The Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants 24-10 in the third preseason game for both teams. The starters went the entire first half and the score at halftime was 17-3, Ravens. It could have been worse as the Ravens were penalized just before halftime, taking them out of field goal range, courtesy of a Derrick Mason unsportsmanlike penalty. The Ravens were forced to punt instead and the Giants drove down the field for their only score of the first half via the field goal. The Giants added their final score just before the game ended n a meaningless TD with just over a minute remaining.
Other than that, the Ravens offense clicked well under the direction of Joe Flacco, who threw for well over 200 yards and two TD's with one errant interception. Todd Heap and Anquan Boldin were recipients of his TD passes and Heap was the team's leadng receiver with six catches. The offensive line was still a concern, as the Ravens QB's were sacked a total of five times, too many to continue into the regular season.
However, the first team seemed to be in sync and spread out the offense and the stats. The Giants were unable to muster much of a threat, as QB Eli Manning was constantly under pressure from the Ravens defensive front seven and blitzing secondary. Throghout the game, the one guy who got a ton of reps and made the most of them seemed to be safety Haruki Nakamura, who was all over the field making plays in both the secondary and rushing the QB, obviously completely healed from last season's broken ankle.
For the first time this preseason, the first string offense, led by Flacco, seemed to be clicking on all cylinders and with all the offensive weapons that Joe now has at his disposal, his choices appeared easy and limitless, as he spread the love around as well as the ball. The starters do not figure to get many reps next week, and the team looks to be ready for the opener on national TV as they visit the New York Jets' new stadium on Monday Night Football after one more exhibition game next week.