The NFL preseason’s greatest winning streak ended on Monday.
The Baltimore Ravens lost to the Washington Commanders, 29-28, snapping their NFL-record run of 24 consecutive preseason victories on the strength of a Joey Slye 49-yard field goal.
“You’re proud of it, of course, you appreciate it, but the thing that you’re proud of is all those games are mostly just like that,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said after the game. “Preseason games that people want to write about, some of you in here, want to write about and say they don’t mean anything because you never played the game. You were never out there in a preseason game. You never were fighting for a spot on a team.
“And yet you have the audacity to say that the effort that somebody puts into that to win and fight and win a game like that is meaningless. Tell me that was meaningless out there what you just saw. If you like football, is that a meaningless football game? I can’t respect anybody that says that. Because the effort these guys put into it. That’s why I’m so proud of these guys for the way they fought. Doesn’t matter win or loss. It matters the way they went about their business tonight, and I’m proud of them for that and always will be.”
Baltimore held a 28-20 lead with most of the fourth quarter to play, but Washington’s Jake Fromm rallied the Commanders, leading a touchdown drive with just more than four minutes to play before driving his squad into position for Slye’s game-winner.
While the Ravens played without most of their starters, the Commanders went with newly crowned QB1 Sam Howell for the duration of the first half. Howell threw two touchdowns passes.
Preseason or not, it was a celebrated win for the Commanders and their new ownership.