Ravens kicker Matt Stover is used to the situation he was placed in during Sunday?s home opener against the Oakland Raiders.
The 17-year veteran connected on three first-quarter field goals after Baltimore failed to score a touchdown each time inside the Raiders? 20-yard line. Those points were all the Ravens needed as their defense did the rest, including forcing six turnovers, in a 28-6 win in front of a Baltimore football-record 70,744 fans at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Ravens used a similar formula during their Super Bowl year in 2000, and as much as the team has talked about upgrading the offense, they can?t seem to get away from a defense-dominated brand of football. At the same time, that is just fine by them as long as they leave the field at the end of the game scoring more points than its opponent.
“Our team has a great defense and a much-improved offense,” said Stover, who has converted his last 26 field goal attempts, including four Sunday. “When you score as many points as we did with our defense, we?re going to win. I just hope we continue to score points, whether it?s through my foot, offensive touchdowns or the defense forcing a turnover and getting a touchdown.”
Besides Stover?s field goals, practically all of the Ravens? key plays came on defense Sunday, especially in the third quarter. In that period, linebacker Ray Lewis had an interception, and linebacker Adalius Thomas had the Ravens? first safety in nearly six years. Defensive tackle Kelly Gregg capped the quarter by recovering a fumble and rumbling 59 yards to the Oakland 15.
“We?re just trying to be versatile and not let teams just beat one guy,” Ravens linebacker Bart Scott said. “I think we have great chemistry, and we?re trying to take the next step, and we practice that way. Every guy on that defense is talented and capable of making a play. It?s just a credit to our defensive coordinator [Rex Ryan] and our coaching staff for coaching everybody up, not just certain players.”
As for the offense, the Ravens scored a touchdown on just one of six trips inside the Raiders? 20, the last of which came at the end of the game when Baltimore ran out the clock. But while the unit committed a number of critical penalties early, it did not give the Raiders extra opportunities ? the Ravens finished with just one turnover. However, Baltimore knows it needs to do more offensively as the season progresses after coming away with just five points on those three key third-quarter defensive plays.
“We?re going to work on it, and we?ll get in there,” Ravens running back Jamal Lewis said. “It was slowing getting started for us. We?ve got some corrections to make, and that?s what we?re going to do. We just have to keep riding each other, and we?ll keep putting points on the board no matter how they get there.”
