Newly-minted starting quarterback Sam Howell will lead his Washington Commanders against the Baltimore Ravens at home on ESPN’s preseason version of “Monday Night Football.”
Howell, a second-year quarterback out of North Carolina, was named Washington’s starter over veteran Jacoby Brissett.
On the other side, Baltimore spent all offseason attempting to acquire skill-position talent for former NFL MVP Lamar Jackson. The quarterback signed a record-breaking contract extension back in April and is looking forward to great things in 2023.
Here, we preview this matchup between the Ravens and Commanders with pretty much everything you need to know heading in.
Baltimore Ravens at Washington Commanders: TV information, kickoff time, odds
- Kickoff: 8:00 PM ET
- Television: ESPN
- Location: FedEx Field, North Englewood, MD
- Point spread: Ravens (-1.5)
Top storylines for Ravens at Commanders
- Sam Howell as Washington Commanders starter: With all of 19 regular season passes under his belt, Howell will be Washington’s Week 1 starter when the team opens up against the Arizona Cardinals. Despite this lack of experience, head coach Ron Rivera and Co. have utmost confidence in the youngster to do his thing out of the gate. It’ll be interesting to see how he does in limited playing time Monday night against Baltimore.
Related: Why Sam Howell is set up to succeed for the Washington Commanders
- Baltimore Ravens running back situation: JK Dobbins was just recently activated off the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list and is not going to be active Monday night. This means that all eyes will be on veterans Justice Hill and Melvin Gordon, the latter of whom signed earlier this summer. The Ravens’ running back situation has been questionable at best over the past couple seasons. It needs to be more consistent if Lamar Jackson is going to round into form and rebound after a down 2022 campaign. We’re intrigued to see if this aspect of the Ravens’ offense gets going against a darn good Washington defensive front.
- Josh Harris era begins in Washington: Monday night will represent the Commanders’ first home game under their new owner, who purchased the NFL team from the embattled Daniel Snyder earlier this year. Harris — the co-owner of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers — was on hand during joint practices over the past week. He’ll be at FedEx Field to watch his new team play. Harris has promised a change of culture. We’re not going to see it out of the gate. But things seem to be trending in the right direction with fan enthusiasm at its highest point in recent memory. That should be on full displayMonday night in Maryland.
Related: New owner could change Washington Commanders names
- Questions for Baltimore Ravens at cornerback: The foot injury Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey suffered during camp has put Baltimore’s cornerback situation into the spotlight. The Ravens added Rock Ya-Sin in free agency. But he’s also been dealing with injuries. This led to the Ravens signing veteran Ronald Darby. It’s not yet known whether Darby will be on the field Monday night. But we wouldn’t expect it. Rather, youngsters Jalyn Armour-Davis, Kyu Kelly and Kevon Seymour should see extensive action.
Baltimore Ravens players to watch
Here’s a look at three Ravens players to watch Monday night in Maryland.
Zay Flowers
A rookie first-round pick from Boston College, Flowers showed out big time during training camp. It has him as Baltimore’s starting slot receiver heading into Week 1, which is an extremely important position in new offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s system. But he’s also played the two boundary spots during the summer.
“That’s what I want. That’s exactly what I want,” Flowers said back in July, via the Ravens’ official website. “As long as I’m touching the ball, I feel like I can make a play from anywhere, no matter where it is.”
The 5-foot-10 Flowers didn’t record a catch in his preseason debut last week against the Eagles. However, his electric playmaking ability did lead to multiple holding calls on Philadelphia defenders. Set to see extensive action Monday night, we expect Flowers to continue his upward ascension.
David Ojabo
This second-year player from Michigan missed all but two games as a rookie due to injury. He returned to record a single tackle last week against Philadelphia while playing multiple positions including SAM linebacker. It’s interesting to look at given that the former second-round pick was primarily an EDGE guy with the Wolverines.
Now that the Ravens have signed Pro Bowler Jadeveon Clowney, the expectation is that Ojabo will play all over the field as a sophomore. There is no reason to believe that respected defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald won’t find a way to use Ojabo. Look for some interesting looks in Baltimore’s final real preseason tune-up for Week 1 against the Houston Texans.
Melvin Gordon
Gordon, 30, signed a one-year contract with Baltimore last month. The idea was to provide some depth with both Dobbins and Edwards banged up. The two-time Pro Bowler recorded just 16 yards on six attempts while playing with twos and threes last week against Philadelphia.
Gordon is not a lock to earn a spot on the 53-man roster. Since last earning a Pro Bowl appearance with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2018, the former Wisconsin star has fumbled a whopping 16 times on 797 touches. In addition to proving that he still has something left in the tank, Gordon must show that these fumble issues are behind him. It’ll be something to watch against an elite-level Commanders defensive front.
Related: Baltimore Ravens standing in Sportsnaut’s NFL defense rankings
Washington Commanders players to watch
Sam Howell
We’re not sure how much action Howell is going to see Monday night now that he has officially been named the Commanders’ starting quarterback. The expectation is that Ron Rivera and Co. will want to get Howell some run with the ones before the regular season starts. As noted above, he’s thrown all of 19 regular-season passes in his young career.
The youngster from North Carolina was solid last week, completing 9-of-12 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown. His appearane culminated in a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive. The hope is that Howell sees more than a quarter with his top playmakers as a way to prepare for Arizona Week 1.
Jahan Dotson
Heading multiple lists of top breakout candidates, Dotson showed out big time during training camp. He also seems to love new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s system.
“I feel like he’s brought culture to our team. He’s brought a sense of energy, a sense of urgency. It’s been really good just being able to learn from him and just get familiar with the things he wants us to do and the things we want to do,” Dotson said back in June.
Last season saw the Penn State product record 35 receptions for 523 yards and seven touchdowns. He displayed flashes with less-than-ideal quarterback play. Now heading into his sophomore season, Dotson is being relied on to be WR2 behind Terry McLaurin. He’ll get some run with Howell and the ones Monday night.
Emmanuel Forbes
A surprise first-round pick of the Commanders back in April, Forbes has apparently played himself into a starting role opposite Kendall Fuller as a rookie. He’s been the talk of the summer in Washington and has the powers that be blushing over his coverage ability.
“He is a ball hawk,” Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera on Forbes. “He does time it out very well, does put himself in position. He’s working against some of the best route runners right now in the league, and that’s kind of neat to watch this young man grow already. So it’s been a very good offseason with him so far.”
Going up against McLaurin in practice this summer certainly has helped Forbes as he prepares for a big rookie season. We’re excited to see him go up against fellow first-year player Zay Flowers Monday night. That’s going to be a fun matchup.
- Prediction: Washington Commanders 27, Baltimore Ravens 23