EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — After the game, Ravens players and coaches had a lot of smiles and hugs for Joe Flacco. During the game, though, the Ravens generally made life miserable for their former quarterback.

The Ravens sacked Flacco three times, hit him 11 times and kept the Jets out of the end zone for 59 minutes as they rolled to a 24-9, season-opening win against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 11.

Playing in the shadow of New York on 9/11, head coach John Harbaugh said, “We knew the enthusiasm and the emotion were going to be high, and the Jets were going to be very physical, very tough, very emotional,” and the Ravens’ offense sputtered early, totaling one first down on their first three possessions.

But they never trailed after Justin Tucker’s 24-yard field goal late in the first quarter, which was set up by Marcus Williams’ first interception as a Raven.

Lamar Jackson’s first touchdown pass, a 25-yard strike to a tightly covered Devin Duvernay, built the lead to 10-0, which proved to be all they would need against a Jets offense that, like the Ravens, started slowly and, unlike the Ravens, stayed that way.

Jackson finished with three touchdown passes, including a 55-yard bomb to Rashod Bateman that built the Ravens’ lead to 24-3 late in the third quarter, which sent many soggy Jets fans toward the exits.

Flacco, pressed into starting duty because of an injury to No. 1 quarterback Zach Wilson, finished 37-for-59 for 307 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.

Here are five impressions of the win, the Ravens’ sixth in their past seven season openers:

1. Lamar Jackson bet on himself and is off to a good start.

With negotiations of his contract extension now shelved until after the season, Lamar Jackson is essentially betting on himself, much like Joe Flacco did during the Ravens Super Bowl season of 2012. There was so much talk this offseason about whether Jackson would hold in, or hold out, until he got his contract resolved, but he took the field and, as usual, commanded center stage.

Jackson and the offense scuffled out of the gate, perhaps a side effect of zero preseason action for him and most other starters. But Jackson steadily found his stride. He finished 17-of-30 for 213 yards and three touchdowns and one interception and ran six times for 17 yards.

This being Jackson, he also produced yet another highlight-reel run, wiggling out of a near-certain sack and turning it into an 8-yard run and a first down early in the third quarter.

“I thought Lamar was outstanding,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “He played a patient, veteran quarterback game. He was in control of everything. … He was poised in the pocket, held the ball, protected the ball, found guys open, moved when he had to, made a couple of plays with his legs when he had to.”

Jackson has always gotten off to fast starts; in four Week 1 starts in his career, he has thrown 12 touchdown passes and one interception. It marked the third time in four career Week 1 starts that he threw at least three touchdown passes.

Everything Jackson does this year is going to be linked to future contract discussions, but for someone who has essentially bet on himself, this was an excellent start.

2. Score one for new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.

New defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald will probably enjoy watching the film of this game, considering his group created two turnovers, held the Jets out of the end zone until the game’s final minute and held them to 2-for-14 on third down.

Overall, it was an impressive start at all three levels of the defense, especially up front.

The Jets, like the Ravens, have been scrambling at the tackle position, losing their presumptive starter (Mekhi Becton) and his replacement (Duane Brown) to serious injuries before the season began. That pressed them into their third-best option at left tackle, switching right tackle George Fant to the left side, and the Ravens’ defense was able to take advantage of the offensive line issues to harass 37-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco.

Justin Houston set the tone early, hammering Flacco to the turf on an incomplete pass, and Houston later recorded his first sack of the season and 103rd of his career.

The Ravens’ interior pass rush was also disruptive, a point of emphasis this offseason.

Defensive tackle Justin Madubuike blew up the pocket several times and finished with five tackles, matching a career high. Nose tackle Michael Pierce also spent a lot of time chasing his former teammate, finishing with three tackles and a quarterback hit. He also forced a fumble that the Jets recovered, but the fumble cost them a first down.

“We were moving our guys around, disguising quite a little bit, and I think [Flacco] had to hold the ball at times, too, which gave our guys a chance to get there as well,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “Our guys pressed the pocket really well.”

3. Devin Duvernay has commanded some attention as a receiver.

Devin Duvernay made the Pro Bowl as a punt returner last year but in two seasons in Baltimore, he has largely remained in the background as a wide receiver, with a limited role in the offense. He averaged roughly two catches a game last season, with 33 catches for 272 yards and two touchdowns.

