Ravens’ stifling defence earns victory against Jets
Both the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets have made significant changes to their roster by acquiring a lot of new faces in the off-season. But it was the Ravens stars that made the difference on Monday night as Baltimore defeated New York 10-9.
Anquan Boldin, who made his formal debut with the Ravens, lead all receivers in the game with seven catches for 110 yards. But his impact was not immediate and the Ravens got off to a horrendous start. Defensive tackle Shaun Ellis hit quarterback Joe Flacco and forced a fumble on the Ravens opening possession, which was recovered by New York. The Jets offence struggled in the red zone and had to settle for a 23-yard field goal.
Jets kicker Nick Folk added a second field goal to give New York a 6-0 lead. But Ravens running-back Willis McGahee pounded the ball in the end zone from one yard out and scored the game’s lone touchdown late in the first half to put Baltimore in front 7-6.
New York looked nothing like the team that reached AFC Championship game last season. They had 10 penalties for 100 yards after two quarters. Their offence managed only six first downs, and Mark Sanchez threw for 74 yards. Early in the pre-season, coach Rex Ryan, who spent 10 seasons as an assistant with the Ravens, said, “I’m most impressed with his [Sanchez’s] mental preparation. He’s way ahead of where he was last year.”
After watching his young quarterback at the University of Southern California, complete only 10 passes, he may want to rethink that statement.
The Jets were dominant defensively in 2009, finishing the year atop the NFL in total defence, scoring defence and pass defence. They have added linebackers Bart Scott and long-time Dolphin Jason Taylor to their roster as well as defensive back Antonio Cromartie. All made their debuts as Jets and did their part to give the Jets a chance to win.
LaDainian Tomlinson also did well rushing for 62 yards on 11 carries. But the play-calling was uninspiring at the Jets did not have an answer for the Ravens ferocious defence lead by All-Pro Ray Lewis.
The Ravens finished a respectable 13th in total offence the NFL a year ago and Flacco showed glimpses of that offence on Monday night. He blocked out all the distraction and heated verbal exchange prior to the game from both teams and did just enough to get the win, connecting on 20 of 38 attempts for 248 yards.
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