THE STREAK IS DEAD: After 24 Straight Wins The Baltimore Ravens Have Finally Lost A Preseason Game

Damn. What a run it was. Sure, completely meaningless... but fun nonetheless. For so long they couldn't be stopped. Complete and total preseason wagon. Kings of August and it wasn't close.

Every year I came on this here website and waxed poetic about their dominance. It's not as if they rolled teams, but they just grinded out wins week after week and year after year. It had been the easiest money in sports. Last time they lost a preseason game the Dead Sea was only sick (That's a Caddyshack reference for all you dinosaurs who remember the last time they lost a preseason game).

The theories I threw out every year as to why they were able to keep the train rolling is thus:

1. The culture. It's just a winning culture. It oozes out of the purple and black. It comes from the head honcho in John Harbaugh, the most accomplished coach in a family of winning-obsessed lunatics. If this were a charity game raising money against the Sisters of the Poor, Harbs would still take no mercy between the lines. Can't just turn that off just because it's August.

2. The Ravens genuinely give UDFA's a fair shake at making the roster. That means competition is fierce and the dogs get in line. Better yet, when the draft concludes, the very best remaining prospects who didn't get selected want to be in Baltimore more than anywhere else. That gives the Ravens a level of roster depth in August that is virtually unmatched.

3. John Harbaugh is a lunatic.

And that's about it. But in all seriousness, it's not at all as though the Ravens marched their top guys out there tonight, or last week either. Zay Flowers got some run and got his touchdown, but the Commanders' 1's were out there way longer than the Ravens' top dogs. Sam Howell played the whole first half (and looked good by the way.... have to tip the cap there). Neither Lamar Jackson nor Tyler Huntley even dressed, which is wise given all the ACL's and ankles FedEx Field has taken. Yet the Commanders still needed a boneheaded 4th down PI to get the job done.

It was fun while it lasted, but now we can move on. Bigger things to accomplish than 8 straight years of August dominance. Can't wait to see Lamar and the real fellas do their thing. Gonna be a great year in Baltimore.