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ATLANTA — - To finish the preseason perfect, the Ravens had to beat a quick turnaround and illness.

More importantly, their backups had to beat the Atlanta Falcons' starters.

With only two starters making a first-quarter cameo, third-string quarterback John Beck and the rest of the Ravens' junior varsity stepped up in a 20-3 win over the Falcons at a nearly empty Georgia Dome. Beck's two touchdown passes led the Ravens to their first 4-0 preseason since the 2000 Super Bowl season.

"Our goal was to play like Ravens tonight," said coach John Harbaugh, whose team opens the season against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 13. "I think we are the best Ravens we could be right now. What that means or how good we are, we won't know until the regular season starts. But this is where we want to be."

The Ravens, though, had to do it the hard way. The team not only had to travel for its second road game in six days, but some players also wore masks on the plane because they were experiencing flu-like symptoms.

The Ravens' resilience showed in the first quarter, when their reserves outplayed the starters from the Falcons, who were a playoff team last season.

Beck, who played four series in the first three preseason games, drove the Ravens' second-team offense down the field against Atlanta's first-team defense, capping a length-of-the-field series with a 5-yard touchdown pass to fullback Jason Cook. There were so many empty seats that a crowd of two-dozen Ravens fans in one end zone could be heard cheering.

"It was more than encouraging. It was exciting," Harbaugh said. "That group could play with and whip anybody in the league."

The 91-yard drive was the Ravens' longest of the preseason. With starter Joe Flacco and backup Troy Smith watching from the sideline, Beck looked better than he did all of training camp, completing all five of his passes on the possession for 50 yards.

Beck, who was signed by the Ravens when the Miami Dolphins released him after the draft in April, completed 16 of 28 passes for 232 yards. His play had been limited in the preseason because he suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder in the opener.

"It's been a while since I've played a whole game," Beck said. "So I wanted to make the most of it. I had a lot of fun."

The tone of the game was set by the Ravens' defense. With only two starters (linebackers Terrell Suggs and Tavares Gooden), the Ravens stopped quarterback Matt Ryan and running back Michael Turner on the opening drive of the game.

Playing for the first time since injuring his heel Aug. 2, Suggs shut down the Falcons after they passed midfield. The three-time Pro Bowl selection sacked Ryan on second-and-2 and then tackled running back Jason Snelling on a third-down draw.

Late in the second quarter, the Falcons nearly took the lead. Wide receiver Robert Ferguson got behind Ravens cornerback Frank Walker, but he couldn't get both feet down in the end zone.

Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo stopped Thomas Brown for no gain on third-and-3, which led to Jason Elam's 45-yard field goal. That cut the Ravens' lead to 7-3 with 24 seconds left before halftime.

Atlanta again drove into Ravens territory in the third quarter before the defense made another stop on third down. Rookie cornerback Lardarius Webb pulled down fullback Verron Haynes 1 yard short of the first down, a tackle that proved bigger when Elam missed a 35-yard field-goal attempt.

The Ravens extended their lead to 10-3 in the fourth quarter when Steve Hauschka converted a 33-yard field goal.

Beck then sealed the win with two passes to Eron Riley. He hit the undrafted rookie wide receiver for a 47-yard pass down the sideline and then threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Riley. Beck's second touchdown pass put the Ravens ahead 17-3 with 6:49 remaining in the game.

Hauschka then added his most important kick of the preseason, connecting on a 46-yard field goal with 1:14 left. He made six of seven field-goal attempts this preseason, which likely secured him the kicking job.

Harbaugh wouldn't declare Hauschka the winner after the game but said, "Coming out there and making that last kick was good."

Now comes the hard part. The Ravens have to trim their 75-man roster to 53 by Saturday evening.

"It's going to be extremely difficult to get down to 53," Harbaugh said. "We have a lot more than 53 really good players. That's a tribute to the players, coaches and personnel staff. It's going to be an interesting two days of conversation."

Ravens wrap up perfect preseason -- baltimoresun.com

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