BALTIMORE – Jake Elliott can be glad this was only a preseason game.
And after some uncharacteristic struggles — he bounced crucial kicks off both uprights — his teammates were able to give him one more chance.
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Elliott made a 49-yard field goal with no time remaining to give the Philadelphia Eagles a 16-13 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Friday night. Elliott missed an extra point off the left upright in the first quarter, and his 50-yard kick hit the right upright with 16 seconds remaining in the game.
But Baltimore quarterback Emory Jones — who had just entered the game — was sacked and fumbled on the next play. The recovery by Patrick Johnson gave Elliott another opportunity.
“That was lucky,” Elliott said. “Obviously, not the type of game you want.”
At nearly the same spot where he'd just missed, Elliott converted this time to win the game.
“Hopefully, we got those out of our way, but our operation and Jake Elliott, I'm so confident,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “I was glad he got another opportunity, and I have no doubt that he'll be even better because of some of the adversity he went through today.”
Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts were both held out, and quarterbacks Josh Johnson of the Ravens and Kenny Pickett of the Eagles weren’t able to produce much scoring when they were in the game. Toward the end, it was Baltimore rookie Devin Leary vs. Tanner McKee, and Leary tied it at 13 with a fourth-down sneak from the 1 with 5:46 to play.
But after Elliott's missed field goal, the Ravens went even further down the depth chart and put Jones in. That proved costly.
“He feels bad about it, but he's just starting out," Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. “The speed of this game's a little different. Going in there that first snap, that's a tough situation to be in. He'll learn from it. He'll be fine. It's preseason.”
After winning a record 24 preseason games in a row, Baltimore has now lost three straight.
Baltimore's Justin Tucker opened the scoring with a 46-yard field goal in the first quarter, but the Eagles answered with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Pickett’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Will Shipley. Elliott missed the extra point.
Baltimore settled for a 21-yard field goal early in the second, and that was all the scoring for the half.
The 38-year-old Johnson, now Baltimore’s No. 2 quarterback following the offseason departure of Tyler Huntley, went 4 of 12 for 62 yards. Leary eventually came on and went 6 of 10 for 37 yards.
Pickett, a first-round pick just two years ago by Pittsburgh, was traded to the Eagles in the offseason. He got plenty of work in this preseason opener, going 14 of 22 for 89 yards and a touchdown.
Philadelphia tested cornerback Nate Wiggins, Baltimore's first-round draft pick, quite a bit early. He acquitted himself pretty well and was credited with three passes defended.
“I thought they kind of went at him a little bit, which was good to see,” Harbaugh said. “When you're a corner of his caliber, he wants that.”
In the second half, however, Wiggins went into the injury tent because of a shoulder problem.
The new kickoff format in the NFL didn't lead to anything too noteworthy, although after the opening kickoff was downed in the end zone for a touchback, Baltimore's defensive players looked like they were about to line up in the wrong spot before officials correctly put the ball on the 30.
Injuries
The Ravens lost LB Chris Board to a possible concussion and S Sanoussi Kane to a stinger. Harbaugh said LB David Ojabo was not cleared to play.
Up next
Eagles: At New England on Thursday night.
Ravens: Host Atlanta on Aug. 17.
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