BALTIMORE – There was only so much you could expect from Kellen Clemens yesterday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium. Making his first career NFL start on the road against linebacker Ray Lewis and the intimidating Ravens defense isn’t a prescription for instant success.
That’s why the Ravens’ 20-13 victory before 71,246 wasn’t unexpected. Neither was the slow start from Clemens, who threw an interception on his second pass of the game and had 43 yards passing in the first half.
Yet, despite the loss, Clemens showed enough moxie and poise for there to be no reason for the Jets to rush Chad Pennington back into the starting lineup.
A healthy Pennington still gives the Jets the best chance for victory because of his experience. But Clemens began closing that gap yesterday by completing 19 of 37 passes for 260 yards one touchdown and two interceptions. He came thisclose to rallying the Jets from a 20-3 deficit as a potential game-tying touchdown was ruined by a deflected interception in the end zone by Lewis with 1:03 to play.
“Chad is still the starter,” Jets coach Eric Mangini clarified after the game.
He was speaking in theory of course since Pennington, who was dressed yesterday, is still hobbled by a severe ankle injury. As long as Pennington isn’t 100 percent, the Jets should give Clemens the ball and all the reps to see if the starting job should be his for good.
Clemens didn’t win the game yesterday, which ultimately quarterbacks are paid to do. But this was no flop of a performance. Far from it. The 24-year-old second-round draft pick from 2006 displayed everything you’d like to see in a young quarterback.
He stood tall in the pocket, delivered his passes under constant pressure from the Ravens’ pass rush that sacked him four times. When he got hit, he got back up. He ran the Jets’ no-huddle offense with minimal confusion. He never looked as if he was overmatched. He never gave up. “He took their best shot and kept coming,” Mangini said. “I was pleased with that.”
Quarterbacks make their reputations in the fourth quarter where the game is on the line. That’s when Clemens was at his best yesterday. His 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Chris Baker with 3:12 remaining ended an 11-play, 81-yard drive that cut the Ravens’ lead to 20-13.
Under what he called “an extreme sense of urgency,” Clemens got the ball back with 2:38 to play and marched the Jets from their own 20 to a first down at the Ravens 7. Two passes to Justin McCareins could have been touchdowns, but the receiver flat dropped the first and deflected the second into Lewis’ hands.
Clemens could have easily blamed McCareins, but like an emerging leader he chose to focus on the positive. “It was great to see us respond to the adversity we had been going through for the major part of the game,” Clemens said. “It was nice to see the competitiveness of this team the way we responded down the stretch.”
Sure, there were times when Clemens’ inexperience was evident. A couple of the sacks were because he held the ball too long and it took almost three-quarters for him to feel comfortable. But those are growing pains. Why not get some of those growing pains out of the way now?
There was nothing in Clemens’ performance yesterday that makes you think he can’t be a franchise quarterback, the kind of quarterback we thought Pennington would be before two shoulder surgeries left him with a pop-gun passing arm. Pennington stood on the sideline yesterday in the role of backup quarterback staying ready in case anything happened to Clemens. That’s the way it should stay for now.