Washington Closes NFL Preseason With 37-3 Loss to Ravens

On Saturday night the Washington Football Team wrapped up the 2021 NFL preseason efforts with a home contest against the Baltimore Ravens, a 37-3 loss.

Coming in, a lot of questions surrounded just how much the starters would play. That answer came about an hour prior to the game, however, in the form of Twitter reports.

Here are Washington’s starters for its final preseason game, against Baltimore, tonight. pic.twitter.com/MPObM3q2kc
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 28, 2021

"Final dress rehearsal'' it was not. Instead, it turned into a true final tryout for many bubble players including Dax Milne and DeAndre Carter, Tory McTyer, and Jeremy Reaves.

While fans may have been disappointed, they'd have to go another week without seeing the full depth of what Ryan Fitzpatrick, Chase Young, and more will bring in 2021. But ... there was still a game to be played.

Getting his first action of the 2021 season, Kyle Allen started on a good note connecting with wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden for 18 yards on a deep comeback, on the first play of the game.

The drive didn't produce points, however, and QB Lamar Jackson and the Ravens offense began the quest for the franchise's 20th straight preseason win from their own 13-yard line after a Tress Way punt.

Jackson connected with tight end Mark Andrews on the Ravens' first possession for a gain of 23 yards - the first explosive play of the game for either side.

Any Washington Football Team fans upset about their team's starters not playing in Week 3 likely felt a lot of that angst melt away when Ravens starting running back J.K. Dobbins stayed on the ground after being tackled by linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk. There is now concern about the seriousness of what might be a Dobbins knee injury.

Overall, WFT's second-team defense held well in its first series against Baltimore's first-team offense and after sacks from both David Bada and Bunmi Rotimi, forced a missed field goal try.

Perhaps learning from what happened on the first drive, quarterback Tyler Huntley replaced Jackson for Baltimore's second possession.

The drop-in quarterback talent didn't result in a production impact, however, as the Ravens' second-team offense rang up back-to-back explosive plays, earning 30 and 22 yards in quick succession.

The Washington Football Team suffered its own significant injury as well, as training camp star cornerback Tory McTyer went down on the first play of Baltimore's second possession. He is being evaluated for a possible concussion.

Meanwhile, Huntley capped off an impressive scoring drive with a 10-yard touchdown run. The score and extra point made it 7-0, Ravens with 1:10 remaining in the first quarter.

#Ravens take the 7-0 lead with 1:10 left to go in the fourth quarter on a Tyler Huntley 10-yard TD run capping off a 9-play, 89-yard drive for te @Ravens, who are looking to win # 20 in a row (preseason).

Big story is Dobbins left knee and McTyer for #WFT
— Locked On Commanders Podcast (@LOCommanders) August 28, 2021

Huntley and the Ravens started the second quarter how they ended the first, with a scoring drive. Taking a 10-0 lead. Cornerback Darryl Roberts made a great play on the edge preventing a touchdown on the final third down of the drive, further helping his case to potentially make the active roster.

Baltimore took a 16-0 lead midway through the second quarter when Huntley found tight end Eric Tomlinson in the back of the end zone. Bada made another splash play for Washington on the extra point, getting the block.

Allen and the WFT offense found their first explosive play on a 26-yard pass and catch from the quarterback to rookie wide receiver, Dax Milne.

The play took Washington to Baltimore's 38-yard line. The offense gained one more yard before bringing on Dustin Hopkins for a 55-yard field goal try, which might have been the only thing uglier than the first-half offense.

Yes, a missed field goal from Hopkins kept it a 16-point deficit with four-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first half.

Baltimore closed out the first half with four straight scoring drives, including a touchdown coming off a 25-yard pass from Huntley to former Ohio State wide receiver Binjimen Victor.

On the flip side, Washington closed out the first half by getting back into field-goal range.

Hopkins came on for a 47-yard attempt this time, and made it, giving WFT three points heading into halftime.

At the end of the first half, Baltimore led 23-3 and held close to an 11-minute time of possession advantage.

Getting the ball back for the start of the second half, it was more Baltimore Ravens. Huntley once again drove his offense down the field for a fifth-straight scoring drive capped off by a 20-yard touchdown pass to James Proche II.

The score made it 30-3 before WFT's offense ever stepped on the field in the second half.

Looking to lead the comeback bid, Steven Montez stepped onto the field in the third quarter. He relieved Allen after two quarters during which the quarterback completed 10 of 22 pass attempts for 100 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions.

There wasn't much of a change in the course of the game after the quarterback switch.

Washington went three-and-out on Montez's first drive of the game and Huntley promptly got his Ravens back into the end zone again. This time he connected with rookie wide receiver Tylan Wallace and the score opened up to 37-3.

The game didn't look much different with Montez on the field, and the end result was a 34-point loss for the Washington Football Team to end the preseason.

Antonio Gandy-Golden led the team with four catches and 39 yards, while Jonathan Williams led all rushers with 26 yards on five carries.

Tim Settle and David Bada had some impactful plays up front for the WFT defense as well.

Next time they hit the field it'll be for keeps. The Washington Football Team heads into the regular season relatively healthy, that helps with the high hopes for their 2021 NFL Season.