Ravens use defense, special teams to defeat the Steelers and take commanding lead in

[Feed Robot]

The Baltimore Ravens generated just 200 yards of total offense, but used timely defense and a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown by Jacoby Jones to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 13-10 at Heinz Field on Sunday night. Playing without Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh opened the scoring just 43 seconds into the game. Following a 42-yard pass interference penalty on Ravens cornerback Cary Williams and a seven-yard reception by David Gilreath, quarterback Byron Leftwich lumbered 31 yards for a touchdown to give the Steelers a 7-0 lead. The Ravens would go three-and-out on their first possession, but their defense would give them a golden opportunity to put points on the board. After Leftwich hit Mike Wallace on a quick slant for an apparent first down on a third-and-10 play, Ravens cornerback Chris Johnson — signed earlier this week when the team lost Jimmy Smith to surgery to repair a sports hernia — stripped the ball out of Wallace's hands with safety Ed Reed recovering the fumble and returning the ball to the Steelers' 12-yard line. Two runs and a pass to Ray Rice were not enough to find the end zone and rookie kicker Justin Tucker got the Ravens on the scoreboard with a 26-yard field goal. Baltimore's special teams unit would score more points later in the first quarter when Jones fielded a 51-yard punt by Drew Butler, found a seam to the left, received an excellent seal block by Sean Considine and weaved his way 63 yards for a touchdown, his first punt return touchdown as a member of the Ravens and the fourth of his career. After the game, Jones discussed his return with NBC's Michele Tafoya. "Well, all week in practice, we knew we had two kick returns already for touchdowns and the whole special teams unit, we kept complaining that we hadn't had a punt return yet," Jones said. "So that's one thing we emphasized and worked on all week and everybody did a great job on blocking."

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