Bledsoe Picks Apart Raven Defense

Drew Bledsoe had a big game for New England, and he got a lot of help--from the Baltimore Ravens’ secondary.

Bledsoe threw for 310 yards and four touchdowns Sunday in the Patriots’ 46-38 victory over Baltimore, a performance that was made possible because of all the mistakes made by the Ravens’ secondary.

After an unspectacular first half, Bledsoe was seven for seven for 104 yards and two touchdown passes on New England’s first two possessions of the second half, which enabled the Patriots (3-2) to turn a 20-14 halftime advantage into a 35-14 lead midway through the third period.

He had plenty of help from Baltimore’s mistake-prone defensive backfield, which committed key penalties and blew coverages in allowing the game to get away.

Baltimore added two touchdowns late in the game to make the final score more respectable, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome Bledsoe’s show in the third period.

“We didn’t anticipate, after us scoring that many points, that we would be in a close game,” Bledsoe said.

“Whenever you play a game in this league, you’ve got to take advantage of whatever opportunity you’re given. Today we were able to take advantage of most of those opportunities.”

Said Baltimore Coach Ted Marchibroda: “We hurt ourselves too many times--penalties hurt us. It’s tough to beat them when they score 46 points, but we gave them a couple of those touchdowns.”

Mike Bartrum’s first NFL reception was a one-yard scoring pass from Bledsoe on New England’s first possession of the second half. It gave the Patriots a 28-14 lead after a two-point conversion, and came with help from the Ravens.

After Bledsoe burned cornerback Antonio Langham on consecutive plays--a 14-yard completion to Shawn Jefferson and a 28-yarder to Terry Glenn--cornerback Donny Brady was whistled for interfering with Glenn in the end zone.

Bartrum’s pass-receiving debut came on the next play.

The penalty on Brady was only one of the 13 infractions called on Baltimore during the game. In all, the Ravens (2-3), the least-penalized team in the NFL entering the contest, lost 146 yards on penalties.

“We won, but we can’t take pride in the way we played,” Patriot linebacker Chris Slade said. “We have to get it done on both sides of the ball.”

The victory was New England’s first on the road this season, while the Ravens--also winless away from home--lost in Baltimore for the first time.

“It’s good to get a win on the road--that’s a big step for us,” Patriot Coach Bill Parcells said. “We were lucky to get out of here.”