New York Jets vs. Baltimore Ravens: Defenses That Good, or Offenses That Bad?

Neither Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco nor New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez deserved to win last night. 

I mean, both guys were dreadful—looked like rookies making their pro debuts. 

After the game, the question you must ask yourself, are the defenses that good, or the offenses that bad?

Not exactly the easiest question to answer, but here's what I think. 

Both team's know each other extremely well because of Rex Ryan's history in Baltimore, each team knew what they were trying to do on both sides of the ball. 

They're very similar in how they create pressure, the staple for both of their defensive attacks. 

Both defenses try to confuse your quarterback with zone and corner blitzes and both have very good speed rushers in Calvin Pace and Terrell Suggs that can get to the quarterback without aid from two or three extra blitzers. 

This is the perfect way to stymie the Jets and the Ravens offense, or essentially any offense for that matter. 

Although you always hear that Sanchez and Flacco are "more mobile" than you think, they are horrible against pressure. (Yes, I remember Flacco's third down conversion to Ray Rice in which he made about three Jets miss.)

It's not that they are worse than any other quarterback against pressure (they obviously all can be bad), but I think if you can rattle them early, it sticks with them the entire game. 

The Ravens did have a little more success, especially running the ball than the Jets did, and I think that was something Baltimore knew they could lean on throughout. 

Their offensive line is big and has tons of experience—that stretch play is hard to stop because of that and because Ray Rice can hide behind his blockers. 

Flacco is good, has a great arm and like any signal caller in this league, can look pretty bad from time to time. 

As for Sanchez, I really don't know if he has what it takes to lead this team to where it wants or thinks it can go. 

He was under pressure frequently, but even the times when the blitz was picked up, he was extremely errant. 

In the end it's a mixture of both. 

The Ravens defense, most namely it's pass rush, is that good. 

Couple that with Sanchez's inability to elude blitzers or consistently deliver the ball accurately, and it made his night as atrocious as it was. 

New York's front four is a bit overrated, but the Jets have an outstanding secondary that smothers opposing receivers. 

They're that good, too.

Not a good recipe for either signal caller to have a big night, and they most certainly didn't.