Ravens, Redskins Win Preseason Opening Games

All Eyes On These Two Teams?

Did you ever think you'd see our area NFL football teams win major titles, at the same time?

One Division Champions, the other Super Bowl Champions, right in our back yard.

Super Bowl champions, Baltimore Ravens crushed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 44-12 Thursday night showing, yet again, why they're deserving of that Lombardi trophy.

The Ravens' $120 million dollar man, QB Joe Flacco, found teammate Bernard Pierce who in turned scored a 20-yard TD, while the team's backup QB, Tyrod Taylor, also found success with two TD passes that included at 21-yard pass to LaQuan Williams. 

What did the Super Bowl coach John Harbaugh have to say about his newly created team?

''We're a very different team than we were, so we were really anxious to get on the field and just see who we are, because we really don't know in a lot of ways.  We suspect we have a chance to be a good team, but we've got a long way to go as far as being on the same page in a lot of ways, so it's a good thing we've got preseason, obviously.''

Keep up the modest act, Harbaugh.  It will take you far.

A little closer to home, the 2013 NFC East Champion Washington Redskins (scoring half of the Ravens' score) beat the Tennessee Titans, 22-21, in a close matchup that saw both QBs Kirk Cousins and Rex Grossman scoring for the 'all-eyes-watching' NFL team.

While the recovering RGIII is not expected to participate in this year's preseason games, he probably felt pretty good watching his 2nd and 3rd string QBs Thursday night on the field.

Cousins completed six of his seven passes for 52 yards and a TD to the returning Fred Davis during his time in game, helping his team score first in the contest.

Said Shanahan about the effort, “I like what I see. I like what I see in practice. It’s carried over to the games. He’s got a good feel of what we’re doing offensively. He’s got a good command of the offense. I thought he did an excellent job in the game going through his progressions. He only played 13 snaps but he took advantage of every opportunity, and there’s a lot of times when you’re a second-team quarterback, you don’t get the reps in preseason like you want. He’s going to get those reps, so it’s a big plus for him in his development.”

All three Skins' QBs performed well, including the ever-so volatile Rex Grossman who managed to connect on an 8-yard TD pass to the waiting Leonard Hankerson right before halftime.

Pat White who scored on a 9-yard TD during the waning two minutes of the game. White also found Emmanuel Ogbuehi for the 2-point conversion that prevented an overtime, and gave the Redskins the edge they needed for the win.

While the team's scoring was the highlight of the game, one couldn't help seeing a few recurring blunders the team has been known for in the past, most notably dropped balls.  Early in the game players, seemingly, had the jitters and dropped on-spot passes that caused the team penalties.

And there were more errors.

"I think anytime you look at a game, the first thing you do is you look at the things that could have cost you the game", said Shanahan.

"Ultimately, every game you play, even if it is the preseason, you want to find a way to win. You've got a game plan going in with your players on how many plays that they're going to play. But we made some silly penalties that you can't have and expect to win... we didn't line up with our split end on the line of scrimmage. That cost us a touchdown. You’ve got a 15-yard penalty here, a first down here. Those are the type of things that beat you, so you kind of go over those things, and make sure that if it was a regular season game you wouldn’t make some of those silly mistakes. Just typical things you normally go through."

The team continues training camp in Richmond, their final week before heading back to familiar turf, before taking on the Buffalo Bills on August 24th.

The Bills have a DC connection with the signing of Howard University outside linebacker standout Keith Pough, an undrafted rookie who agreed to terms with the team earlier this summer.

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What's that former Redskin doin' now that the 'arch rival' has acquired him?

"Every player on every team is sore, battered, and bruised so that's definitely not an excuse.  Its a part of the job description, and I wouldn't trade it for the world." 

Click here to find out who this former RS, turned Cowboy, is.



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