DeMarco Murray celebrates after scoring his first touchdown as a Philadelphia Eagle in Saturday night’s victory over the Baltimore Ravens. (Getty)
Final
Baltimore Ravens 0-0-0-17 — 17
Philadelphia Eagles 14-10-6-10 — 40
The Philadelphia Eagles looked good. The Baltimore Ravens did not.
The Eagles jumped out to a 30-point lead in the preseason matchup, took advantage of two Joe Flacco interceptions and executed on nearly every facet of offense. Sam Bradford, making his NFL return after his second ACL injury last season, dusted off a bit of preseason rust and finished 3-for-5 or 35 yards. Mark Sanchez was the star of the night though, going 14-for-20 for 118 yards. Meanwhile, the Eagles rushing attack, particularly the three-headed monster on the starting lineup, looked dominant, finishing for 238 yards on 38 carries.
Also, DeMarco Murray scored a touchdown in his Eagles debut. Because of course he did.
Then there were the Ravens. In the simplest of terms, it was simply not Baltimore’s night. Everything that could go wrong seemingly did go wrong and the Ravens didn’t even put points on the board until the fourth quarter. Most troubling though? The penalties. Baltimore racked up 17 penalties for a whopping 139 yards.
Click here for a full box score of the preseason game.
Kevin Monangai Scored the Final TD of the Night
In a fourth quarter that had 27 points (!), Eagles running back Kevin Monangai added his name to the stat sheet with a one-yard touchdown run.
The Eagles just kept running plays and kept finding the end zone throughout the game. This touchdown capped off a five-play, 41-yard drive that took 50 seconds. Fifty. Seconds.
There was almost a Tim Tebow touchdown run on Philadelphia’s previous drive but the fourth-string quarterback’s play was overturned upon review. Tebow took some heat on the in-game broadcast and social media after a handful of analysts pointed out that the quarterback opted to run when he had a wide receiver open in the end zone. Tebow finished 2-for-5 in the air for 13 yards.
The Ravens, Finally, Scored in the Fourth Quarter
It happened! Baltimore found the end zone in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter as third-string quarterback Bryn Renner found Darren Waller to put points on the board. The play capped off a 13-play, 80-yard drive that had started late in the third quarter.
Things started to roll from there. Or at least roll as much as possible after being down by 30 points. Renner added a second touchdown pass with a 28-yard toss in the waning minutes of the game.
Touchdown Daniel Brown! 28-yard leaping grab. Bryn Renner now has 2 touchdown passes.
But because this is this game and the Ravens have played in this game, Baltimore was called for a penalty on the two-point conversion and was forced to settle for a 48-yard extra point. This is football in 2015.
The Eagles Led 24 – 0 at Halftime
(Getty)
The worst thing that happened to Philadelphia in the first half of this preseason football game was a missed field goal in the waning seconds of the second quarter. That field goal attempt was from 55 yards out. That should say something about how this game went.
The Eagles played well. Exceptionally well. The Ravens did not. In fact, the Ravens could not do much of anything right. At all.
#Ravens coach John Harbaugh at halftime to @wbalradio: “It was not the first half we wanted. We didn’t do much very well.”
Sam Bradford made his Eagles debut, recording 35 yards in the air, and Mark Sanchez another 118 yards on 14-of-20. The Ravens didn’t do much to help their cause either, whistled for 13 penalties, nine of which were accepted for 82 yards. Joe Flacco completed three passes. He also completed two to Eagles defenders, tossing two interceptions on Baltimore’s first two drives of the night.
Kenjon Barner Recorded His Second Punt Return for a TD
Kenjon Barner had so much fun taking a punt to the house last week that he decided to do it again tonight #BALvsPHI http://t.co/WDsoQA7PDP
Barner may have just cemented his name on the Philadelphia Eagles roster. Barner recorded his second game (there have only been two games) with a punt return for a TD, sprinting back 68-yards for the score with just under four minutes left in the first half.
