The Weirdest Streak in Sports is Over

08/22/2023

By: Jeff Yoder

Commanders Beat Ravens on Late Field Goal (29-28) & End Baltimore’s Ridiculous Preseason Win Streak at 24 Games (8 Years)

The end of an era! Honestly, how many years can you run the table with backups and practice-squad guys? Enough is enough, already. Monday night’s finale to Week 2 of the NFL preseason featured the Ravens and Commanders in a Chesapeake Bay showcase with history on the line. The Ravens’ 24-game preseason win streak came to an end after the Commanders put up nine points in the final five minutes to mount a 4th-quarter comeback (29-28). Baltimore hadn’t lost a preseason football game since 2015 — the longest preseason streak in NFL history.

Longest NFL Preseason Streaks

Ravens (2015-2023) — 24 Games

Packers (1959-1962) — 19 Games

Multiple Teams With 14 Games

The Weirdest Streak in Sports

The Ravens’ win streak is so bizarre because, frankly, it doesn’t really matter. Preseason NFL games are a glorified scrimmage. At the same time, winning 24 consecutive football games is downright incredible, especially when preseason football consists of playing backups, third-stringers and guys just vying for the league minimum. That’s a testament to head coach John Harbaugh and the organization. If Baltimore really cared about winning these games (they don’t), Lamar Jackson and Odell Beckham Jr. would’ve gotten reps. They didn’t, because these games don’t matter. But somehow, they do? Color me puzzled. Am I missing something?

The Significance of 24 Straight Wins

I want to keep putting “wins” in asterisks… Preseason, shmee-season. Winning 24 football games in a row is a mark that may live forever. To put it in context, the historic ’72 Dolphins (14-0) are the only team to go unbeaten in a single NFL season. The Colts won nine games to finish 2008 before 14 straight to open 2009 (23 regular-season games), and that’s the best regular-season NFL streak of all-time. Both those teams did it with Hall of Fame players. You know, like Peyton Manning. The Ravens did this with Tyler Huntley and Trace McSorley throwing it to Devin Duvernay and Willie Snead. They can’t keep getting away with it!

That’s what I kept saying every time the streak tacked on another win. Year after year, it was like an August ghost of sportswriting nightmares. Something didn’t add up. It felt like a crime against football and what the preseason stands for. Opposing teams certainly got tired of the questions before every preseason game.

“I think it’s a stupid record. I mean who gives a (expletive) about preseason games? If we beat it, great. We’re going to beat it, so there we go.” — Sam Cosmi (Commanders O-Lineman)

Cosmi hit the griddy after the Commanders scored a touchdown in the first quarter.

Throughout these eight years of this meaningless-yet-astonishing streak, the Ravens have just one playoff win. Maybe that was the trick? Turn the lights up. Last night’s loss was the first ‘Monday Night Football’ broadcast of 2023, and the primetime atmosphere did Baltimore in.

Love it or hate it, what Harbaugh and the Ravens accomplished over the last eight years was historic and mind-blowing. What a run. No matter how weird. And after all that, a late penalty set up a game-winning field goal with 14 seconds left, and we can finally wave goodbye to the strangest streak in sports history.

Game Notes

Commanders new QB1 Sam Howell put together a squeaky clean first half (19/25, 188 yards, 2 TDs). For the Ravens, rookie WR Zay Flowers continues to impress (2 catches, 37 yards, 1 TD).

Watch: Commanders End Ravens’ Preseason Streak at 24 Games (29-28)

USA Today: Ravens’ 24-Game Preseason Win Streak Ends in Dramatic Fashion

Yahoo! Sports: Commanders Ride Sam Howell, Late Rally Past Ravens to End One of Sports’ Strangest Streaks

Photo: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images