NFL
By: Joey MacDonald
The Baltimore Ravens went down to Arlington, Texas, in Jerry World and beat the Dallas Cowboys by the score of 31-13 on Saturday. And half of those points came from the leg of rookie kicker Tyler Loop, and points by both offense and defense, including a safety.
In Week 2, we saw a different game from the Ravens tonight, as the defense scored the first points on a safety by UDFA Kenyon Martin, who sacked Joe Milton III early in the first quarter. And late in the 1st half, another UDFA, Reuben Lowery, who had a good game last week, had another game this week with an interception near the end of the 1st half as he is looking to make the 53-man roster for Week 1. The last UDFA looking to make the roster is LB Jay Higgins, who had another monster with six total tackles, one sack, and one tackle for loss.
Some defensive players had a good night, and some offensive players did as well. Both RBs Rasheen Ali and D’Ernest Johnson had good nights, as both of them ran the ball for over 60 yards, and Johnson got one touchdown from two yards out. While 2nd year WR Devontez Walker had a pretty solid night, six catches for 61 yards, as he is looking to be one of those WRs to catch passes from Lamar Jackson, and make the Week 1 roster along with Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and DeAndre Hopkins.
Not only did both offense and defense score some points tonight, but the special teams also contributed by scoring more points than the offense in tonight’s game. Rookie K Tyler Loop had a great night by making 5 out of 6 field goals from 29, 51, 42, 36, and 53, as well as making two extra points, and his only missed field goal was from 50. It seems that the Ravens made the correct choice by selecting Tyler Loop and replacing Justin Tucker, whom the Ravens released in June due to off-field issues. Moving forward, the Ravens will place their trust in rookie Tyler Loop, who will have a challenging task of replacing arguably the greatest kicker in NFL history, Justin Tucker.
The Ravens’ new backup quarterback, Cooper Rush, had an okay night, going 20-30 for 198 passing yards, including one and two interceptions. His 1st interception was bad as Cowboys CB Andrew Booth intercepted and took it to the house for a pick-six. While his 2nd wasn’t his fault, as Rasheen Ali let a short screen pass go right through his hands and into the hands of Cowboys CB Tamon Hall.
The Ravens are coming out of this game; with only one injury to know about is that of OLB Adisa Issac, who dislocated his elbow and will miss a couple of weeks, according to Head Coach John Harbaugh. And, the goal is to make sure everyone will be healthy by Week 1 ahead of their matchup with the Buffalo Bills.
With one preseason game to go before the regular season, all of the young players on this team will get one more opportunity to show the coaches that they belong on the week 1 53-man roster. Given how this team is built in the trenches, the coaches will have a tough time seeing who will be on the 53-man roster for week 1 and seeing who will be on the practice squad come September 7.
The Ravens, for their last preseason, will be playing their neighbors down the beltway, the Washington Commanders, at noon next Saturday, August 23rd
