The Philadelphia Eagles kicked off their 2023 preseason schedule with a road game against the Baltimore Ravens.

The final score was 20 to 19 with the Eagles losing. The midnight green Birds were JUST short of breaking the Ravens’ 23-game winning streak in the preseason.

Of course, that doesn’t really matter. What does matter is some of the performances from this game. Read on for some noteworthy moments from Saturday night’s action.

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NO STARTERS

Nick Sirianni explained his decision to not play the starters in a pregame interview with Ross Tucker.

Nakobe Dean was notably not in uniform despite returning to practice on Thursday.

Rashaad Penny and D’Andre Swift played while Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott did not. Of course, the latter two have already played in this system.

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FIRST HALF OBSERVATIONS

• Trey Sermon was back as the kick returner on the opening kickoff. He did not look great at it.

• Marcus Mariota got the start at quarterback.

• D’Andre Swift was the first running back on the field. Swift had a nice run where he juked Jaquan Amos to bounce to the outside and then bowled over former Eagles cornerback Daryl Worley to gain 22 yards.

• Greg Ward Jr. caught the first pass of the game.

• The starting offensive line: LT Tyler Steen, LG Josh Sills, C Josh Andrews, RG Sua Opeta, RT Jack Driscoll.

• Steen failed to pick up a blitzer to allow a sack on Mariota.

• Mariota looked fast and effective taking off as a runner. Same thing we’ve seen in training camp practices.

• Mariota overthrew a wide open Grant Calcaterra over the middle. Same thing we’ve seen in training camp practices.

• Jake Elliott 45-yard field goal attempt, ball right down the middle.

• Nicholas Morrow and Christian Elliss started at linebacker.

• K’Von Wallace and Terrell Edmunds started at safety with Reed Blankenship resting.

• Josh Jobe and Kele Ringo started at quarterback.

• Elliss missed a tackle.

• Jalen Carter beat third-year guard Ben Cleveland with a swim move to force Josh Johnson into a third down throwaway. Really nice to see the No. 9 overall pick flash like that.

• Steen had a pretty nice pancake as a run blocker.

• The Eagles had a 3rd-and-1 turned into a 3rd-and-11 with a false start on Sua Opeta and then a delay of game on Mariota.

• Elliott missed a 46-yard field goal to the right. Ty Zenter was in on the hold, didn’t look like there was an issue there. Just an unexpected miss from Elliott.

• Zach Cunningham got in ahead of Myles Jack.

• Nolan Smith lost contain on the edge to allow a long run on a cutback by Justice Hill.

• Justin Evans committed an obvious holding penalty on Zay Flowers to help prevent a touchdown.

• Kelee Ringo allowed a touchdown on a back shoulder throw from Josh Johnson. Yes, same dude the Eagles knocked out in the NFC Championship Game.

• Tanner McKee came in and took over at quarterback on the Eagles’ third drive. He immediately made a nice, accurate throw to Tyrie Cleveland for a 27-yard gain. Didn’t look like a rookie there.

• McKee had a bad throw high and wide to miss an open Penny on 3rd-and-6. Did look like a rookie there.

• Elliott redeemed his miss with a 49-yard make.

• Myles Jack entered the game with under 11 minutes remaining in the second quarter.

• Joseph Ngata made his first catch at the marker on a 3rd-and-4 to help move the chains. Used his size to box out the Ravens’ cornerback.

• Ngata used too much physicality to get flagged for pass interference to wipe out a nice throw by McKee.

• The Eagles converted a 3rd-and-11 with an anticipatory throw from McKee over the middle to Johnny King.

• McKee had another good back shoulder throw to Tyrie Cleveland to help set up a short touchdown run by Trey Sermon.

• Ringo knocked down a Johnson pass on a throw along the sideline.

• Punting from the Ravens’ 44-yard line and trying to pin the Ravens deep in their own territory, Arryn Siposs had a punt fair caught at the 11-yard line. Not the best directional punt you’ll see.

• Nolan Smith flashed by getting around the Ravens’ massive backup left tackle to log a QB hit as Johnson was throwing.

• Mario Goodrich made a leaping pass breakup as the backup nickel cornerback.

• Greedy Williams missed a tackle to allow the Ravens to get off a 60-yard Justin Tucker field goal attempt that he naturally made. Hasn’t been a good summer for Greedy, can’t keep him on the roster.

