Ravens drop preseason opener to Eagles, 16-13

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good for the Eagles; Jake Elliott can only be glad that this was a preseason game.

And then after some nervy moments – he shanked two crucial kicks wide of the goal posts – his teammates were able to get him one more shot.

Philadelphia Eagles backup kicker Elliott hit from 49 yards out as the clock expired in their 16-13 NFC divisional playoff win over the Baltimore Ravens on Friday night. A poor extra point from the left upright by Elliott in the first quarter and his 50-yard attempt went wide right with sixteen seconds to go on the clock.

That Baltimore quarterback Emory Jones — who had just been inserted — was swarmed and fumbled on the very next play. The events of replay by Patrick Johnson allowed Elliott another attempt.

‘‘That was lucky,’‘ replied Elliott. ‘Of course, not the type of game which one would like to have. ’

A letter that was barely off the mark was floated in nearly the same location he just missed, Elliott scored this time to win the game.

“I think we were able to avoid them, the ones we had to avoid in this game because our offense is our focus, and our operation and Jake Elliott, I’m just so confident,” said Eagles coach Nick Sirianni. “I was glad he got another opportunity, I have no doubt that he’ll be even better because of some of the adversity he went through today”.

Both Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts were sidelined and while there is some depth towards the top with Josh Johnson of the Ravens and Kenny Pickett of the Eagles, both were unable to generate much scoring when called upon. In the final period, it was Baltimore’s rookie Devin Leary and Stanford’s Tanner McKee, and Leary tied it 13-all with a four-down coming from the one-yard line with five minutes forty-six seconds left to play.

But when Elliott missed the field goal the ravens decided to go even deeper into their depth chart and put Jones in. That proved costly.

‘He feels bad about it,’ said Baltimore coach John Harbaugh of his player, ‘but he is a rookie, he just began to play. ’ “The speed of this game’s a little different,” Colbert said of Miller, who was thrust into the game on the first snap. “Going in there like that, that’s not the best position to be in. But he’ll learn from it. He’ll be fine. It’s preseason. ”

This team recently accumulated twenty four consecutive victories in preseason matches but has recently been defeated in three successive games.

Justin Tucker from Baltimore got the initial lead with a 46-yard field goal in the initial 15 minutes, with Pickett bringing a reply touchdown of 7-yards with Will Shipley after a 15-play play drive covering 75 yards. Of what I remember least in the game, Elliott missed the extra point.

Baltimore would have to content itself with a 21-yard field early in the second, and that was the only score in the half.

The 38-year-old Johnson, who is now the backup to Nick Muse after the latter left during the offseason, completed four passes on 12 attempts for 62 yards. Leary got into the game later and passed for 6 of 10 for 37 yards.

Pickett a first round pick two seasons ago by the Pittsburgh Steelers was traded to the Eagles in the off season. He did a decent job of this in the first preseason game, completing 14 of 22 passes for 89 yards and a score.

Baltimore’s first-round pick experimented with cornerback Nate Wiggins a lot early in the game in Philadelphia. He did not do too badly for himself and made three interceptions or what is referred to as passes defended as well in the match.

‘I thought they went at him a little bit,’ Harbaugh said of the pre-snap antics and extracurricular shenanigans. ‘When you’re a corner of his calibre, he wants that,’ I said.

From the second half, though, Wiggins limped to the ‘injury tent’ due to a shoulder discomfort.

The new kickoff format in the NFL did not create anything very significant with which to note, though after the opening kickoff was downed in the end zone for a touchback Baltimore’s defensive players appeared as if ready to line up at the wrong place until officials placed the ball on thirty.