The Wind Cries “Hail” Mary…Ravens 19, Jets 3…

Winds gusting to 35 MPH, temperatures at 25-30 degrees in the shadows of M&T Bank Stadium… it was only fitting that Joe Flacco took advantage of his last possession going with the wind in the 3rd quarter to try to put the hammer down on the resilient New York Jets.

Leading 12-3 at the time in a crazy game where not only the Jets were running a wildcat with Josh Cribbs but also the Ravens were running a read-option with Tyrod Taylor at times, Flacco's gamble turned into a 66-yard wind-blown touchdown caught and scored by Jacoby Jones that sealed the deal.

The clinching TD was the result of a high-arc throw by Flacco to Jacoby Jones on a post-pattern that must have been blown at least 10 yards sideways by the wind. Did Joe play for the effect of the wind on the play? I guess we'll never know for sure. But Jets safety Ed Reed had double coverage help on the play.  It looked like Reed lost sight of the ball as it drifted to his right as the wind took the 50-yard aerial to where it decided to go.

Result—Jacoby Jones stays with it, gets both hands on the ball, and turns upfield for a 66-yard score. And under Sunday's harsh weather conditions—-game, set, match.

The Ravens stay alive in the AFC playoff picture at 5-6.

This is a good time to bring in one of my favorite football writers, Jamison Hensley, who used to be the Ravens beat-writer for the Baltimore Sun, but has now upped the ante to AFC reporter for ESPN.com:

"A few thoughts on the Baltimore Ravens' 19-3 win over the New York Jets—

What it means: On a cold and blustery afternoon, the Ravens (5-6) stayed alive in the AFC playoff race with their eighth straight win over the Jets. Baltimore cut the gap with the AFC North-leading Cincinnati Bengals (7-4) to two games and remain in the thick of the wild-card picture. The Ravens improved to 10-1 at home in November since 2008, the second-best mark in the NFL.

Stock watch: Rising: Justin Tucker. The kicker supplied the Ravens' first 12 points with four field goals from 30, 26, 33 and 53 yards. He's becoming the Ravens' most valuable player this season, hitting 22 consecutive field goals in some windy and bad-weather games.

Dominating defense: The Ravens were relentless against struggling rookie quarterback Geno Smith. Baltimore held the Jets out of the end zone, shut them out for the final 51 minutes and forced three turnovers (cornerback Corey Graham's two interceptions tied a career high). The Ravens silenced the New York offense, limiting the Jets to 220 total yards, 12 first downs and a 1-of-12 conversion rate on third down.

Return of the deep pass: Joe Flacco rediscovered his touch on the downfield passes, and his 66-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones late in the third quarter essentially put away the Jets. It was Flacco's first touchdown this season on a pass that traveled at least 20 yards in the air, and it was completed right in front of former Ravens safety Ed Reed. Flacco also had a 60-yard pass to Torrey Smith earlier in the game. "

Thanks, Jamison….

Baltimore won on the strength of its defense. The unit forced three turnovers, limited the Jets to 220 yards and denied 11 of 12 third-down tries. Rookie Geno Smith completed nine of 22 passes for 127 yards and two interceptions, both by Corey Graham.

"What can you say about our defense?" coach John Harbaugh said. "It was a dominant defensive performance." It was the fewest points allowed by Baltimore since December 2009, a 48-3 win over Detroit.

"I feel like we were dialed in today," linebacker Terrell Suggs said. "There's always a little something added when we're playing Rex [Ryan]. We're proud of the fact what we didn't give up a touchdown, and getting off the field on third down was huge."

New York had alternated wins and losses in its first 10 games, but the pattern ended here with its second straight defeat. Ryan, who also served as defensive line coach with Baltimore from 1999-2004, fell to 0-3 against his former team.

"We knew, quite honestly, that their defense was going to be tough sledding," Ryan said. "With that, we've got to be more efficient on third down. That's a big reason (for) the struggles. I thought we dropped too many balls, and that's where it started offensively. On defense, when you're playing in a game like that, you got to be sound, you got to be good and it has to be for 60 minutes. There's probably three or four plays that we weren't in."

The Ravens tried several ploys to spice up their stagnant offense, most notably using backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor in a variety of formations. Not only did Taylor receive a direct snap and run, but he also handed off the ball and caught a pass in his most extensive action of the season.

None of it produced a touchdown, though, until Jones got behind former teammate Ed Reed and made a fine catch of Flacco's deep throw before coasting into the end zone for a 19-3 lead with 5 seconds left in the third quarter.

That was more than enough to dispose of the Jets, whose offense was so out of sync that they burned their third timeout of the second half with 14:53 left in the fourth quarter.

Over his last six games, Smith has thrown 10 interceptions and one touchdown pass. "This is not on one individual," Ryan said. "This is on us, collectively."

Obviously, that's the message Ryan conveyed to his players. "We got to back him up," offensive tackle Willie Colon said of Smith. "We didn't do that today."  But Smith's numbers have created conjecture that Ryan might be close to changing quarterbacks.

"Everybody always wants a new quarterback in there," Smith said. "I just keep trying to improve and work on myself. I know I can lead this team to the playoffs."

Tucker kicked a 53-yard field goal for a 12-3 lead early in the third quarter after a 20-yard punt return by Jones gave Baltimore the ball at the New York 33.  Graham subsequently ended two New York drives with interceptions in the third and fourth quarters.

"They made some plays," Graham said, "but when it came down to it, we made the bigger plays. We knew we had to outplay their defense, and that's what we were able to do."

Baltimore's previous seven games were decided by six points or fewer, four of which resulted in losses. This was the Ravens' most lopsided win since Sept. 22.  "It's just a relief to get a win," linebacker Daryl Smith said.

The Jets trailed 9-3 at halftime despite completing only three passes, gaining 73 yards, making three first downs and losing the ball after the snap hit the man in motion. Using Josh Cribbs in the wildcat formation on several plays, New York had earlier gone up 3-0 with a drive in which Smith caught an 18-yard pass from Cribbs and completed an 18-yarder to Greg Salas.

The Ravens answered with field goals on their next two possessions. The second kick was set up by a 60-yard completion from Flacco to Torrey Smith, who got behind Antonio Cromartie and made a nice over-the-shoulder grab.

Tucker kicked another field goal just after the two-minute warning after tight end Ed Dickson caught two passes for 40 yards.