What an ugly win.  The Ravens enter their bye week atop the AFC North with a 3-1 record, but got there with a sloppy week four victory over the New York Jets.  Baltimore scored 34 points against Rex Ryan’s defense, but in a lot of ways their win was like that college test that you completely guessed on but somehow ended up getting lucky and pulling off an A.

I watched the Ravens game with a friend of mine who’s a Jets fan.  Despite the score, him and I both equally vented about our teams.  He would complain about the Jets offensive line and I would wonder why Cam Cameron would choose to pass the ball in the second half.  It went on and on.

Here are a few of my thoughts on the Ravens 34-17 win over the Jets.

  • Holy defense batman – I realize that with the new rule changes that the NFL is looking to get rid of defense altogether, but without it this game wouldn’t have been at all compelling.  The Ravens scored three of their touchdowns on defense while the Jets had a kick return and pick six.  Mark Sanchez and Joe Flacco combined didn’t throw for 300 yards or a touchdown.  The Ravens D pounded Sanchez all night thanks mostly to the Jets struggling offense line.  They blitzed them hard and forced him to make mistakes.
  • Bad Flacco – Week two Joe Flacco returned to field on Sunday night as Joe struggled to hit receivers after the first quarter.  Flacco finished with just 10 completions in 31 attempts without a touchdown.  His pick six to David Harris on a screen pass intended for Ray Rice was probably the worst pass I’ve seen him throw all year.  Flacco has to be consistent for this team to win.  Defense carried the Ravens last night, but sometimes the team will have to rely on their quarterback.  That worries me right now.

  • Cam had that look in his eye – Remember that look that I worried about earlier this week?  Cam had it.  The Ravens game plan for the Jets sucked.  Had Baltimore stuck with the run, Ray Rice would have easily seen over 100 yards on the ground and worn on the Jets defense.  Instead, Cameron decided to sometimes try to air it out, sometimes use his tight ends across the middle, sometimes throw screens and sometimes run the ball.  That resulted in three turnovers.
  • A fair salute to Rex – I guess if the Ravens are going to beat Rex Ryan they might as well do it with their 2000 mold.  Or as I call it “a frustrating win in which the team overly relies on their defense to carry them.”