Ravens 41, Commanders 3: Preseason Week 3 Result Recap
Baltimore closed out the preseason with a rout, dropping Washington 41-3 on Friday night at M&T Bank Stadium. It was a lopsided finale from start to finish, and by the end it stood as the largest preseason margin in Ravens history while Baltimore wrapped up its exhibition slate undefeated. As is standard for a Week 3 tune-up, both sides leaned heavily on backups and roster-bubble players with cuts to 53 looming, so the scoreline said more about depth than about anything either team will carry into the opener. For the visiting Commanders, it was simply a night to get through healthy rather than a competitive game.
Final: Commanders 3, Ravens 41 (Friday, Aug 28, M&T Bank Stadium)
Washington made the short trip up I-95 to Baltimore for a Friday evening finale and never found any footing. The Ravens controlled the game throughout on their way to a 41-3 win, the most one-sided preseason result in the franchise's history. Baltimore finished the exhibition schedule without a loss, and the final tune-up gave its coaching staff exactly the kind of clean, low-stress night a team wants before roster cuts.
The lopsided score carried the usual Week 3 caveats. This was the third and last preseason game, so both staffs managed the night with the regular season in mind rather than the scoreboard. Play-calling stayed vanilla, front-line contributors either rested or played sparingly, and long stretches of the depth chart got live reps. For Washington, the result itself was an afterthought next to who actually took the field and how those players held up.
What Actually Mattered in the Finale
Preseason Week 3 has its own personality. In the opener and the second game you often see starters get a series or two, sometimes a full quarter, as coaches build toward game speed. The finale flips that script. With roster cuts arriving right after, the priority becomes protecting the players who already have jobs. Many established starters watched this one from the sideline, and those who did dress played a handful of snaps at most before handing off to the backups.
For Washington, that meant the reps worth tracking belonged to the players still fighting for a spot rather than anything on the final scoreboard. The backup quarterback picture was the headline job to follow, since extended action in a game like this can settle a close competition. Beyond that, the interior offensive line rotation, the depth at receiver and cornerback, and the special teams contributors all made their roster cases in these last snaps. A 41-3 margin tells you Baltimore's depth won the night, but it says very little about how either team's front-line unit will look in Week 1.
What DC Bettors Can Take From It
- Snap plans beat spreads, again. A 41-3 result in a game where starters barely played is a reminder that who is on the field, and for how long, drives preseason outcomes far more than any number posted days in advance.
- Preseason scores are noisy. A blowout in an exhibition finale is close to meaningless as a read on either roster. Do not let a lopsided August result shape how you price these teams once the games count.
- Live betting was the sharpest tool. Because rotations in a game like this are hard to predict, bettors who waited until they could see who was actually playing had an edge no pre-posted line offered. Preseason finales reward patience.
- Keep stakes small. Exhibition outcomes are high in variance and close to random, especially once roster hopefuls take over. Size any wager accordingly and treat these nights as entertainment rather than an edge.
Bottom Line
Washington wrapped up the preseason with a 41-3 loss in Baltimore, a result best read as a roster-evaluation window rather than a competitive game. The Ravens leaned on their depth, rested the players who matter, and rolled to the biggest preseason margin in their history while finishing the summer undefeated. The Commanders got out of it healthy and turned the page to the games that count. If you were betting it, the summer lessons held up: track the snap plan, favor live markets over a line set days early, and keep your stakes modest. Preseason football is a genuine pleasure after a long offseason, but a Week 3 finale like this one is close to noise. Confirm every number in the FanDuel app before you place anything, and bet only within a budget you have set in advance.