DeMarco Murray Scored His First Philadelphia TD in the First Quarter
DeMarco Murray had 13 rushing TDs with the Cowboys last season.
This is his first in an @Eagles uniform. #BALvsPHI http://t.co/WosdZDFYb5
Welcome to the city of Brotherly Love, DeMarco Murray.
The reigning rushing leader found the end zone on the second Eagles drive of the night, taking advantage of another Baltimore turnover. Murray took the handoff from backup quarterback Mark Sanchez and rushed straight up the middle for the score from two yards out.
The drive lasted just under two minutes and went 28 yards on five plays. By the end of the first quarter, the Eagles rushing attack racked up 46 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries by three different players.
Ryan Mathews Ran Untouched Into the End Zone to Get the Eagles on the Board
RB @rmathews24 finishes the drive: 14 yards and his first touchdown in #Eagles Midnight Green. #FlyEaglesFly http://t.co/XdJQLgrG41
Sam Bradford is back. The brand-new Philadelphia Eagles quarterback made his return to football, stepping back onto the field for the first time since tearing his ACL 364 days ago, and led his team down the field and straight into the end zone.
So Bradford took hits from Terrell Suggs and Brandon Williams, engineered 84-yard TD drive, 3 of 5 for 35 yards, 1 miss shoulda been caught
Ryan Matthews capped off an 84-yard drive with a 14-yard dash for the first touchdown of the night. Bradford took a handful of hits on the drive, including a called late hit from Terrell Suggs in the knee area, but held his ground under center and found a rhythm after brushing off some of the metaphorical rust. He finished the drive 3-for-5 through the air for 35 yards.
Bradford’s night was, understandably, over after the first drive.
Joe Flacco Was Intercepted on the Ravens First Two Drives
The Baltimore quarterback tried to throw into double coverage down the field on the Ravens’ opening drive of the night and it ended with a turnover.
The play wasn’t so much Flacco’s fault – he had the distance on the pass – as much as it was just really good defense by the Eagles’ secondary. Nolan Carroll actually tipped the pass first, knocking the ball into the hands of Walter Thurmond who returned the ball out of the end zone.
And then…it happened again.
Flacco overthrew his receiver, who did not appear to be on the same page with the quarterback at all, and, for the second straight drive, found his pass intercepted by the Eagles secondary. After two drives, Flacco was 2-for-4 for 10 yards and two interceptions.
Who’s Not Playing
It’s still preseason so that means that there are still players sidelined for both teams. According to ESPN’s Jamison Hensely, 15 Ravens players are not suited for the game against the Eagles, including four projected starters. Those players include: CB Lardarius Webb (hamstring), RT Rick Wanger (foot), LG Kelechi Osemele (Achilles) and DE Chris Canty (undisclosed).
Game Preview
Sam Bradford hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass in more than two years. He’ll make his Eagles debut on Saturday night. (Getty)
Keep the Pope on speed dial because Sam Bradford is expected to make his Philadelphia Eagles debut on Saturday night. The injury-prone quarterback, who hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass in over 600 days, has looked sharp throughout training camp but there are still lingering concerns over those pesky knees. In fact, Saturday is one day short of the first anniversary of Bradford’s left ACL tear. He had also torn his ACL once before that as well.
Eagles head coach Chip Kelly decided to hold Bradford out of the team’s preseason opener last week so it’ll be interesting to see how the former St. Louis Rams quarterback fits into Philadelphia’s high-tempo offense. Oh, and for an added bonus, DeMarco Murray is also expected to make his Eagles debut.
The Baltimore Ravens defense faces a big-time test in week two of the preseason after a stellar performance against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints last week. The entire Ravens starting defense is expected to play, with the exception of cornerback Lardarius Webb. Rashaan Melvin, Webb’s replacement, had the second-highest grade among Ravens’ cornerbacks in the preseason opener. In other words, these guys are ready to hit.
Kickoff for Saturday night’s game is slated for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on NFL Network. Click here for a full TV schedule.
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