Ravens Beat Broncos, Improve To 4-1

By Jesse Jones

Coming off an epic win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, there was speculation that the Baltimore Ravens would have a “hangover” against the Denver Broncos.  But this was not the case.

The Ravens dominated the Broncos from the start, driving into the red zone on their first three out of four drives.  Joe Flacco and Ray Rice each scored on one-yard runs to put the team up 14-0, and Billy Cundiff added a 37-yard field goal to put the Ravens up 17-0.  With under one minute left in the first half, it seemed Baltimore was going to go into half holding a shut out.  But the Broncos first-ranked pass offense wouldn’t allow that, as Kyle Orton completed a 42 yard pass to Brandon Lloyd for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 17-7.

The second half saw a scoreless third quarter, and saw Joe Flacco look completely out of sync at points.  But in the fourth quarter, the Ravens closed the game out, as Ray Rice scored another one-yard touchdown, and Willis McGahee scored on a 30-yard run.  Denver added a field goal inbetween those scores, and scored another long touchdown pass with under one minute left in the game to Brandon Lloyd.

The Baltimore Ravens would ultimately win the game 31-17.

Baltimore got exactly what it needed, and that was a huge game by Ray Rice.  Rice had not scored a touchdown or ran for over 100 yards until Sunday’s game.  In total, he finished the game with 133 yards and 2 touchdowns on 27 carries.  Flacco played solid for the most part, going 14-25 for 196 yards with no passing touchdowns and no turnovers.

The defense gave up over 300 yards to Kyle Orton, but only allowed two touchdowns, and both came with under a minute left in each half.  So far, the pass defense seems very solid, and the run defense is great as usual.

Baltimore now stands atop the AFC North alone, with a record of 4-1.  The Ravens will travel to New England Sunday to face the 3-1 Patriots who are now without Randy Moss and brought back Deon Branch.