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SECOND HALF OBSERVATIONS

• Tyler Huntley, the Ravens’ backup quarterback behind Lamar Jackson, took over for Johnson. Unusual way to handle preseason snaps.

• Sydney Brown entered the game at safety.

• Ben VanSumeren missed an open field tackle.

• Goodrich showed up with tight coverage again to force an incompletion on a throw along the right sideline.

• Mekhi Garner gave up a touchdown on a back shoulder throw. Didn’t have bad coverage, just a perfect pass.

• Brady Russell dropped a short pass from McKee. Heard the footsteps coming.

• Jadon Haselwood flashed with a back shoulder reception. Bad that he had to double catch the ball but credit to him for being able to stay with the bobbling ball and make the play.

• Dennis Kelly’s had a good summer but he got beat badly by a Ravens rookie who pulled off a sick spin move.

• Mekhi Garner stripped Ravens punt returner James Proche to allow long snapper Rick Lovato (!) to jump on the ball for an Eagles recovery.

• No one will be mistaking McKee for Michael Vick but he looked functional enough to pick up seven yards on a scramble to bring up a 3rd-and-3.

• Ngata’s foot being out of bounds along the back of the end zone wiped out a would-be touchdown catch.

• The Eagles were rotating Cunningham and Jack at linebacker.

• Sydney Brown took over the team lead in tackles with six during the third quarter. He was an active tackler from the jump.

• Eli Ricks logged a PBU.

• Zech McPhearson returned a punt. That’s new. He doesn’t take practice reps there ... and he only returned five in college for 22 total yards.

• Ian Book entered the game with 13:47 left in the fourth quarter.

• Kennedy Brooks fumbled. He was always a long shot to make the team in a crowded backfield.

• Book took a bad 20-yard sack on a 3rd-and-8.

• Eli Ricks pick six! Nice break on the ball by the UDFA CB.

• Nick Sirianni went for a two-point conversion, as he should, instead of kicking the extra point to make the game 20 to 20. Book threw a pick for an unsuccessful try. No one was open but Book could’ve done a better job of giving his receiver a chance at a jump ball instead of throwing it so low.

• Ricks logged another PBU! And more trash talk that he somehow avoided being flagged for.

• With a chance to end the Ravens’ 23-game winning streak in the preseason, the Eagles took over at their own 25-yard line with 5:57 on the clock and three timeouts to work with.

• Book FINALLY completed his first pass — only his third attempt — after eight minutes of game action.

• Book way overthrew Trey Sermon on 4th-and-4 to ruin a potential game-winning drive.

• Sirianni used his timeouts towards the end of the game instead of letting the clock just run out. Don’t hate it in this case to make the Ravens really earn it.

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THE QUARTERBACKS

MARCUS MARIOTA: 7/11 (63.6%), 58 yards (5.2 average), 0 TD, 0 INT, 77.1 passer rating ... 4 runs, 29 rushing yards

TANNER MCKEE: 10/20 (50%), 148 yards (7.4 average), 0 TD, 0 INT, 74.6 passer rating ... 1 run, 7 yards

IAN BOOK: 1/4 (25%), 11 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 39.6 passer rating ... 5 runs, 24 yards

• Mariota runs well. He does not throw well.

• McKee was better than the stats indicate and pretty impressive relative to what you would expect from a sixth-round rookie. Not a finished product by any means but you can see he has some throwing talent. Definitely worth developing as a third-string QB.

• Book did not look comfortable as a passer. He kept feeling the need to use his legs to move the ball.

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INJURY UPDATES

• Quez Watkins probably wouldn’t have played even if he was healthy but we learned that he got banged up on Thursday and could at least miss the next two practices.

• Greg Ward left the game with cramps during the second quarter. He should be fine.

• Joseph Ngata left the game later in the second quarter but later returned.

• Shaun Bradley was down on the field in pain before being carted off the field in the third quarter. The team announced it’s a lower leg injury.

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UP NEXT

The Eagles have off tomorrow on Sunday, August 13. Then they’ll host the Cleveland Browns for joint training camp practices on Monday, August 14 and Tuesday, August 15. As always, stay tuned to BGN for more Eagles coverage.