It took all of two plays for Mark Sanchez to be reminded that the Baltimore Ravens defense is not Oregon State or UCLA.
Haloti Ngata returned an interception for a touchdown as the Ravens jumped out quickly to a 14-0 lead and then held on for a 24-23 win over the New York Jets.
Lost in all the hype surrounding the debut of the former USC quarterback Sanchez was the play of the Ravens second year quarterback from Delaware. Joe Flacco and the first team offense looked sharp as he completed 8-18 pass attempts for 120 yards including a 43 yard pass to Derrick Mason to help set up a short Ray Rice touchdown run.
The Ravens first team looked sharp but the second and third units were far from it. Troy Smith struggled to lead the offense in the second half and Frank Walker was one of several defensive backs targeted by Jets quarterbacks.
The Ravens next preseason game is Saturday at Carolina. Kickoff show begins at 7:00pm with the game to follow at 7:30pm.
