It wasn?t quite vanilla. It was more like a swirl.
The Ravens first-team offensive and defensive units showed some signs of life in their preseason finale Thursday night against the Washington Redskins, in a 17-10 victory before 60,326 fans at FedEx Field.
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The game offered little indication as to how both teams will perform in their season openers next weekend, however. Both teams sat out impact players and were conservative in their play calls.
“I thought everyone, including the veterans who started the game, played at a good tempo,” Ravens head coach Brian Billick said.
It was a win the Ravens (2-2) sorely needed heading their regular season opener in Tampa Bay Sept 10. The team has not won a regular season game on the road in two years.
Ravens quarterback Steve McNair led two drives and effectively guided his team down field against the Redskins (0-4). He threw his first touchdown of the preseason during the second series, a 15-yard connection to receiver Mark Clayton. McNair also hooked up with receiver Devard Darling for a 35-yard strike to open the drive.
That, apparently, was encouraging enough for Billick, who replaced McNair with Kyle Boller on the next drive. McNair was four-of-six for 62 yards before his exit.
Boller continued his impressive preseason play, throwing a 29-yard touchdown to rookie Demetrius Williams late in the second quarter. The score was Williams? first of the preseason.
Williams and Darling are locked in a battle for the third wide receiver spot for the Ravens.
“Those players are making it very tough for us to decide the spot,” Billick said. “That?s a good thing.”
It was McNair?s touchdown pass that probably was most reassuring. McNair had engineered a scoring drive in the preseason opener, but struggled to lead his team to the end zone again until Thursday.
“It?s always good to score like that, especially in the last preseason game,” McNair said. “You know that next week, everything becomes playing for real. So you want to go into that game with confidence and feeling good about yourself.”
Defensively, the Ravens were strong. Linebacker Bart Scott registered five total tackles in the first quarter.
“You always want to end on a good note, because next week the bullets are flying live,” Scott said.
Even with those successes, it was tough to estimate how strong the defense could be in the season opener. The Redskins were without two starting offensive lineman ? tackle Chris Samuels and guard Randy Thomas ? and running back Clinton Portis.
The Redskins sat out 10 players in the game, including four starting defensive lineman.
Ravens rookie punter Sam Koch likely locked up a spot on the team with a 58-yard punt early in the game.
Ravens receiver Derrick Mason and cornerback Chris McAlister were both scratched from playing prior to the game for precautionary measures. The Ravens did not escape the game injury-free. Fullback Justin Green sprained his knee in the first quarter.
