After surrendering three points on the 63 yard opening drive, the Ravens sharpened up and took the win from the Redskins with a big special teams play and a solid defensive outing.
The offense struggled with opposing pass rush at times but still got a few first downs through the air. Quarterback Joe Flacco finished the day without a touchdown or an interception. He completed 9 of his 16 attempts for 76 yards. Ray Rice made his first preseason appearance this year getting 17 yards on three carries and a 12 yard catch for a first down. Rice's showing would have been a pretty good one had he not fumbled the ball. Fortunately it was recovered by wide receiver Anquan Boldin who had one catch for 21 yards. He and Dante Stallworth both had fumbles but Stallworth's resulted in a turnover when the Redskins recovered the loose ball. Ball security was shaky in the first half for the Ravens offense but translate to points for the opposing team.
The offensive line seems to be behind a bit struggling to protect Flacco when the Redskins applied some aggressive 3-4 blitzes. This weakness is not an unexpected one as starter Jared Gaither is out for the entire preseason but is expected to start during the season when he heals from a back tear. The young offensive line is still working on pass protection nuances but looked to have the run blocking aspect down.
When Marc Bulger took the helm, the offense instantly got into two-minute-offense mode. He quickly fired off two passes down the field to Dante Stallworth while running back Jalen Parmele ran hard between the tackles for tough yards. The drive ended with a 42 yard Billy Cundiff field goal.
Once the first team receivers came off the field, rookie David Reed got his chance to show the world why he deserves a spot on the team. Reed went up and grabbed his first NFL catch with a corner hanging on him. His other catches were very similar in execution. I got to see exactly what Ossie Newsome and Eric Decosta were so high on this young man. He went up and snatched the ball out of the air when it was thrown in his direction similar to how teammate Anquan Boldin does. He definitely has potential but is not there yet. He dropped a tough but catchable red zone pass later on during his time at receiver.
Antwan Barnes did not have as dominant a game as he did last week versus Carolina but his counterpart Terrell Suggs did. Suggs had two tackles, one of which was a sack, making last night’s game a tough one for rookie Trent Williams. The defensive end/linebacker has returned to form and should be accumulating a high number of sacks this season just like he has done during his eight year career.
Cary Williams posted his second interception in two games, dodging various players while he returned it 29 yards in the other direction. Fabian Washington had a solid night as well not getting beat deep and even breaking up a pass in the redzone. Even though Redskin receiver connected with McNabb deep for a 45 yard catch, the secondary had a decent game. Some of the coverage on intermediate routes has to get tighter. Travis Fisher and Prince Miller were getting exposed by Santana Moss on with slants and crossing routes.
The star of the second team defense was second year linebacker Jason Phillips. He flew through the middle of the Redskins offense to sack Rex Grossman, force and recover a fumble all on the same play. He has really come on recently but will have a difficult time winning a spot on the 53 man roster. The injury he suffered at the end of his senior year in college kept him from really playing much in his rookie season so he is behind the other linebackers ahead of him at that position. His special team performances this preseason will be key in evaluating his value.
The play of the game belongs to Haruki Nakamura. Nakamura took the hiked ball on a fourth down fake punt and ran 51 yards down the field to the two yard line. The play was so impressive because of the agility and straight line speed he demonstrated. Once he had the ball in his hand, there was a defender in his face to tackle him but he made a sharp cut and turned up field making three or four other would-be tacklers miss in the process.
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