LANDOVER, Md. (AP) - Steve McNair finally got his first touchdown pass with the Baltimore Ravens, giving himself and his team a dose of momentum headed into the regular season.
Don't even mention pre-season momentum to the Washington Redskins. They were beaten soundly in all four games, and the first-team offence never scored a point.
It took a laboriously long drive - including a penalty by the Redskins on a field goal attempt - but McNair hit Mark Clayton for a 15-yard score Thursday night to highlight Baltimore's 17-10 victory over Washington. It was the first touchdown for the Ravens' starting offence since the opening drive of the first pre-season game.
``It's always good to get a score like that, especially in the last pre-season game,'' McNair said. ``You know that next week everything becomes playing for real, so you want to go into that game with confidence and feeling good about yourself. We got some things done that we needed to accomplish tonight.''
Feeling his way through the playbook in his first season in Baltimore, McNair played two series and went 4-for-6 for 62 yards. He completed 76 per cent (35-for-46) of his passes in the pre-season, but the lack of points had been a concern.
McNair helped allay those qualms with a seven-play, 71-yard drive that began with a 35-completion to Devard Darling after a nice scramble by the quarterback. The drive stalled at Washington's 32, but the Redskins had too many men on the field on a 49-yard field goal attempt by Matt Stover that missed wide right.
The Ravens then converted a fourth-and-1 to keep the drive alive. Four plays later, McNair found Clayton in a seam in the end zone. Kyle Boller added a 29-yard touchdown pass to Demetrius Williams in the second quarter, and Baltimore's first-team defense was solid again - it allowed only one touchdown during the pre-season.
The Ravens (2-2) rebounded from a 30-7 loss to Minnesota last week, a game coach Brian Billick called ``a miserable performance across the board.'' Needless to say, he was happier this time.
``It was better than last week, when we were a little flat,'' Billick said. ``The Redskins are a physical bunch, and we went toe-to-toe with them.''
The Redskins (0-4) completed an embarrassing August in which the first-team offence, defence and special teams looked remarkably second-tier - even when taking into the account the bland schemes run in pre-season. The starting offence failed to score - failed even to reach the red zone - in roughly five quarters of play, and the weaknesses of the defensive secondary are becoming a serious concern.
The Redskins scored only 27 points total in their four exhibition games, by far the fewest since at least 1961, the earliest year for which team pre-season records are available. One bit of solace for fans: Washington's last winless pre-season was in 1982, the season coach Joe Gibbs won his first Super Bowl.
``Certainly that's not the way we wanted to play,'' Gibbs said.
Gibbs and the players then said they were happy the pre-season was over. Now they will focus on the Monday night opener Sept. 11 against Minnesota.
``Everything points toward Monday night,'' Gibbs said. ``We've got to find a way to play well.''
Mark Brunell went 2-for-4 for 12 yards, finishing the pre-season 16-for-35 for 174 yards. He played two series Thursday. One ended with a three-and-out, and the other stalled at Baltimore's 42 when tight end Chris Cooley dropped a pass on third-and-2. Washington's only touchdown came late in the fourth quarter on Todd Collins' four-yard pass to Mike Espy.
Ravens fullback Justin Green left the game in the first quarter with a sprained MCL in his knee, and backup defensive tackle Aubrayo Franklin sustained a hip injury. Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell and receiver Jimmy Farris both left with hamstring injuries.
The Redskins played without seven projected starters. Offensive linemen Chris Samuels and Randy Thomas and receiver Santana Moss were given the night off, while running back Clinton Portis (shoulder), cornerback Shawn Springs (abdomen), defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin (knee) and defensive end Phillip Daniels (back) are recovering from injuries.
The Ravens rested cornerback Chris McAlister (thigh) and WR Derrick Mason (knee), and Jamal Lewis missed his second straight game with a hip injury.
Notes: Washington rookie safety Reed Doughty missed the game to fly to Colorado to attend the birth of his child. .. Other players who did not suit up for the Redskins: DE Renaldo Wynn (ankle), DE Demetric Evans (tooth), LB Robert McCune (hamstring). .. Others not dressing for the Ravens: S Jerome Sapp (stomach) and G Brian Rimpf (hamstring).