As a lifelong Denver Broncos fan living in Baltimore, I know you Ravens fans all too well. On one hand, you’re as loyal to your team as any fans in the league; every win is as big as if it were the postseason, and every loss sinks your heart for days to come. On the other hand, you think you’re better at calling plays than Cam Cameron*, you think you’re a better judge of talent than Ozzie Newsome, and you genuinely feel that a Super Bowl berth is a foregone conclusion. On top of that, you’ve got a certain arrogance befitting of a franchise that has a decades-long legacy of excellence, and which plays in the Super Bowl every year. (That would make the Ravens a combination of the Washington Redskins of old and the New England Patriots of today…and that, my friend, is not at all the case).
Now, to be clear, I didn’t say all of that to get your blood boiling (although I have no doubt it’ll do just that); rather, it explains why I’d love to see the Broncos come to M&T Bank Stadium and knock Ravens Nation off its pedestal.
Stick with me now, as I lead you through my thinking on how this can happen.
The Broncos have had an absurdly successful passing game through the first four games of the season, but defending the pass is what the Ravens have done best so far. Of course, it helps when two of the quarterbacks you’re defending against are Charlie Batch and Seneca Wallace…but your team still allowed Wallace to come away from that game with a 103.0 quarterback rating.
I’ll admit that Denver has had a laughable running game while they wait for Knowshon “No-Show” Moreno to get healthy, but Baltimore hasn’t done much better. Yeah, yeah, you’ve got Ray Rice. Wake me when your offensive superstar finally manages to have a 100-yard game.
This leads me to conclude that both teams would be best served by using the pass to set up the run, and I have more confidence in Kyle Orton engineering such a feat than I do in Joe Flacco. Yes, “Joe Cool,” you finally showed us last Sunday that you can win a game at the end, but what separates you from the quarterbacks that can carry a team on their backs is consistency (or, in your case, a lack of it).
For a team that considers itself a shoo-in for Super Bowl XLV, the Ravens haven’t been able to win a game easily yet this season. The Broncos, on the other hand, stayed within reach of the Colts for longer than anyone should expect, then stole a win against the Titans with an aerial assault that made Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal look like Randy Moss and Wes Welker.
I know what you’re going to say: The Ravens are 4-0 against the Broncos at home. Things are different this time around, though; your defense will be spending all day trying to shut down Josh McDaniels’ air assault, and with your team depending on a cast-off from the Cowboys’ revolving door of kickers, special teams isn’t what it used to be. This Sunday, it falls on Flacco’s shoulders. You’d better hope it’s one of this good weeks.
Get ready for a heartbreaker, Baltimore: Denver wins a close one. Broncos 20, Ravens 17.
* Come to think of it, you might be right about this part.
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