Tom Zbikowski Official Website

by Ryan Mink

via Baltimore Ravens blog

The Ravens’ secondary has been picked apart from every angle this offseason.

The Jets and quarterback Mark Sanchez couldn’t find any holes to speak of Monday night, however.

Playing with a secondary that has been hit hard by injuries over the past year, the Ravens allowed just 60 net passing yards – the second-fewest in a single game in franchise history.

“Oh, it’s really sweet,” cornerback Fabian Washington said. “This whole offseason, the only thing you hear about is our secondary. It felt good to go out there and perform well in the first game.”

The Ravens’ success was partly due to the Jets’ hesitancy to even take shots against its secondary. Sanchez attempted just 21 passes and completed only 10 as New York stuck to the running game.

It’s also can’t be forgotten that Sanchez ranked 28th in the NFL last year with a 63.0 quarterback rating and the Jets had the second-fewest passing yards per game in the league.

But when the Ravens stuffed the run and forced the Jets to throw the ball, the Ravens didn’t let it go far. New York averaged just 2.6 yards per passing play and didn’t notch a single completion over 20 yards.

The Jets were playing without wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who was serving a suspension. So the Ravens keyed in on New York’s deep threat of Braylon Edwards and were on tight end Dustin Keller’s hip throughout the evening.

“Our secondary covered great,” Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh said. “There was nowhere to throw the ball all night long.”

Baltimore started Washington, who played in his first regular season game since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament last season, and Chris Carr, who was the Ravens’ nickel back before being promoted when No. 1 cornerback Domonique Foxworth went down with his own season-ending knee injury just before camp opened. Tom Zbikowski stepped in at free safety for future Hall of Famer Ed Reed.

Josh Wilson, who was traded for to help offset Foxworth’s loss, didn’t see much time from scrimmage as safety Haruki Nakamura stepped into the nickel role. Cornerback Lardarius Webb, who was listed as probable for the game, stayed on the sideline.

The Ravens were confident despite pundits’ doubts. Monday night’s performance helps legitimize their feelings, but as Carr said afterwards, “we can’t gloat.”

“It’s still a long season and it’s the first game,” Carr said. “But that’s the caliber of play that we’re capable of. So hopefully we keep that going and we’re consistent through the whole year. We don’t want a lot of peaks and valleys. We want to be consistent. That’s the true sign of a great secondary. We’re striving for that.”

Via Baltimore Ravens blog: http://blogs.baltimoreravens.com/2010/09/14/secondary-proves-its-capable-of-more/