Ravens' Backups Outlast Vikings' Reserves In Sleepy Preseason Win

Minnesota spent the offseason settling its quarterback competition, and the answer was Kyler Murray over J.J. McCarthy. None of that mattered Saturday. Murray was never expected to suit up for this one, so the Vikings turned the offense over to Max Brosmer, while Baltimore leaned on its own depth arm behind Tyler Huntley. That's the reality of Preseason Week 2 — the names on the depth chart that matter in September were nowhere near the field at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The injury news that actually carried weight arrived days earlier. Ravens center Danny Pinter tore his patella tendon in Wednesday's joint practice against Minnesota, likely ending his season and pushing Ethan Pocic into the clear starting job up front. It's the kind of camp-week injury that reshapes a position group well before it ever shows up in a box score, and it landed on Baltimore's interior line just as the Ravens were trying to find continuity there.

None of that stopped Baltimore from getting the result. With the top of both rosters watching from the sideline, the Ravens controlled just enough of this one to walk out of Minneapolis with a win that means nothing for the standings and a little something for the pecking order behind the starters.

Brosmer didn't help his own cause, tossing an interception that Baltimore's defense turned into real field position, while Joe Fagnano found the end zone for the Ravens through the air. It's a small sample, but it's exactly the kind of preseason rep that either builds a backup's case or buries it heading into final cuts.

Zoom out and the shape of these two teams looks nothing alike right now. Minnesota has won 5 straight dating back through the end of last season and into this preseason, while Baltimore has been streakier — a win, a loss, a win, a loss, then a win over Philadelphia to open August. Neither trend says much about Saturday specifically, since both clubs were playing without their top-line pieces, but it's the backdrop each team carries into the real thing.

The headline injury news away from the field belongs to Ravens receiver Rashod Bateman, who is facing charges tied to a June domestic incident — a storyline that has nothing to do with Saturday's scoreline but will follow Baltimore into the regular season regardless of how these preseason snaps shake out.

None of it changes what this game actually was: a low-stakes look at each team's depth, played by players fighting for roster spots rather than division titles. The real Ravens-Vikings storylines — Murray's fit with Justin Jefferson, Pinter's replacement up front, whatever the Bateman situation becomes — start mattering once the games count.

Baltimore Ravens at Minnesota Vikings

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