BALTIMORE — It was often ugly, but ultimately effective.

That was about the best thing that could be said about the Baltimore Ravens’ performance against the New York Jets Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson threw for just 153 yards, running back Derrick Henry scored twice but was held to a paltry 64 yards rushing on 21 carries, and kicker Tyler Loop added a trio of field goals while the defense forced a turnover for a sixth straight game to lift Baltimore to a 23-10 victory.

The win was the Ravens’ fifth in a row and puts them above .500 for the first time all season at 6-5. It also moves them into a tie for the division lead with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who lost to the Bears in Chicago on Sunday.

But now the real test comes for Baltimore.

Four of its next six opponents are against division foes, with two games each against the AFC North-leading Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals, who are likely to have quarterback Joe Burrow back for both games. The other two opponents are the AFC East-leading New England Patriots and 7-3-1 Packers in Green Bay.

The Ravens won’t savor this victory, though, but will be glad they survived it.

Trailing the hapless Jets 7-3 at the half, Baltimore’s best offense at times turned out to be New York’s defense.

Faced with a third-and-15 on their opening possession of the third quarter, they were bailed out by a 34-yard pass interference penalty on defensive back Isaiah Oliver, who was a little too blanketed on tight end Mark Andrews on a desperate heave down the right sideline. A couple of minutes later, Baltimore converted its first third down of the game and eventually worked down to the Jets’ 6-yard line.

Henry plunged into the end zone three plays later to give the Ravens their first lead of the day.

Then they took advantage of the Jets’ anemic offense and quarterback Tyrod Taylor (17-of-28 passing, 222 yards).

After stopping New York on a fourth-and-2 from its own 42, a 17-yard pass interference penalty on Azareye’h Thomas in coverage on Zay Flowers on a third-and-7 from the Jets’ 20 kept Baltimore’s next series going. That moved the ball to New York’s 3, but it still required a fourth-down conversion from the 2 for the Ravens to score with Henry taking it in again to stretch the lead to 17-7.

But for the first 30 minutes, it was about as ugly a game could be.

New York crossed into Ravens territory four times but came away with just one score, a 13-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to John Metchie III to cap a methodical 12-play, 79-yard march that gave the Jets a 7-0 lead nearly 11 minutes into the second quarter.

The Ravens, meanwhile, didn’t cross midfield until just over three minutes remaining in the first half with Jackson hitting Flowers for a 20-yard gain down the left side. Two plays later, the two hooked up again for another 14 yards as the receiver hopped over a sprawling would-be tackler down the right sideline before being knocked out at the 19.

But the drive stalled shortly thereafter, and they were left settling for a 31-yard Loop field goal at the 1:39 mark.

The last time Baltimore had been held scoreless in a first half was Oct. 1, 2017, against the Steelers. Continuing the longest active streak in the NFL was hardly something to puff its chest about, though.

Aside from Flowers, the Ravens’ best player the first two quarters was punter Jordan Stout, who averaged 59.7 yards on three punts, including a field-flipping 74-yard bomb in the second quarter that tied Sam Koch’s franchise record.

Baltimore managed just 24 plays in the first half and tallied a meager 72 yards. That included going 0 for 5 on third down.

In the first quarter, the Ravens averaged a measly 2.5 yards per play and 25 total yards. The Jets weren’t much better at 3.6 a pop.

Just as concerning, though, was how Baltimore got there.

The Ravens went 0 for 3 on third down, all three from 3 yards or less. Twice Jackson misfired on passes to Andrews and Isaiah Likely, and another time Andrews ran under center at the last moment only to get stuffed on a tush push.

It was emblematic of Baltimore’s offensive struggles both Sunday and this season.

Still, it was enough on Sunday. Ravens coach John Harbaugh is now 19-0 against teams six games under .500 or worse.

He’ll face another one Thursday night in Baltimore. But a performance like this one probably won’t cut it against Burrow and the Bengals.

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