Ravens Put a Bow on a Perfect Preseason

The Ravens have had an incredible training camp and preseason. By any metric, Jesse Minter’s squad has shown continual improvement throughout the summer. If you need evidence, consider the combined score of their three preseason wins (78-13). That’s fake game dominance. Last night against the Commanders was no different.

Yet as we all know, these wins are like the bank accounts of the recently deceased. You can’t take it with you when you go – into the regular season, in this case. That said, the dominance does suggest that the Ravens have impressive depth and really, building the roster from the bottom up is a primary goal in July and August.

But September is a few days away and cutdown day is tomorrow, August 30, at 6PM Eastern to be exact. Lives will be altered in good and bad ways. Some dreams will be realized while others shattered. That’s just the way it is in the NFL.

As the summer winds down and hints of fall filter through the air, the Ravens appear to be ready. They seem to be shaping up as the Super Bowl contender that many expect them to be. The plan is being carried out but there’s a long way to go.

Here are my takeaways from last night’s dominating win.

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* The Ravens’ 41-3 win over the Commanders was also Baltimore’s largest-ever preseason margin of victory (38 points), and nothing else this preseason has come close. (John Harbaugh must really be chapped about this). The next-biggest blowout of the 2026 preseason was the Rams’ 34-0 shutout of the Saints in Week 2.

That said, the preseason isn’t quite over. Two games remain today — Lions at Colts at 1 PM and Bears at Titans at 6 PM — so a 39+ point blowout this afternoon or evening could technically bump the Ravens from the top spot.

Some fun context on how one-sided it was: the Ravens picked up 17 first downs in the first half while the Commanders had just one.

Offense

* Joe. Fagnano. We’ve seen this movie before. Summer superstar destined for the Preseason Ring of Honor. But such stories far more than not, are short-lived. This is nothing more than a bedtime vignette. A feel-good yarn. A romantic coming of age story that is deceptive. It lures you in and captures you but as we’ve witnessed during preseasons of the past, it has the staying power of a fart in the wind.

We want to think these performances are real. And for a moment in time, they are. But they fade until the next undrafted quarterback from an independent football program comes along and presents himself as potentially the next grocery store bagger to NFL MVP gridiron miracle.

QB3: A Ravens Rarity

There’s no denying Fagnano’s pocket presence. It is certainly commendable and Minter acknowledged as much after the game. Fagnano demonstrated good ball skills on the RPO throw to Josh Cuevas on 3rd-and-1 for the conversion.

But there were signs during the game with near interceptions and short-hopped throws that suggest Fagnano, at best, will become a Josh Johnson protégé.  There are too many other good players on the bubble who can contribute far more to a winning season than a 3rd-string QB who was undrafted. Such players can be scooped up at any time during the season. There’s no need to risk a player like Ethan Burke who can make a difference throughout the season for a quarterback, who if called upon, signals a season that is already circling the drain.

Ravens rookie QB Joe Fagnano DELIVERED in his first NFL preseason

Did the former UConn standout earn his roster spot in Baltimore? pic.twitter.com/HmUInIO6gV

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 29, 2026

*  With my selective memory fully engaged, Chris Moore seemingly made more plays as a receiver during the Ravens very first series than he made at any time during his initial 5-year stint in Baltimore. He had 3 catches for 54 yards including an impressive diving catch for the game’s first score.

* The offensive line got off to a slow start in the running game but quickly rebounded. They did provide ample time for Tyler Huntley and Fagnano to set and throw throughout…JoVaughn Gwyn got the start over Ethan Pocic. Could that be an indication of who will start in Indy on opening day?…Speaking of Huntley, he was 4 for 4 for 61 yards and a TD during the opening drive before calling it a night.

TOUCHDOWN CHRIS MOORE

25-yard catch for the score.

INSANE. pic.twitter.com/BGWWemc2C4

— Ravens Nation ð™‡ð™„ð™‘𙀠(@LiveRavenNation) August 28, 2026

* Adam Randall has an edge on Rasheen Ali. He has more years of control and he’s a punishing runner, particularly after the catch. Journeyman Jonathan Ward looked more explosive than Ali. The point being, if the Ravens are hedging their bets while pairing down the roster, Ali is more likely to be reclaimed to the practice squad than Randall, who’s status is politically protected as the hand-picked draft day choice of owner Steve Bisciotti. Randall had 25 yards on 5 carries and another 45 yards on 3 catches. Ali had 46 total yards on 12 touches. Make that 13 touches which includes a drop of a well-placed swing pass by Fagnano.

RB Adam Randall shows off his stiff arm!!

Tune in on @wbaltv11. pic.twitter.com/1Caa3k1pqS

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 28, 2026

* Pocic subbed for Gwyn on the 3rd offensive series. He had a decent game but was flagged for a very unnecessary hold during a well-executed screen pass to Ali negating a chunk play…It was interesting to see Carson Vinson start the night at right tackle…I expected Diego Pounds to see action from the jump at LT instead of Gerad Lichtenhan. Maybe his absence to open the game and Vinson playing RT is an indication that Pounds is more highly regarded than Vinson. We’ll find out soon enough.

