Can Cardinals End Ravens' Preseason Winning Streak?
It’s been 2,542 days since the Baltimore Ravens lost a preseason game. That momentous occasion was in the finale of the 2015 summer when the Ravens lost to the Falcons, 20-19, on Sept. 3 to close out a 1-3 preseason.
Since then, they have won an NFL-record 21 straight, and bring that streak to State Farm Stadium late Sunday afternoon at 5 pm Arizona time. In those 21 games, seven have been decided by a combined 14 points with four one-point victories.
Cardinals receiver Hollywood Brown played for the Ravens for three seasons and experienced seven of the wins. (There were no preseason games in the pandemic summer of 2020.)
Brown was asked this week about the culture in Baltimore and how seriously the team embraces the accomplishment.
“Definitely,” Brown said. “When you're on that football field, regardless if it's preseason, regular season; you want to be on the winning side of things. So, they take it serious, and I'm pretty sure we're taking it serious here, and we're gonna try to end that.”
Said Ravens fullback Patrick Ricard, “I hope we keep it going. I don't even want to talk about it, because I don't want anything to happen. I think it's a really cool streak. I think it just proves the depth we have here, the type of scouting and the draft that the front office has. It just shows that we're always a ready team when it comes to preseason."
“I think it’s a testament to [current general manager] Eric [DeCosta], Harbs [head coach John Harbaugh] and [former general mansger] Ozzie [Newsome] and the way they build the roster,” added kicker Justin Tucker. Our 90-man roster has really, really good depth. All those guys can legitimately play."
Last season, when the streak was at 19, Harbaugh told ESPN, “There’s going to be people that are going to say this doesn’t mean anything. There’s going to be people that are going to look at it and say, ‘Wow, that’s something.’ I’m of the belief that everything has meaning in life.”
Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury said this week he’s “definitely” aware of the streak.
“That's part of their culture that, they say we're gonna win these games and help it build into the regular season,” he said. “And I respect that approach. Obviously, their team believes that. They've had one of the most successful franchises in the league and so we'll definitely get their best shot. We know it'll be a real challenge and excited to watch (quarterback) Trace (McSorley), obviously being his former team, he'll be keyed up for that one and it should be a fun evening.”
However, asked whether it would be nice to end the streak, Kingsbury said, “No. I don't think that. We still want to get our evaluations and just play clean football and let our guys show what they can do. I think that's the main thing, but if you can win that game, you always feel better about a win.”
Left tackle D.J. Humphries seemed surprised when asked about Baltimore’s streak.
“That's a new fact for me,” he claimed. “I don't watch much TV. I'm a big Netflix, Amazon Prime guy. I've missed a lot of that. That's pretty cool. You guys caught me with that one. I don't even know how to feel about that. That's exciting and strange all at the same time.”
Speaking of McSorley, he played in five of the wins: four in 2019 when he was drafted and one last year prior to being injured.
McSorley was humble when a reporter wondered how much he had done to help win any games.
“He said, laughing, “A few things. I felt like I contributed at least a few things to that streak.”
He surely did.
Aug. 15, 26-13 over Green Bay at home. He led a nine-play, 64-yard drive that ended with a 23-yard touchdown pass for a 13-3 Ravens lead. In the possession, he was 4-for-4 for 41 yards. Later, leading 20-13, McSorley ran for 17 yards on fourth-and-1 at the Packers 47-yard line, and that led to a field goal. He completed three passes in the final scoring drive, one to current Cardinals receiver Antoine Wesley.
Aug. 22, 26-15 over the Eagles on the road. McSorley was 19-for-28 for 203 yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 112.6. He ran for a 4-yard touchdown to give the Ravens a 13-0 lead on a drive in which he also passed for 30 yards with one completion to Brown. He was 4-for-4 for 64 yards including a 28-yard touchdown to give the Ravens a 19-0 lead. Then, with 1:11 remaining in the first half and starting at their own 31-yard line, McSorley passed for 45 yards, including a 7-yard score with 11 seconds remaining and a 26-0 halftime lead.
Aug. 29, 20-7 over Washington on the road. In the game, he was 15-for-27 for 171 yards and one touchdown with a passer rating of 87.1. McSorley finished a 13-play, 69-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown that gave the Ravens a 10-7 lead. He was 5-for-6 for 65 yards on the drive and ran two yards for a first down on fourth-and-1 at the Washington 17-yard line. The touchdown came after the Ravens were penalized 10 yards for holding.
In his one game last year, a 17-14 win over New Orleans, McSorley led two field-goal drives.
As for how the Ravens approach preseason games, he said, “They treat it like you go out to win the game and kind of like that old quote (from Herm Edwards), ‘You play to win the game,’ they treat it like that. It's not just a preseason game for them. For the starters and veteran guys that are going to be playing, they even get on some of the younger guys and say, 'Hey this means something. You gotta go out, show out and win.’
“And they just kind of talk about winning, winning preseason games over there. It's not just about getting reps and trying to win a job, which obviously it is a part of, but they add that extra factor of we're going out there to win the game.”
When it was noted that it’s a somewhat bizarre streak, considering how much backups play in the games, McSorley said, “It's one of those things that because a lot of times it is backups and threes and guys fighting for a few last roster spots; that's just what preseason is. So it's one of those streaks that, by the way, we haven't lost so we got to keep winning and keep the streak alive. So it's one of those things that it just kind of became a thing of its own.”
As for whether there’s motivation to be part of the game that ends the streak, McSorley concluded, “It would be cool. We like to say we're going out to win the game as well. So that's every time you step on the field, you're going out to win. And I think that's the main goal. So then, the added extra of if we did win that game, and we were the part of ending the streak, it would be good.
“But every time you go on the field, you're trying to win the game. So it's no more or less than any other game. We go out and play.”
