Soon-To-Be Suspended Lewis Carries the Load

Three days after making a plea that will send him to prison, Jamal Lewis accounted for more yards than the entire Washington Redskin offense.

Lewis recovered from a slow start to grind out 116 yards in 28 carries, including 90 clock-eating yards on the final three drives, and the Baltimore Ravens’ defense did the rest in Sunday night’s 17-10 victory over the Washington Redskins.

“It wasn’t just me,” said Lewis, who pleaded guilty in an Atlanta court Thursday to using a cellphone to facilitate a drug buy in the summer of 2000. “This team as a whole knows how to handle adversity and knows how to keep focused and keep it going. We put that behind us. What happened off the field stayed off the field. We just put things together and showed what type of team we are.”

Lewis will serve a six-month sentence after the season ends. The NFL suspended him for two games, starting with the game against Buffalo following the team’s week off.

“He just took the game on his shoulders,” Coach Brian Billick said. “That’s why we gave him the game ball, and I wanted to remind him we’ll be here when he gets back.”

The Ravens (3-2) held the Redskins (1-4) to 107 yards, sending Hall of Fame Coach Joe Gibbs to his fourth straight defeat, his longest losing streak since starting 0-5 as a rookie head coach in 1981.

“It’s a miserable situation,” Gibbs said. “And it seems like when you make a mistake, it bounces right into somebody else’s hands. I told my team that I think we’re a good football team. We’ll see.

“We’ve got to find a way to make some of those things go our way.”

Washington quarterback Mark Brunell threw for only 83 yards and was sacked three times. Baltimore counterpart Kyle Boller threw for 81 and was sacked twice.

Even Deion Sanders got into the act for the Ravens, getting his first interception since coming out of retirement.

The defense’s performance served as redemption after it gave up 398 yards and 27 points in a Monday night loss to Kansas City.