy that Brown asked out, even happier that the Ravens granted his wish. Zay Flowers will be a far better player than the pretend soulja.

Marquise Brown was asked if he was concerned about his role in the new Cardinals’ offense, and said he’s already been in a run heavy offense with the Ravens

“Not really, I mean I played in Baltimore” pic.twitter.com/vD8XZvaPGJ

— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) August 11, 2023

“The most impressive rookie I have seen in six camps is Zay Flowers. He lines up across from a corner, and unless they literally interfere with him or hold him, he has tremendous separation on almost every cut. His quickness, his speed out of cuts is going to be a thing to watch in the NFL this year.”~ Peter King

Care to Bet?

Recently I read in The Athletic about a forthcoming biography by professional gambler Billy Walters. Apparently the biography includes some stunning news on professional golfer Phil Mickelson’s gambling habits. Michelson, allegedly placed more than $1 billion worth of sports bets over the last 30 years, perhaps some of them with some sites with fastest payouts.

One. Billion. Dollars.

According to Walters, Mickelson placed 7,065 bets on football, basketball and baseball from 2010 to 2012, allegedly losing nearly $100 million.

Wonder if he’ll bet on the Ravens extending their preseason consecutive win streak to 24?

Phil Mickelson’s biggest gambling win was on the 2000 Ravens to win the Super Bowl at 28-1 pic.twitter.com/tTpeI53GdN

— br_betting (@br_betting) August 10, 2023

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