LANDOVER, Md. — Sam Howell was still in middle school the last time the Baltimore Ravens had lost a preseason game.

On Monday night, he helped put an end to one of the NFL’s most peculiar runs of success.

Washington’s new starting quarterback threw for 188 yards and two touchdowns as the Commanders edged the Ravens 29-28 on a last-minute field goal. Joey Slye converted from 49 yards, sending the remaining home fans into a state of jubilation not often seen in recent years at FedEx Field.

The loss marked the end of a 24-game preseason win streak for the Ravens, who passed the previous NFL record of 19, set by the Green Bay Packers in the 1950s.

“It’s really not a real game, but at the same time whatever team you’re on, you want to win,” Howell said. “Especially knowing what they had on the other side with their little streak.”

The back-and-forth thriller featured five lead changes and led Ravens Coach John Harbaugh to rebuke those who call preseason football meaningless.

“You never played the game,” Harbaugh said of the critics. “You never were out there in a preseason game; you never were fighting for a spot on the field. And yet you have the audacity to say that the effort that somebody puts into that, to fight and win a game like that, is meaningless.

“I can’t respect anybody that says that — because of the effort these guys put into it. And that’s why I’m so proud of these guys, for the way they fought. It doesn’t matter, win or loss. It matters the way they went about their business. And I’m proud of that and always will be.”

COMMANDERS: Running back Cameron Davis is out for the season after suffering a lower body injury last week during practice.

PANTHERS: Running back Miles Sanders said he’ll be ready to play in his team’s Sept. 10 regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons despite missing more than two weeks of training camp with a groin injury.

BUCCANEERS: Baker Mayfield was selected as the starting quarterback for Tampa Bay, ending the competition for Tom Brady’s old job.

The No. 1 overall pick from the 2018 NFL draft prevailed over third-year pro Kyle Trask, a 2021 second-round draft pick who spent the past two seasons as the third-string quarterback behind Brady and Blaine Gabbert.

Mayfield, who’s with his fourth team since July 2022, signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Bucs after spending the first four seasons of his career with the Cleveland Browns. He made six starts for the Carolina Panthers and four more with the Los Angeles Rams a year ago, going a combined 2-8.

JETS: Aaron Rodgers might see more than just a few snaps in his New York Jets preseason debut against the Giants on Saturday night.

The four-time NFL MVP will play in an exhibition game for the first time since 2018, when he was with the Green Bay Packers. It will be a final tuneup for Rodgers and the Jets’ starters before the regular-season opener at home on Sept. 11 against the Buffalo Bills.

Rodgers, acquired from the Packers in April, has said he’d be open to playing some snaps in the preseason with the Jets. Coach Robert Saleh would like to see Rodgers and the starters on offense play in more than just one drive.

BRONCOS: The Denver Broncos signed wide receiver Josh Hammond after placing wide receiver Jalen Virgil on injured reserve.

Virgil tore the meniscus in his right knee while trying to score at the end of a 50-yard catch-and-run just before halftime of the Broncos’ preseason game against San Francisco on Saturday night. His ACL wasn’t damaged but he’ll need surgery.

Hammond is a second-year pro from the University of Florida who entered the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2020 and played in two games for them in 2021. He was on the DC Defenders for the 2023 XFL season, catching 34 passes for 331 yards and a touchdown.

Virgil’s injury comes after Tim Patrick was lost for the season with a torn Achilles and KJ Hamler was diagnosed with a heart condition, leading to his release.

TITANS: The Tennessee Titans ended their experiment with a pair of undrafted kickers and brought back veteran Michael Badgley after his release by Washington.

“Just trying to find somebody that can help us,” Coach Mike Vrabel said of the decision to waive Caleb Shudak and Trey Wolff and bring in Badgley.

Wolff, a rookie from Texas Tech, made the only field goal attempted in the first two exhibitions for the Titans (1-1). Shudak played in one game in 2022 as a rookie and made 3 of 4 field-goals attempted. The Titans kept Shudak when releasing Randy Bullock in February in a salary cap move.

SEAHAWKS: Rookie wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba will undergo surgery for a wrist fracture and miss approximately three to four weeks Coach Pete Carroll said.

Smith-Njigba was injured in the second quarter of Seattle’s preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, when he was tackled at the 1-yard line after hauling in a 48-yard reception from quarterback Drew Lock.