Baltimore (2-0 preseason) hopes to extend their 22-game preseason winning streak when they host Washington (0-2 preseason) on Saturday night at 7pmET.
These teams met last preseason with the Ravens winning 37-3 on the road.
Washington fell in their second preseason game, 24-14 at Kansas City. Patrick Mahomes was able to lead the Chiefs to two first-half touchdowns and Carson Wentz was unable to generate points for the Commanders. The only score in the first came when Taylor Heinicke hit Cam Sims for a nine-yard touchdown. Heinicke, a starter last season, finished 9-of-12 for 83 yards with a TD. Wentz completed 6 of 9 for 64 yards, while rookie Sam Howell completed 10 of 18 for 122 yards, but also had a pick.
Defensively, Washington's pass defense struggled against Mahomes, who did not have Mecole Hardman or JuJu Smith Schuster to target due to injuries. The Commanders allowed 245 passing yards, but did slow the run down (69 yards on 20 carries). They also committed seven penalties for 75 yards. For the Commanders to have some success, they have to play better against the pass (29th last year). Unfortunately for Washington, DE Chase Y oung tore his ACL last season. Young will start out on the reserve/physically unable to perform list, meaning he will have to miss at least the first four games.
“As we go through this, it is hard to predict on recovery time,” head coach Ron Rivera said to the Washington Post. “This injury was a little bit more severe than the average [ACL tear]. Because of that, the timeline is a little bit longer. What is that timeline, I couldn’t tell you.”
Wentz doesn't need to see action so expect a lot of Howell and Heinicke. The Commanders also have to figure out their running back situation with rookie Brian Robinson likely taking over for fumble-prone Antonio Gibson. Either way, it's going to be Wentz's team because he has Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel and rookie Jahan Dotson.