Posted Aug 7, 2008
By AP
Strong performance by defense gives Ravens victory in preseason opener.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -- With Tom Brady having the night off, the Patriots were far from perfect in their first game after a nearly perfect season. For John Harbaugh, the Ravens' 16-15 exhibition win Thursday was a good start to his head coaching career.
Harbaugh got a look at the quarterbacks competing to succeed the retired Steve McNair. Kyle Boller started for Baltimore, Troy Smith replaced him and both played decently. First-round draft pick Joe Flacco
looked like a rookie, losing a fumble on his second play.Three quarterbacks are competing to be Brady's backup on a team that was 18-0 before losing the Super Bowl to the New York Giants.
Third-round choice Kevin O'Connell led the Patriots to their only touchdown on a 31-yard march after Flacco's fumble. But O'Connell played the last third of the game against defenders far down on the depth chart.
Another newcomer to New England had one of the best games for the team. LaMont Jordan, fighting for a job behind Laurence Maroney, ran with power, picking up 76 yards and scoring on a 1-yard run just 13 days after being released by Oakland following his seventh NFL season.
The Ravens got key plays from Yamon Figurs with a 52-yard punt return that set up their only touchdown and a 48-yard kickoff return that led to one of Matt Stover's two field goals.
Fabian Washington had two interceptions for the Ravens.
Harbaugh took over after 10 seasons as a Philadelphia assistant following the firing of Brian Billick on Dec. 31.
The Ravens led 16-3 on field goals by Stover of 42 and 44 yards and by Piotr Czech of 37 yards and a 1-yard touchdown run by Le'Ron McClain. Stephen Gostkowski kicked three field goals. Jordan's 1-yard run made it 16-15 with 6:07 left. But O'Connell's pass for a 2-point conversion was knocked down at the line
Matt Cassel, entering his fourth season with the Patriots, started and completed just one of four passes for four yards. Second-year pro Matt Gutierrez was 10-for-16 for 76 yards and O'Connell went 6-for-13 for 57 yards. Each of the three threw an interception.
It was the Patriots' first game following a season sullied by Spygate for which the club and coach Bill Belichick were penalized by the NFL for videotaping New York Jets' assistant coaches.
Their quest for a perfect record nearly ended in their 12th game of the season at Baltimore when they overcame a 24-17 deficit to win 27-24 on a touchdown with 44 seconds left
Their passing combination of NFL MVP Brady and Randy Moss had the night off after a season in which they set NFL records -- Brady with 50 touchdown passes and Moss with 23 scoring catches.
For Baltimore, leading rusher Willis McGahee sat out with a knee injury.
