The beginning was fiery, as expected, with Ray Rice and Shaun Ellis woofing at each other before kickoff. But it turned into a slopfest, as many of the openers were this weekend, with the Jets looking particularly undisciplined by drawing 14 penalties for 125 yards. They also were 1 for 11 on third downs.

New York's six first downs tied a franchise-low set in 1976.

"We weren't at our best today," Ryan said, "but that's a credit to the Ravens."

The beginning was fiery, as expected, with Ray Rice and Shaun Ellis woofing at each other before kickoff. But it turned into a slopfest, as many of the openers were this weekend, with the Jets looking the most undisciplined.

New York's usually fierce defense sacked Flacco on Baltimore's first offensive play, forcing a fumble recovered by Sione Pouha. The Ravens' equally intense D held firm, and Nick Folk kicked a 23-yard field goal.

Pouha grabbed another fumble later in the quarter, by Willis McGahee, and Flacco was picked off by Antonio Cromartie on a sideline pass at the New York 3. The cornerback, acquired in a trade with San Diego to further bolster a secondary that features All-Pro CB Darrelle Revis, got a terrific block from his partner on a 66-yard runback to the Baltimore 31.

Two plays later, Shonn Greene lost the ball — he touched it only one more time the rest of the night and dropped a pass — and Baltimore embarked on an impressive 11-play, 76-yard drive for a 7-6 halftime lead. Of course, it was aided by Jets mistakes, the worst of which were Braylon Edwards — a wide receiver, of all things — running into Cundiff on a field goal attempt, giving the Ravens a first down to prolong the possession, and rookie Kyle Wilson's pass interference on T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the end zone.

McGahee scored from the 1 with 6 seconds left, but New York wasn't done committing penalties. The Jets were offside on the extra point and had 10 penalties for 100 yards in the opening half.