Jets' offense loses its' wings in opener against Ravens

Playing for a contract but not for his current team but what appears to be another after declining a contract extension of $250 million, with $133 guaranteed, Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens traveled to the Meadowlands to take on the Joe Flacco and the New York Jets for their home season opener. After being named starter just four days prior to the start of the season Joe Flacco with a record of (0-5) as a spot starter was granted the opportunity to play his former team for the first time ever.

In what looked like a defensive battle, the Ravens and Jets both struggled to get their offense going in the first half. Jackson, who is known for his: speed, elusiveness, agility, and strong arm appeared to be contained by Robert Saleh and his Jet defense. With slow starts and rusty beginnings to be somewhat of a given for the first game of the season, the Ravens were having just that.

In two quarters, the Jets held the Ravens to 10 points, 4 of 10 on 3rd down conversions (40%), and sacked Jackson three times while only allowing 146 yards. The Jets went into halftime with a close deficit of 10-3. While being separated by a touchdown going into halftime the Jets had just as many if not more struggles on offense compared to the Ravens. With only managing to put up a field goal, the Jets were 0-7 on 3rd down conversions and allowed Joe Flacco to only be sacked twice.

Entering the second half the half the game became one sided. With a speedy receiver duo in Rashod Bateman and Devin Duvernay, Lamar and the Ravens stole away with the game. With a 17- yd no-look pass for a touchdown to Duvernay the Ravens quickly jumped up by two scores in the third quarter. He would quickly be followed up by his speedy counterpart Rashod Bateman while Jackson connected with him for a huge 55- yd touchdown pass.

With the game getting out of hand, the Jets had to rally the offense. With not being able to cross the 50 the whole first half of the game, Flacco and the Jets offense had to get the ball rolling. Utilizing 7 different positional players for over 300 passing yards, the Jets couldn’t muster enough to keep up with Ravens. Despite 2 total turnovers due to a fumble and interception the Jets would leave a lot on the field. New York scored late with a Flacco to Tyler Conklin three-yard touchdown pass to close out the fourth quarter. The Jets would go on to lose the season opener 24-9.