Baltimore Ravens come out of preseason opener unscathed

The Baltimore Ravens came out Thursday night against the Washington Redskins and displayed their talent defensively in a 23-3 win at M&T Bank Stadium. The defense was fast, young and looked as good as advertised. Offensively, they looked exactly what you would expect from a unit missing nine key Ravens. On the positive, the offensive line, missing three starters, played pretty well and you had to like the balance and commitment to the run game by offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

However, there is another big positive to take away from this Ravens win; Baltimore did not suffer any significant injuries. The Ravens have been scorched by injuries ever since the start of OTA's and mini-camp, which has carried over into training camp. Players like Joe Flacco, Breshad Perriman, Marlon Humphrey, and Alex Lewis have missed practice time due to injuries. The team has also lost Crockett Gillmore, Nico Siragusa, and Kenneth Dixon for the season. There is still hope that Tavon Young, will be back at some point in the year.

That is not to say the team will go 4-for-4 when it comes to getting fortunate with injuries in the preseason. They are going to happen because it's natural in the NFL. Preseason Week 1 was a good day when it comes to the teams health and for Ravens fans, it was good to see someone like Bronson Kaufusi make plays after missing all of his rookie season with a broken ankle.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh can look at a lot of positives and negatives coming out of his teams performance against the Redskins. He can also look at the fact that his team left their first dress rehearsal without another significant injury to add to the list. With the hopes that key players will return in the coming days or weeks.