Ravens' 3 turnover TDs crush Jets

BALTIMORE -- Derrick Mason was brutally honest, refusing to tiptoe around or offer the standard company line after the Jets' latest debacle.

The veteran wide receiver had seen enough after the Jets were humbled by the Ravens, 34-17, on national television Sunday night. They got pounded from their very first play from scrimmage, when Mark Sanchez was strip-sacked by Ed Reed and Baltimore cashed in the fumble for a 6-yard touchdown return.

"Obviously, there are some things that have to change," Mason said. "It's evident."

Asked what he was referring to specifically, Mason was blunt.

"There's some cracks and don't nobody want to really identify the cracks," he said. "So until we identify the cracks, we will keep on having the same problems. So whenever somebody wants to seal up the cracks, then we'll continue to move forward as an offense.

"Defense did a hell of a job. But you can't turn the ball over four times, give them three touchdowns off of turnovers and a field goal. That's 24 points.

"You can't do it. Defense played a hell of a game, and you can't put the defense in a position like that. You just can't."

Sanchez fumbled four times and lost three -- with two returned for 6- and 26-yard touchdowns and one setting up a field goal -- and threw an interception that was returned 73 yards for a touchdown.

The Ravens had Sanchez, who has nine turnovers in his last four games, running for his life from the outset. He was hit 10 times in a wild game in which there were an NFL-record five returns for scores -- three by the Ravens and two by the Jets, who had a 107-yard kickoff return by Joe McKnight (the longest play in franchise history) and a 35-yard interception return by David Harris.

"I didn't feel rattled at all," said Sanchez, who completed 11 of 35 attempts for 119 yards and posted a quarterback rating of 30.5. "Just needed to get the ball out quicker. We couldn't get the running game going [38 yards on 19 carries]. When that happened, we became predictable. It just wasn't our night."

Defensively, the Jets did a decent job containing Baltimore's offense, surrendering 267 total yards. It was the Jets' anemic offense that really hurt their chances.

"I've been around football for a long time and I've never seen anything like that before," coach Rex Ryan said. "I think one offensive touchdown [out of the six scored in the game].''

Things got so bad that the Jets (2-2) switched up their offensive line early in the second quarter, temporarily benching Colin Baxter. The undrafted free-agent center was playing his second straight game in place of injured Nick Mangold, and twice he had trouble getting the snaps to Sanchez cleanly.

Baxter returned after sitting out three series, but not before the Jets moved Matt Slauson from left guard to center and inserted reserve Vladimir Ducasse at left guard. They went back to their starting lineup when that switch didn't work, either.

"We've just got to recognize and fix it," Slauson said. "We were really trying. We never gave up. We kept on working. It was just really tough."

Even with all their miscues and a 27-7 deficit midway through the second quarter, the Jets found themselves trailing only 27-17 early in the third quarter. But Sanchez's short pass intended for Santonio Holmes was intercepted by Lardarius Webb and returned 73 yards for a backbreaking touchdown and a 17-point bulge with 8:49 remaining in the quarter.

"The ball came out too late," Holmes said. "Can't throw it out late with a squatting corner on the outside, and he made a great play on it. He adjusted to it, picked it off and ran it in for six."

During the week, Sanchez said he had to keep an eye on Reed at all times, but the star safety made his presence felt immediately. On the Jets' first offensive play, Reed flew in off the right side and no one picked him up, allowing him to clobber Sanchez from behind and knock the ball loose. Linebacker Jameel McClain picked up the ball and ran 6 yards into the end zone for a 7-0 lead with 11:58 remaining in the first quarter.

McKnight took the kickoff after McClain's score and got the Jets right back into it. With Antonio Cromartie not returning kicks because of a bruised lung, McKnight darted 107 yards untouched, tying it at 7 in an extremely wacky start.

Baltimore took the lead for good on the next possession, driving 70 yards in nine plays to grab a 10-7 edge on Billy Cundiff's 38-yard field goal. Ray Rice ran for a 3-yard score about five minutes later to put the Jets in a 17-7 hole.

Baltimore cashed in another Jets gaffe early in the second quarter to push its lead to 13. Sanchez couldn't handle Baxter's snap, fumbling it. Paul Kruger recovered, and another 38-yarder by Cundiff made it 20-7.

Wait, it got worse. Haloti Ngata spun in between left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Ducasse and clobbered Sanchez from the blind side, jarring the ball loose. Linebacker Jarrett Johnson scooped up the ball and ran 26 yards for a 27-7 lead.

Harris finally gave the Jets a small glimmer of hope nearly two minutes later. McKnight, of all people, lined up at cornerback and blitzed Joe Flacco. He made Flacco throw before he wanted to and Harris picked it off, returning it 35 yards to bring the Jets within 27-14. Nick Folk's 40-yard field goal made it 27-17 at halftime.

But the Jets couldn't overcome all their mistakes, sending them to a second straight loss (with a date in New England Sunday) and leaving them searching for answers on how to get things corrected quickly.

"I'm not sure," LaDainian Tomlinson said. "I'm going to be honest with you. I'm not sure how to fix it. But I'm sure our coaches are going to look at the film and we are going to come up with something for this week and try to get one win. That's all we need -- one win."

But Mason thinks it's time for someone to be accountable.

"Hey, listen," he said. "It's up to us to look at the film and it's up to somebody to fix it. I don't know who's going to fix it, but it's up to somebody to fix it. Somebody has to man up and say, 'Hey, we've got to get this done.' We've got to get it done. Basically, that's how it is."