Sunday Football Afterword: Ravens vs Jets

The Ravens made sure Geno Smith would rarely have a clean pocket,
and he struggles in M&T Bank Stadium on a cold, windy Sunday afternoon.

Cory Puffett

Justin Tucker did most of the work for Baltimore early, scoring the team’s first 12 points on three short field goals and then a 53-yarder. Joe Flacco struggled early, killing one red zone possession by threading the needle beautifully between two of his receivers to find Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie.

But Flacco also had two really nice passes. One was going into a strong head wind in the second quarter. Torrey Smith had a step on his man and Flacco put some extra juice on the ball to get it to Smith. Amazingly, he almost overthrew it even going into the wind, but the ball found Smith’s outstretched hands for a 60-yard reception.

The second came in the third quarter, with the wind at the Ravens’ back. Jacoby Jones got out in front of two Jets defenders, including former Raven Ed Reed. Flacco spotted his pass on a dime for a 66-yard touchdown, putting the final nail in the Jets’ coffin.

But what was more impressive than those two passes by Joe Flacco was how dominant Baltimore’s defense was. By no means has their defense been bad this year, but the unit has had its share of struggles, even in their last two home games against Green Bay and Cincinnati.

But after a couple nice runs early, the defense held Chris Ivory in check, and even when Geno Smith finally found a rhythm late in the fourth quarter, Corey Graham ended the drive with his second interception of the day.

Neither Ray Rice nor Bernard Pierce got much going on the ground, but the one area that the Jets don’t have to be concerned about is their defensive front.

Baltimore improved to 5-6, 4-1 at home. They will host Pittsburgh this Thursday on Thanksgiving night and will look to avenge a 19-16 loss at Hines Field earlier this season and get back to .500.

The Jets fall below .500 for the first time this season. This is the first time they’ve lost consecutive games all season. They will play in Miami next week, where it should be much warmer and easier for Geno Smith to find a rhythm. But the Dolphins have been playing well lately. Even though they also fell to 5-6 with their lost to Carolina today, they are playing better football than the Jets this month.

Final Score:

New York Jets – 3

Baltimore Ravens – 19