CANTON Chase Daniel Color Rush Jersey , Ohio (AP)The goals were to let the backups play and learn, and to be inspired.Missions accomplished.The Ravens and Bears honored their great linebackers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher with some defense to make them proud in the Hall of Fame game that opened the NFL’s preseason Thursday night. Baltimore held on 17-16.Article continues below ...”Ray is the greatest linebacker of our time,” said 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, who quarterbacked the second half for the Ravens. ”That was a big thrill and exciting stuff.”Oh, there was a little spark of offense, some provided by Baltimore’s first-round draft pick. Jackson’s 7-yard touchdown pass to fellow first-rounder Hayden Hurst came after the Ravens’ defense recovered a fumble.Chicago put together its best drive in the final minutes and journeyman Tyler Bray connected with Tanner Gentry for a 10-yard score to cap a 92-yard march. But the 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete.Otherwise, D was the letter of the day: there were six turnovers in all, and 12 sacks, eight by the Bears.”To represent Ray in this game to our guys meant even more,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.”It was a special moment for our organization,” noted new Bears coach Matt Nagy.The teams exchanged tipped interceptions on the first two possessions of the preseason.Chicago moved swiftly downfield only to have Chase Daniel’s pass to Josh Bellamy deflected to safety Chuck Clark at the Baltimore 6. He returned it 15 yards, then the Ravens replicated the turnover.Robert Griffin III, attempting a comeback after sitting out 2017, had his pinpoint throw go off the hands of receiver Breshad Perriman, then off rookie cornerback Michael Joseph. DeAndre Houston-Carson dived to make the pick at the Ravens 34.The Bears soon converted when Michael Burton caught a 4-yard scoring pass from Daniel.Baltimore tied it, sparked by two big gainers by undrafted rookie running back Gus Edwards. Griffin found Maxx Williams for a 4-yard score.”It felt great Bennie Fowler III Jersey ,” Griffin said. ”I can’t tell you how grateful I am to play the game again.”Then Lewis’ old unit gave him a thrill. On the next play from scrimmage, linebacker Kamalei Correa sped 19 yards with an interception to the Chicago 9. But Urlacher’s former defense made him smile, sacking Griffin on third down to hold Baltimore to a 31-yard field goal by Kaare Vedvik.Generally, it was a sloppy affair among backups marred by a slew of dropped passes, poor protection for the quarterbacks, and misthrows by those QBs.But something Lewis and Urlacher would approve, the defenses hit hard and tackled well.NEW COACH, OFFENSENagy, of late the offensive coordinator in Kansas City, made his head coaching debut with the Bears. He has said his new offense is in the early steps of development, and it looked that way all night.Of course, with backups playing it’s nearly impossible to gauge progress. But he was optimistic.”The arrow is pointing up for us,” he said. ”We definitely took steps in the right direction.”INTROSEach of the seven inductees to the hall who were on hand – Terrell Owens is a well-publicized no-show – received a rousing ovation when they were introduced before the game. Lewis replicated his patented warmup dance for a few seconds, and Urlacher slapped hand with every Bears player lined up on the 45-yard line.”Ray was on the field getting all fired up, doing his thing,” Harbaugh said. ”With both teams at the 45 https://www.thebearsfanshop.com/Taylor-Gabriel-Jersey , I thought that was awesome, and then to see Ray come out, that was spectacular.”Urlacher gave a pregame pep talk to the Bears in the locker room.”It’s so funny to see,” veteran defensive lineman Akiem Hicks said. ”Growing up, you’ve watched these guys, and you’re one of the guys now who people come up and ask for pictures and autographs. Then you see Urlacher come into the locker room and you get to see all these NFL football players turn into kids …”It’s a phenomenal feeling.”Also walking along midfield between the lines of Ravens and Bears were Randy Moss, Brian Dawkins, Jerry Kramer, Robert Brazile and Bobby Beathard.Owens did make it onto the cover of the Hall of Fame enshrinement magazine, however.At halftime, Hall of Famers Ozzie Newsome, the general manager of the Ravens, and Dan Fouts received their ”Rings of Excellence” from David Baker, the hall’s president.HELMET RULEThe first application of the NFL’s enhanced enforcement of penalties for players lowering their helmet to make a tackle occurred early. Ravens linebacker Patrick Onwuasor was flagged for his hit on Benny Cunningham, earning a 15-yard penalty that helped set up Chicago’s first touchdown.Correa got nailed for the same violation in the third quarter, but he also had a sack that forced a fumble in that period Trey Burton Color Rush Jersey , and three sacks overall.”It was great to see him break out,” Harbaugh said of Correa’s overall performance. ”His work ethic and attention to detail, to see it pay off like that, a coach loves to see it.”NEXT UPBears: At Cincinnati next Thursday night.Ravens: Host Los Angeles Rams next Thursday night.