John Harbaugh doesn’t mention Ravens’ 23-game preseason winning streak to team: ‘It’s like a no-hitter’

The Baltimore Ravens haven’t lost a preseason game since 2015, winning a league record 23 straight exhibition games. The streak is mentioned every preseason — and the Ravens are certainly aware of the accomplishment. 

John Harbaugh doesn’t have to address his team about it.

“Do you know what it’s like? It’s like a no-hitter. It’s like a hitting streak,” Harbaugh said. “It’s unspoken until maybe after the game. It’s funny because in the big grand scheme of things… I know that the guys who played in those games, the guys that made the plays to win those games in the fourth quarter – because most of those games were won in the fourth quarter with guys making plays – they’ll remember it.”

While the Ravens’ preseason win streak is impressive, it’s in indicator of how the franchise treats preseason games. The Ravens are 70-32 in preseason games (.686 win percentage) since the franchise started in Baltimore in 1996. Harbaugh is 43-12 in his career in the preseason (.782). 

During the 23-game preseason win streak, the Ravens have outscored opponents 541-261 (+280 points) and 14 quarterbacks have thrown passes for Baltimore, including Josh Johnson (2016), Tyler Huntley (2021-2022) and Anthony Brown (2022). All three are expected to play Saturday. 

There are mixed reactions about the win streak outside of the organization, but not to Baltimore and the players that suit up for the Ravens. 

“It’s important to them for the rest of their life, and therefore it’s important to me,” Harbaugh said. “So, it’s meaningful in that sense, but we’re playing a game. We have a lot of goals, a lot of things that we’re trying to accomplish. 

“It’s not about that at all, not even about that per se. It’s about becoming better as a football team, evaluating our players and each individual guy improving. So, that’s what we’re looking for.” 

The Ravens will try to extend the streak to 24 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Under Nick Sirianni, the Eagles focus on player development and don’t exactly try to win preseason games. But they still want to compete, a  reflection of their head coach. 

“Any time we go out there we want to look sharp, play clean football, compete at the highest level, and that’s no different whether they’ve won 23 in a row or lost 23 in a row,” Sirianni said. “That’s a very impressive stat that they’ve won 23 in a row, no doubt. Very impressive.

“Any time we step on the field we want to compete and go at it. That can’t ever change based off who you’re playing or what their record is. That’s how a season goes. Sometimes you’re going to play a team that has a really good record and sometimes you might play a team that doesn’t have a great record.

“It’s about coming to work and being the same guy every day and consistency.”