The most prolific run in preseason history came to a close on Monday night. Thanks to Joey Slye netting a 49-yard field goal with seconds remaining on the clock, the Commanders were able to snap the Ravens' NFL-record 24-game preseason win streak with a 29-28 victory on Monday night and did so in rather dramatic fashion.
Trailing 28-26 with just under three minutes to play in the contest, the Commanders got the ball back at their 9-yard line. It was at that point that quarterback Jake Fromm was able to lead a 60-yard drive to put Washington within Slye's range for the go-ahead field goal. This was the first preseason loss for Baltimore since Sept. 3, 2015 when John Harbaugh's team fell to the Falcons.
"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," the head coach said of the streak after the game, via Pro Football Talk. "What are the odds?"
Up until Monday, the club had enjoyed a historic run of success in these exhibitions, which Harbaugh credits his coaches and players for.
"There's no one reason it happens, but it says a lot about a lot of people, a lot of people's effort, a lot of good practice, a lot of good meeting time, a lot of young players working hard to be as good as they can be, a lot of coaches developing those players, scouts finding those players, all those things come into play," Harbaugh said. "In the end, it's about football and the men, and women now, who play the game. And it shows you what makes this game so great, why it does matter so much, because it takes those kind of efforts. That's what you have to do.
"It's a courageous game, it's a game for courageous people. And it's a game for people who want to go out there and throw themselves around in really tough, awkward situations, physicality. It takes that kind of grit to play this game and to fight like that. I think most people that love football love it for that reason right there. They respect what it takes to play the game. So that's what I feel, it's how I feel about our players. I feel that way about every player in the National Football League, but I especially feel that about the Ravens. The men who play for the Ravens now and the men who played for the Ravens all those other years. I'm really proud of that part of it."
Baltimore will now wrap up its preseason in Tampa Bay when they take on the Buccaneers on Saturday. Who knows? Maybe that matchup will be the start of another streak.
