It wasn’t a pretty game, but the Baltimore Ravens stuck it to the New York Jets with a 10-9 victory Monday night. Baltimore beat the Jets at their own game: smash mouth football.
The Ravens held on to the ball for more than 38 minutes and the defense hit the Jets offense. One particular hit that stood was in the fourth quarter when Ray Lewis knocked down Dustin Keller on a pass over the middle. Baltimore’s defense showed they were tougher than the self-proclaimed “Miami Heat of football.”
The Ravens figured out how to play clean football after a sloppy first quarter that featured a Joe Flacco fumble, a Willis McGahee fumble and a Jets field goal. Flacco later threw an interception, but the Ravens defense was able to pick up the slack and recovered a fumble by Jets running back Shonn Greene.
Instead of the Ravens committing penalties, the Jets committed 14 penalties for 125 yards, including several penalties in their vaunted secondary. The Ravens found a mismatch all night for whichever receiver was covered by rookie Kyle Wilson. Anquan Boldin, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Derrick Mason and Todd Heap all made the presence felt over the middle all night long,
The biggest impact in the passing game, however, was Boldin. Baltimore’s new acquisition caught seven balls for 110 yards, including a 38 yard pass that kept a drive moving in the third quarter. Boldin was key throughout the game and it was clear Flacco trusts him.
There were only a few mistakes, aside from turnovers, that the Ravens made and one was on a punt return by Tom Zbikowski. Zbikowski fielded a punt deep in Ravens territory and was tackled just outside the end zone, avoiding a safety or worse.
In the end, the Ravens were good enough to overcome their mistakes and capitalize on Jets’ mistakes. Flacco settled down as the game went on and the defense dominated the Jets offense. It was a good start to a season with high hopes for the Ravens. Next up is the Cincinnati Bengals.
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