Without context, the Baltimore Ravens’ loss to the Washington Commanders in the second week of preseason action did not mean much. Even with context, some still might not think it did.
However, at FedEx Field on Aug. 21, the Commanders ended a streak that may be one of the most impressive but bizarre in professional sports.
Baltimore had won 24 straight preseason games before Washington’s Joey Slye hit a game-winning, 49-yard field goal with under 10 seconds remaining. Somehow, since 2015, John Harbaugh’s team had not lost a single one of these warm-up matchups that are primarily meant to finalize rosters and spread around playing time.
When Slye’s kick went through the uprights, Washington players celebrated enthusiastically. Wide receiver Jahan Dotson reiterated their excitement following the game.
“I feel like we just had the biggest preseason W in history,” Dotson said. “It was definitely pretty cool knowing what they had on the line that we could end that.”
Throughout their run, Baltimore won in both back-and-forth games and pure blowouts. In fact, 13 of the 24 wins came by double-digits while eight came by three or fewer points. The Ravens found ways to consistently pull through in games whose results are often considered meaningless.
There have also been some noteworthy individual storylines that have accompanied Ravens victories. In Week 3 of the 2016 preseason, Joe Flacco returned to action one year after suffering a season-ending knee injury; he ended up setting the franchise record for single-season passing yards that year.
In the 2018 Hall of Fame game, Lamar Jackson made his professional debut on the same weekend that Ravens legend Ray Lewis became a permanent part of history in Canton, Ohio. The following year, Jackson earned the Ravens starting spot and put on a show in the preseason before winning the 2019 NFL Most Valuable Player award.
Additionally, many rookies, such as current standouts Mark Andrews and Michael Pierce, impressed in these preseason wins on their way up the Ravens’ depth chart.
After the streak officially ended, Harbaugh reflected on his team’s odd preseason success: “It’s one of these things you look at and you go, ‘Wow, how did that happen? How did something like that take place?’ It’s pretty remarkable. What are the odds?”
The NFL’s longest active preseason win streak now is held by the Las Vegas Raiders with a mere six straight. Las Vegas would need to keep winning meaningless games through 2029 to challenge the Ravens for football history.
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