— INDIANAPOLIS — Pat McAfee watched those two agonizing bounces in Chicago on Sunday and immediately tried to put Cody Parkey‘s missed field goal in perspective.He thought about the 27 death threats he received after missing a couple of costly kicks during one game in college. He felt horribly for the friend who sometimes slept on his floor when they were training camp teammates in 2014 with Indianapolis. And then McAfee, the Colts’ former punter, contemplated how he would have described the situation to a television audience.“It (the kick) was literally 4 inches away from him having a completely different night and the Chicago Bears having a completely different season,” McAfee said Monday. “I would like to think I would have noticed it got blocked before the Internet did, but I think we have to remember that is a human being out there.”The descriptions are something McAfee has thought about a lot lately as he embarks on the next chapter of his post-NFL life — and perhaps his most daring venture yet.In a world full of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks, record-breaking running backs and receivers and popular pass rushers rife with star power and brand-name recognition, McAfee hopes to become the first ex-punter to do on-air work for FOX Sports.The list of specialists on network television is short. Former punter Dave Jennings, former kicker Morten Andersen and former long snapper Dale Hellestrae all did broadcast work for NFL Europe. Hellestrae even did some work for FOX in 2006. Jay Feely, a longtime kicker, currently works for CBS, and FOX employed center and long snapper Trevor Matich in 1997 and 1998. Matich now works for ESPN.But McAfee offers a different perspective.He promises to bring the wisecracking personality that has turned him into one of Indy’s popular and prominent former players with intimate knowledge of all facets of the kicking game.Plus, his experiences as a punter, placekicker Cody Parkey Jersey , kickoff specialist and emergency quarterback help him understand the high stakes and emotions involved when players such as Parkey step onto the field with the game on the line.“I think the game of football, from a commentating standpoint, is missing something,” he said. “I think it should be a celebration and I think it should be enjoyable, and I’m trying to make it that way.”McAfee’s experiences could help in such a transition.After successfully taking his comedy routine from the locker room to the stage and hosting his own radio show on Barstool Sports, a gig he left in August, he’s taping six podcasts per week and running his own small business, Pat McAfee Inc. Yet he wants to add color commentating to the mix.In November, he made his debut at the Texas Tech-Baylor game and made his pro debut during Green Bay’s regular-season finale against Detroit — a game that played into McAfee’s strengths when kicker Matt Prater threw a touchdown pass. McAfee responded by immediately changing the inflection of his voice and describing, in detail, what Prater saw and why he reacted the way he did.“That was a gift from the football gods,” McAfee said. “I’ve spent the last two years waiting for a big special teams play so I could do a voiceover on my phone. I was doing a lot of cool stuff with the football (when I played) and the color commentator had no idea what was going on because it’s usually a star quarterback or something. I got lucky with a magical play.”So far, FOX is the only network to give McAfee an audition.But those who have seen McAfee’s work believe he provides a quality others don’t — football with a twist of comic relief — and rare insight into some of the biggest moments of games.“I’ve been watching games a lot differently lately and with a little more understanding than I’ve had of what it takes (in the booth),” McAfee said.“But that moment with Cody Parkey was pretty big and I think I would have gotten a little emotional about it. I look forward to watching the Cody Parkey vengeance story next year.”97<button class="view-gallery">View Gallery</button> Gallery:2018-19 NBA cheerleadersJoe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports | Joe Camporeale