The Baltimore Ravens beat the Denver Broncos at their own game.
The Broncos entered the game undefeated at 6-0. They had the top ranked defense in the league, including a plus-7 turnover ratio so far this season. They also have arguably one of the best kick returners in the league.
That’s defense, turnovers, and special teams. It was the Ravens who used each one of those areas as a strength in this contest.
From the first play from scrimmage when Ravens linebacker Jarret Johnson blitzed and got through the line untouched to sack Denver quarterback Kyle Orton, Baltimore played with a fire that had been missing the past few games.
I think the Ravens defense made this game personal after struggling the few weeks before their bye. The defense which had always been the team’s strength was the reason they lost a few games.
Baltimore held the Broncos offense to just 200 total yards. Orton was held to 152 yards on 23 of 37 passes. The Denver running game was also shut down, running for just 66 yards as a team.
This was a dominant Ravens defense that was out on the field yesterday.
They totaled 2 sacks, 6 pass deflections and a fumble recovery in the game. It was the familiar names that did a lot of the domination. Linebacker Ray Lewis was second on the team in total tackles with 7. Safety Ed Reed totaled 4 tackles, one being a tackle for loss, deflecting a pass and forcing the fumble that was picked up by Terrell Suggs.
The Ravens converted the turnover into points, something the Broncos had been so good at so far this season. This was the first time all season the Broncos were held scoreless at halftime.
The Ravens also won the special teams battle. Broncos star Eddie Royal may be one of the best return men in the league and is well known, but the Ravens return team stole the show. Rookie Lardarius Webb returned the second half kickoff back for a 95 yard touchdown.
His score extended the Ravens lead at the time to 13-0.
Denver would respond with a touchdown drive of its own, but that’s all they were able to throw together against the angry Ravens defense. The win put Baltimore right back in the divisional race. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, both 5-2 was on their bye week.
At 4-3, Baltimore sits just one game back heading into a divisional showdown with Cincinnati next week.
One thing is for sure, if the defense and special teams continue to play like they did against Denver, the Ravens will be a very dangerous team down the stretch.