All of the hand wringing about the Ravens offensive line, troubles in the red zone and the on road was wasted energy.
The Ravens shook all of the annoying monkeys off their collective backs and kicked down the door of 2006 in grand fashion, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-0 before 65,087 fans at Raymond James Stadium.
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The last time the Ravens shut out a team to open the season was the 2000 Super Bowl year, when the team beat Pittsburgh 16-0.
“A shutout in the NFL is always shocking,” Ravens head coach Brian Billick said. “That is hard to do, under the circumstances, on the road.”
The Ravens (1-0) dominated the listless Buccaneers (0-1) from the first whistle to the last. The Ravens tasted its first road victory since November of 2004, ending an 11-game losing streak away from M&T Bank Stadium.
“What streak? We?ve got a 1-0 winning streak on the road,” Billick said.
In the opening drive, the Ravens marched 80 yards down the field in nine minutes and 16 seconds, with a heavy dose of running back Jamal Lewis. Lewis racked up 33 yards on seven rushes during the series and fittingly capped it off by galloping four yards into the end zone, putting his team up 7-0.
The Ravens offensive line, scrutinized heavily during the offseason, opened gaping holes along the left side of the line thanks to tackle Jonathan Ogden and guard Edwin Mulitalo.
“It felt good,” Mulitalo said. “Good football is good football, whether it?s at home or on the road, but it was especially nice to do it on the road.”
Quarterback Steve McNair was serviceable in his debut, going 17-of-27 for 181 yards and a touchdown, hitting tight end Daniel Wilcox in the fourth quarter for a four-yard strike.
The Ravens turnover-causing defense of old made an appearance Sunday as well. Cornerback Chris McAlister returned a 60-yard interception for a touchdown, giving his team a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. Known for its aggressive, point-generating defense in years past, the team struggled in that department during 2005.
In a highlight play, first round draft pick Haloti Ngata intercepted a Chris Simms pass and went 60 yards before running out of gas at the four-yard-line.
“I felt good for about 30 yards,” Ngata confessed.
Teammates cut the rookie slack.
“You can?t expect an 18-wheeler to go, what is basically two cities for him,” linebacker Bart Scott said. “I?m just proud that he stayed up and we didn?t have to help him off to the sidelines.”
Ngata did not intercept a single pass during his career at the University of Oregon.
The defense held Tampa Bay to 142 total yards and forced Simms into three total interceptions.
“We just let little things ruin our day,” Simms said.
Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan said: “The communication was outstanding and you play like that, we?re going to be hard to beat.”
