New York Jets 17 – Baltimore Ravens 34
James Williams, a Jet die-hard, talks about their defensive woes: It’s been said 1,000 times, “Defense wins games.” So I guess it’s no surprise that 90% of this game’s points were scored on defense. In what can only be described as a complete offensive meltdown, the Jets, or the team in white, took a 34-17 loss to the Ravens. Offensive line folded under pressure and saw Sanchez get hit 15 times and sacked at least 4. Both team offenses looked terrible and this is probably the 1st game in NFL history to have two QB’s with a QB rating of 50 or less. The one lone bright spot was Plaxico Burress finally starting to get more looks on offense, but if the O-Line keeps letting Sanchez get knocked around neither he, nor any other receiver for that matter, will get another chance. Bottom line, this team has been billed as “Right on the cusp”, but if this level of play continues they’ll be on the cusp of another playoff drought and back to the bottom of the AFC East.
Ever the optimist, Daniels piles on: This was one of the most excruciating football games I’ve ever had the displeasure of watching half of. We are learning slowly that the Jets can’t play from behind. As long as their defense keeps the points Sanchez gives them in the lead, they’re fine. If they fall too far behind, the offense isn’t good enough to bring them back. Sanchez may not be good enough to lead multiple scoring drives in the 2nd half. The Ravens are a good team with a mediocre quarterback. They’ve won a Super Bowl on that, though.
Meanwhile, Grey Scherl piles on the Ravens Super Bowl bandwagon: Holy crap the Jets and the Ravens was a defensive battle. ONE offensive touchdown in a game that ended 34-17. How freaking insane is that? 7 of 51 points came from offense, and the rest was picks, fumble recoveries, and the Jets running a kick back for a TD. Generally when I think of a defensive battle I think of a game with less than twenty points scored across both teams. But this? This is freaking awesome. This is why the Ravens are going to the Superbowl.
My Take: The Jets are officially not contenders until they fix their defense. Ray Rice absolutely wrecked them here, as did their own inability to either run or pass. An offensive line that can’t set up either isn’t a lot of good, and while the Ravens defense is great, well, the Jets D is supposed to be, as well. The Ravens simply look tough and dangerous most weeks, but when they don’t, they look disinterested and slow. This was an ugly game and we knew the Ravens could win those, and they’re now in control of their division. They really did win a Super Bowl with a similar team, but with a slightly lesser D and deeper league, I still can’t see them beating good teams that don’t fold at their physicality.
