Baltimore Ravens Prove They Have Top Defense in 10-9 Win Over NY Jets

The first week of the NFL season is already in the books, and the game everyone had their eyes set on as a potential playoff-type contest on Monday Night Football between the Ravens and Jets, lived up to all the pregame hype.

Baltimore came into Monday night's game against New York having won five straight games over the favored Jets.  It was no surprise however that the vaunted Ravens with their new-look offense were labeled the underdog, after all the offseason hype surrounding Rex Ryan and his Jets' defense.

While both teams played up to expectations on defense, it was the Ravens who made the bigger statement on both sides of the football, squeaking out a 10-9 win at the New Meadowlands Stadium, in front of a capacity crowd of 82,500.

Rex Ryan, head coach of the New York Jets, had recently been taking some heat from the media for possibly overexposing his team during the offseason, inadvertently putting immense pressure on a team that already shares a great deal of the national spotlight.  The worry before Monday's game was this undue pressure possibly affecting second-year quarterback Mark Sanchez, and other younger players on the Jets squad in a negative way.

After watching what transpired Monday night between these two teams, most would argue pressure got the better of the New York Jets, as they failed to move the ball with any rhythm against an always tough Ravens' defense.  Sanchez and the Jets finished 1 for 11 on third down, and most of the night looked uncharacteristically out-of-sync with his receivers.  Sanchez completed less than half of his passes, totaling only 74 yards through the air (a career low).

Joe Flacco and the Ravens did get off to a rough start, when Flacco was stripped of the ball on the first play from scrimmage.  He recovered to have a solid night (20/38, 248 yards, 1 int.), and made the tough throws when he needed to.

The Ravens ended up converting 57 percent on third down (11/19), which proved to be the difference maker in the game.

Newly acquired Anquan Boldin had a standout night against a Jets' secondary that was touted as the best in the league.  Boldin finished with 110 yards, and proved why he was such an essential edition to a Ravens' offense that was lacking a "go-to" receiver in years past.  For most of the night, Boldin kept Rex Ryan and the Jets' defense on their toes, creating the matchup problems the Ravens' front office hoped for.

Used in the slot and out wide, Boldin effectively neutralized a rusty Darrelle Revis, who failed to make a single tackle Monday night, and who created the most hype leading up to this game with his 36 day holdout over a contract dispute.

Even though the contest wasn't a high-scoring affair, the Ravens sent a big message to the rest of the league with the important victory.

The entire Ravens' offense finally proved they could convert on important plays, especially on third down in a hostile environment.  They now have the weapons on offense to aid Joe Flacco in becoming one of the NFL's true elite quarterbacks.

Perhaps more noteworthy, on defense, Baltimore made a statement as to why they should be ranked number one over the Jets. 

Stats don't lie, and the Ravens' defense put up extraordinary numbers on a night when the Jets were supposed to have the more dominant defense.

In Rex Ryan's own words pre-game, "This isn't the same defense the Ravens had last year.  We are the better unit on the field".

According to the outcome of the game, this obviously wasn't the case, and Ryan wishes he hadn't uttered those words.  Ryan did go on to congratulate Baltimore after the game, saying "they were the better team on the field tonight".

However, Ray Lewis had the final say in a week full of trash talk and bravado from Rex Ryan.  On the Jets' final drive of the game, Lewis leveled tight end Dustin Keller on a simple slant route.  It was a vicious hit that left Keller in a daze, as he failed to locate the first down marker on a key fourth and two a few plays later.

That play would go on to be the exclamation point in a hard-fought defensive battle between two teams who desperately needed to pull off the win.

Baltimore will continue to be the AFC favorite to make the Super Bowl, while the New York Jets will have to rethink their entire offense if they want to be included in the playoffs in 2010.