NFL Power Rankings, Week 1: Dolphins hurt by trade talk, Bears look foolish

There were a lot of teams that used the preseason finale as a dress rehearsal since they get a bye week before the regular season kicks off. That wasn’t the case for the Washington Football Team as they rested all of their starters in their final game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Head coach Ron Rivera had simple reasoning for doing so, saying after the game that he didn’t want to get anyone hurt. He even took that a step further, keeping not only starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick sidelined, but he also rested No. 2 quarterback Taylor Heinicke.

With Kyle Allen and Steven Montez splitting time, Washington mustered up just 173 total yards while surrendering 491 to Baltimore. They had absolutely no answers on either side of the ball but they did get out of the game without losing anyone, which can’t be said for their opponent.

During the game, Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins went down with a knee injury and had to be carted off. It’s always a tough scene to see but it did remind us why Rivera was fine keeping his top players on the sidelines in this exhibition game.

Now they can start preparing for their season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers as they aim to defend their 2020 NFC East title. And they would probably like to also try and win that with a record that’s better than the 7-9 they finished with last year.