Duvernay, though, matched that touchdown total in this game, hauling in a tightly contested 25-yard touchdown in the second quarter and then catching a 17-yard score for a 17-3 lead in the third quarter.

He finished with four catches, which matched a career high, for a career-best 54 yards.

Bateman will continue to be regarded as the team’s No. 1 receiver, and he showed why when he got behind the Jets for a 55-yard touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson. But if Jackson and Duvernay continue to show the kind of connection and potential that they showed today, that should open the field more for players such as Bateman and Andrews.

With Marquise Brown traded away, and no draft picks or high-profile free-agent acquisitions brought in to replace him, the Ravens’ receiver corps has been under considerable scrutiny this summer. Tight end Mark Andrews (5 catches, 52 yards) and Bateman were assumed to be the top targets in the Ravens’ passing offense, and rookie tight end Isaiah Likely was a trendy pick for a big season after being a training camp standout, but questions remained about what other receivers might step up.

Duvernay showed he is ready to do that.

“We don’t really listen to what the critics say,” Duvernay said. “We all know what we can do. We all know our abilities, our athleticism, our speed. We know what we’re capable of.”

4. The running game looked much like the one that struggled last year.

The Ravens expect the running game to be the centerpiece of this offense, but just as was the case last season, the absence of J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards looked glaring once again, especially early.

Kenyan Drake, signed by the Ravens just a couple of weeks ago, got the start in place of Dobbins — who had been listed as questionable but was inactive — but Drake struggled to get going. The Ravens tried Mike Davis and Justice Hill as well, but the trio of backs finished the first half with six carries for 7 yards.

They began to find a little more success in the second half, but Drake finished as the team’s leading rusher with 31 yards on 11 carries. Overall, the Ravens totaled 63 rushing yards on 21 carries (3.0 yards a carry).

“The Jets are a penetrating front,” head coach John Harbaugh said. “They get in your backfield, and they make things tough for you. If those combination blocks don’t get together, or you get on edges of blocks, it’s really hard to get anything going in the run game.”

With the Jets stacking the box, though, Lamar Jackson made them pay, lofting a 55-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman. That’s one way to counter a defense designed to stop the run.

Still, the Ravens’ offensive success figures to be predicated by the ground game; it was the heart of their success in 2019, and the flaws were at the heart of their struggles last season. Getting that running game back up to speed, whether with Jackson, Dobbins, Drake, Davis or whomever, feels like a pressing need.

5. The Ravens haven’t yet put their 2021 injury woes behind them.

The Ravens this spring hoped that left tackle Ronnie Stanley (ankle), running back J.K. Dobbins (knee), cornerback Marcus Peters (knee) and linebacker Tyus Bowser (Achilles) would be healed in time to be on the field to begin the regular season. (Running back Gus Edwards, who like Dobbins and Peters is recovering from a torn ACL, was considered further away.)

Instead, none was on the field for this game. Dobbins, despite his public proclamation on social media that he “damn sure will be ready” for Week 1, was a game day inactive after being listed as questionable on the final injury report. Ditto for Peters, who spent time before the game began doing conditioning work by running stadium steps. Stanley has practiced for just a week and was ruled out for the game. Bowser, like Edwards, began the season on the reserve/PUP list, meaning he is out for at least four games.

The return of Stanley and Peters can’t come soon enough, based on what happened in this game.

Ja’Wuan James, Stanley’s replacement as the starting left tackle, was carted off with an injury that John Harbaugh confirmed to be a torn Achilles. That pressed super-utility lineman Patrick Mekari into the left tackle role, and he held up well. He could be in line to start next week.

The Ravens also lost cornerback Kyle Fuller to a knee injury late in the game. Fuller had been starting in place of Peters, and that pressed Brandon Stephens into essentially starting duty.

Peters and Dobbins were close enough to playing that they were listed as questionable on the injury report, but they were held out and the Ravens got out of MetLife Stadium with a win. With games looming within the next month against the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, getting this group back to full health will be critical.

Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox

Bo Smolka

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