BALTIMORE (AP) — Anthony Brown threw for 256 yards and a touchdown, and the Baltimore Ravens extended their record preseason winning streak to 23 games with a 17-15 victory over the Washington Commanders on Saturday night.
The Commanders pulled within two with 5:31 remaining when Sam Howell threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Bonnafon. A 2-point conversion pass was incomplete, helping preserve the streak, but Baltimore defensive back Kevon Seymour injured an ankle on the play. Teammate Zakoby McClain appeared to fall on Seymour’s right leg.
It was in this preseason matchup last year that the Ravens lost running back J.K. Dobbins to a season-ending knee injury. They seemed to avoid anything that serious this year — although Poe, the team’s mascot, was carted off at halftime. Baltimore also announced that defensive tackle Aaron Crawford went down with a groin problem.
Neither team was taking too many chances: Quarterbacks Lamar Jackson and Carson Wentz were among those who didn’t play.
Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley has been impressive for the Ravens this preseason, but he didn’t play much either. Instead it was Brown who was an offensive star for Baltimore. He completed his first eight passes, including a 67-yard scoring strike to Demarcus Robinson early in the second quarter that put the Ravens up 7-3.
Brown went 15 of 19 passing. He also scored on a 6-yard run in the third quarter that made it 17-6.
A couple of second-year players, linebacker Jamin Davis and defensive back Benjamin St-Juste, were the only likely starters to dress for Washington, along with defensive end James Smith-Williams, who’s part of the group trying to fill in for Chase Young the first few games of the season. Davis, the team’s first-round pick in 2021, is still working to get acclimated to the pro game.
The Washington secondary had its problems, allowing not only the long touchdown catch by Robinson — who was wide open behind the defense — but also a 50-yard catch by Binjimen Victor and a 52-yarder by Robinson.
Howell, a fifth-round draft pick of the Commanders, went 24 of 35 for 280 yards and a touchdown.
The Ravens haven’t lost a preseason game since Atlanta beat them 20-19 on Sept. 3, 2015. Their winning streak isn’t particularly meaningful, but it does bring some suspense to these otherwise perfunctory contests.
Washington took over at its own 12 with 2:16 remaining and a chance to end Baltimore’s run. The Commanders stalled on downs before reaching midfield, and then let the Ravens run the clock out instead of using their last two timeouts.
UP NEXT
Commanders: Host Jacksonville to open the regular season Sept. 11.
Ravens: Open at the New York Jets on Sept. 11.
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Follow Noah Trister at https://twitter.com/noahtrister
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