SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 2, 2011
The Baltimore Ravens put on a clinic for former assistant coach Rex Ryan, scoring a franchise-record three defensive touchdowns in a 34-17 victory over the visiting New York Jets on Sunday night.
Jameel McClain and Jarret Johnson returned first-half fumbles for touchdowns and Lardarius Webb brought back an interception 73 yards for a score in the third quarter as the Ravens (3-1) beat the Jets (2-2) for the seventh consecutive time.
The game featured an NFL record five returns for touchdowns. New York's Joe McKnight brought back a kickoff a team-record 107 yards and linebacker David Harris returned an interception 36 yards for a score.
Jets coach Ryan, who was a defensive assistant for 10 years with the Ravens, saw his former team manhandle his current one. New York managed only 150 total yards in its second straight defeat.
The offenses did little but get in their own way. Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (10 of 31, 163 yards) threw 14 consecutive incompletions at one point, one week after throwing for a career-high 389 yards.
New York's Mark Sanchez (11 of 35, 119 yards) committed four turnovers - three of which were returned for touchdowns - after amassing a career-high 369 yards last week.
The first half featured four return touchdowns, only the third time in NFL history that's happened.
Baltimore, despite minus-2 yards of offense in the second quarter, bolted to a 27-7 lead on the two fumble returns and a 3-yard scoring run by Ray Rice, who had the only offensive touchdown of the game.
On their first six possessions, the Jets ran 23 plays, punted three times and lost three fumbles to fall behind by 20 points before cutting it to 27-17 at halftime.