BALTIMORE – For a third straight game, the Baltimore Ravens mustered one measly touchdown.

This time, however, it proved to be more than enough offense to beat a New York Jets attack that sputtered and stalled under the direction of third-string quarterback Brooks Bollinger.

Jamal Lewis scored on a 1-yard run, Matt Stover kicked two field goals, and the Ravens sacked Bollinger five times Sunday in a 13-3 victory.

It was the first win of the season for the Ravens, who held Curtis Martin to 30 yards on 13 carries and harassed Bollinger for the entire afternoon.

Playing in his second NFL game and first as a starter, Bollinger went 14-for-28 for 149 yards in place of injured starter Chad Pennington, out for the season with a torn right rotator cuff. Backup Jay Fiedler also is out with an injury, and the conservative Jets (1-3) made only six first downs and had 90 yards in offense through the first 56 minutes.

Baltimore (1-2) wasn’t much better, but the Ravens weren’t about to complain after losing their first two games by a combined 49-17 score.

Lewis ran for 81 yards on 29 carries and Anthony Wright was 15-for-21 for 144 yards.

Bollinger finally started moving the Jets in the closing minutes. Taking over at his own 18, he completed a 16-yarder to Laveranues Coles and a 32-yarder to Justin McCareins. But New York turned the ball over on downs, and the Ravens ran out the clock.

The Jets finished with eight first downs and 152 yards.

New York failed to score in the first half, partially because of Bollinger’s inexperience and a conservative game plan, but the Jets used their defense to close to 6-3 early in the third quarter.

David Barrett caused Lewis to fumble, and Victor Hobson took the ball 43 yards to the Baltimore 1. But two runs by Martin and a sweep by Bollinger lost 2 yards, forcing Jets coach Herman Edwards to summon Mike Nugent to kick a 21-yard field goal.

That caused the Ravens to open up their own plodding offense in a 13-play, 71-yard drive that made it 13-3 late in the third quarter. Although Lewis handled the majority of the work, Wright completed an 11-yard pass to Derrick Mason and a 24-yarder to Todd Heap to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Lewis, his first score of the year.

The Ravens used two field goals by Stover to take a 6-0 lead in a lackluster first half in which New York gained 37 yards on 20 offensive plays.

Stover kicked a 42-yard field goal on Baltimore’s second possession, giving the Ravens their first lead of the season.

The Jets, meanwhile, opened with a restrained attack that produced one first down and 25 yards in offense – all on the ground – in the first quarter. Bollinger completed his first pass with just over 10 minutes left in the second quarter, a short flip to Martin for 6 yards.

But that drive ended in another punt, and the Ravens used a 32-yard pass from Wright to Mason to set up a 25-yard field goal for a 6-0 lead.

AP-ES-10-02-05 1906EDT

Copy the Story Link

Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.