* Tez Walker has had a solid camp although he has been overshadowed by Ja’Kobi Lane. That’s not a knock on Tez who had a productive outing last night and demonstrated toughness after the catch to set up one of Tyler Loop’s field goals. My knock on Tez’s night is that he quit on a 9-route down the right sideline inside of a minute left in the first half. Had he finished the route we might be talking about a big TD following a perfectly placed ball from Fagnano…The tight ends were fairly flawless save a Matt Hibner false start. They combined for 9 catches for 73 yards including a 5 for 47 effort from Ty Pezza…LaJohntay Wester has played well, capping his night with a nice TD grab on a ball thrown slightly behind him by Fagnano.

Joe Fagnano with a STRIKE to LaJohntay Wester in the end zone

WASvsBAL on @NFLNetwork 
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/JqKJLJcBMx

— NFL (@NFL) August 28, 2026

“You know, another guy that the improvement has been really cool to watch, the development – I would say, from the spring until now – as being really detailed in routes and playing with great speed. He is a really fast person, and so his play speed now shows up when he is running routes, and he is getting open. I think he has had a great camp, I think he has done really well in the preseason, and I think he has gained the confidence of a lot of people on the offense. And so, he’s another one of those receivers that has developed well, and I’m excited to see him going into the regular season.” ~ Jesse Minter on LaJohntay Wester

Defense

* Ethan Burke has created a buzz with his play this preseason, and he wasted no time getting back at it last night. On the Commanders’ very first play from scrimmage, Burke delivered some punch juice and forced a fumble recovered by CJ Okoye. Burke should make the team. He’s a heady player with great instincts but Adisa Isaac might get the nod given his third-round draft status. Isaac had 6 tackles and a sack to Burke’s 1 tackle and forced fumble.

Ethan Burke might have just secured his spot on the Ravens roster with ANOTHER forced fumble

All he does is make plays pic.twitter.com/FmFkroPN6H

— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) August 28, 2026

* Rayshaun Benny continues to make a push to stick around. He had 3 tackles and a QB pressure…David Olajiga had a sack and anchored well at the point of attack. He’d make a nice developmental project on the practice squad…Kaimon Rucker had 5 tackles, a sack and another tackle-for-loss, another potential PS member.

* The defense as a unit was very fast to the ball. When the DBs read the run, they quickly converged to gang tackle. That’s particularly important when a small DB like Keyon Martin is asked to take down a player that has 40+ pounds on him. Last night Martin snagged a Commanders’ tight end by the ankle, holding him long enough for other DBs to come in and finish the kill.

* The offense needs to clean up their pre-snap penalties. If memory serves me correctly, five of the Ravens 6 penalties went against the offense.

Tyler Loop

There’s no denying that Loop is a problem. Executing during practice is one thing. Game situations is another. Maybe these are growing pains for the second-year kicker. But this could prove costly for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. Who among you has confidence when Loop sets up for a FGA from 50+ yards?

This isn’t something new. It’s something that has been brewing since the end of last season and the Ravens did nothing about it except buy what assistant coach Randy Brown was selling – that Loop has what it takes. Maybe Eric DeCosta takes Brown’s word as gospel. But what has Brown really done? Did he groom Justin Tucker? Did he have to? Loop looks like a golfer with the yips off the tee. He pushes it right and then overcorrects and pulls it left, particularly from the right hash mark.

After the game, Minter was asked about his kicker’s struggles when the lights come on:

“I think you want to see makes in games, and so, it is something we will continue to look at. We will continue to look at what the best situation is there. He has had a good camp overall, but again, it comes down to making the kicks in the pressure situations in the game. So that is something I think that we will always be looking at to make sure that we are doing what is best for the team.”

What is best for the team and has been, is to bring in competition. Loop needs to feel the heat in practice. After the game he was asked if his confidence has changed.

“No. As weird as it sounds, as good as we have done in practice and as hard as we have been working, it has only gone up. It just needs to now carry over. It is as simple as that.” 

I’m not feeling it. You? This is a drafted kicker in his second season who is trying to find his swing at the team’s expense. We’re all concerned. Very. Concerned. Is Loop?

“No. Honestly, this week, I feel like [have been] probably some of the best [kicks] I have hit in practice. [I’ve been] working on some stuff, and some [things] have started to click, but it is my job to translate that to the game. I know the expectation is [to] make kicks, and the expectations I have for myself are higher than anyone else can have, and tonight, it just was not good enough. All we talk about is, ‘Be the best when your best is needed,’ and I have to do that. So, all I can do now is get back to work, keep working harder [and] make kicks. It is frankly as simple as that.” 

No, it’s not that simple Tyler.

Your struggles could throw a loop in the team’s championship ambitions.

Pun intended.

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/08/29/gbu-paige-spiranac/ravens-commanders-preseason-game/