[ad_1]
BALTIMORE – Ninety minutes before kickoff Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens announced the news that they were waiting in part, but hoped they would never come. Linebacker C.J. Mosley was out. Defensive tackle Michael Pierce was out. A defense that had been torn apart for much of its first loss of the season was missing two of its best players, not to mention Jimmy Smith already suspended cornerback.
Not even two minutes after kickoff Sunday, the Ravens had fallen by a touchdown. That they did not expect. An attack that came to life later in the second week against the Cincinnati Bengals stalled as quickly as it started, and the team's normally reliable special teams had been placed on a great time.
Yet, more than three hours after kickoff Sunday, the Ravens breathed easily. A nightmare debut was only the prelude to a comfortable end, a 27-14 win over the Denver Broncos (2-1) in their reach, in anticipation of a crucial clash on Sunday night against the Steelers from Pittsburgh.
[Summary: Ravens 27, Broncos 14]
Quarterback Joe Flacco had 25 assists for a total of 277 yards and one touchdown, spreading the net between three receivers who finished with at least 50 yards (John Brown, Michael Crabtree and Mark Andrews). 293 total yards in less than ideal conditions. It was not as comfortable to win a rain match as the Ravens' escape to the Buffalo, but it was nevertheless a comforting balm.
"Talk about a resilient group," said Eric Weddle after the win, which, with the Bengals' defeat, placed the Ravens (2-1) tied for first place in the North. AFC. "We started badly. Bad bad bad. . . . I am on [on] Outside looking, we say, "Oh, the same old crows," right? They are not the same crows. I tell you right now.
The Broncos entered Baltimore with two wins but not the profile of a dominant team. Seahawks victories in Seattle and the Oakland Raiders required returns in the fourth quarter. So, in a sense, Sunday, the Ravens were where they wanted to go: led 27-14 at the end of the third quarter.
The Ravens refused to play the role of suckers. At the end of the first quarter of Denver, quarterback Case Keenum continued an interception he had just launched. He was fortunate to have been recalled by linebacker Patrick Onwuasor (89 yards) due to an illegal freezing penalty imposed on linebacker Matthew Judon.
At the end of the second quarter of Denver, and last in the overall standings, Keenum failed to finish a fourth deep throwing in the Ravens territory until the end of the match, Jake Butt. Keenum finished the game with 192 yards passing, 83.5 less than the season average and one interception. If Keenum expected to let the match marvel in the hurry of his teammates, he would be surprised. The Ravens' defense drew attention after holding the call and finished with three sacks and nine hits in total, led by linebacker Terrell Suggs (1½ sacks and a tackle for a loss).
The Broncos, meanwhile, had only two sacks and three quarter shots. All that linebacker Von Miller had on the outside had two tackles, led by Ronnie Stanley, wearing an elbow brace, and James Hurst, as well as Flacco's quick release.
"You can not block this defense or Von Miller in a standard way," said Ravens coach John Harbaugh. "You have to do it unconventionally. . . . Our pass protection really progressed and did a good job.
Harbaugh was all smiles on his 56th birthday, but he could not have imagined a worse gift than the start of the match. The first scrimmage game of the offensive lasted three yards. Everything after, everything seemed to be going in the opposite direction. On Flacco's first comeback, linebacker Bradley Chubb, the Broncos rookie, threw Stanley like a waterlogged sweater for an easy bag.
Two matches later, Tyus Bowser of Baltimore hit a block from Joseph Jones of Denver, who had a clear path to hit Sam Koch. For the sixth time only, Koch had blocked a kick. The Broncos recovered the ball at the Ravens' 6-yard line and running back Royce Freeman (13 runs for 53 yards) reached his starting point in the end zone.
"The game is like life; you find a starting point, "said the Ravens in linebacker Kenny Young, who finished with a total of 10 tackles. "The first quarter was rather difficult. We did not start as we wanted.
Although the game has all the premature effects of a one-sided sneer, it has never been so close. Helped by a pair of 15-yard penalties in Denver, Baltimore responded with a 48-yard push to tie the game, running back Alex Collins (18 carries for 68 yards, the two highest of the season) following comfortably that Freeman had arrived there a few minutes earlier.
Ten days after Mosley's bone injury, the Ravens' loss to the Bengals was deadly, but the defense quickly and surely got used to life without its leader. On the second Broncos run, Suggs lost control over receivers Emmanuel Sanders 35 yards to the end zone, but Baltimore held Denver scoreless.
"For this to happen so early in the game, I do not think anyone has flinched or panicked," Tony Jefferson said. "This is one of our [sayings]: Do not flinch. And no one flinched.
[ad_2]
Source link
