Sweatshirt wearing & Broncos Head Coach Josh McDaniels gets hoodwinked Sunday, taking his first loss in his career.
Sure, the Baltimore Ravens lost three in a row. But, take the Ravens anyway.
For starters, it’s not like the Ravens are getting blown out. As bad as their secondary has played (and it’s been really bad), Baltimore’s lost its last three games in the final minute.
The defense is caught between a rock and a hard place. In some cases, they’re not getting to the quarterback fast enough. In others, the secondary isn’t covering long enough to allow the front 7 get to the quarterback.
But, you’ve got to think that the Ravens figured something out during the bye week. Maybe Safety Ed Reed won’t be allowed to freelance as much. Maybe CB Fabian Washington can recover from being benched against the Minnesota Vikings.
The Broncos should still be able to make big plays, but not like the plays the Vikings made in the first two drives in the last game. The difference in the two teams comes down to Denver QB Kyle Orton.
Unlike many, I actually think Orton is as good quarterback. The guy just wins games. But the Ravens don’t lose games to good quarterbacks. Baltimore loses games to great quarterbacks, and that’s not Kyle Orton.
In their three loses, the Ravens lost to Tom Brady, Carson Palmer & Brett Favre. And the biggest problem in the Vikings game was that the Ravens didn’t come up with any turnovers. Orton will cough them up in this game.
The best match-up though is on the other side of the ball. Baltimore carries the 5th best offense in the NFL. Denver flaunts the 2nd best defense.
Denver’s secondary is terrific. But it won’t matter. The Ravens passing attack isn’t just about the wide receivers. QB Joe Flacco spreads the ball around, hitting TE Todd Heap and the running backs out of the backfield.
And in a weird way, the strength of the Denver secondary could actually help the Ravens. In the last three games, the defense spent a lot of time on the field because Baltimore’s offense was scoring quickly.
Denver will be able to take away the big play, forcing the Ravens to put consistent, methodical drives together.
Give me the Ravens this week, 26-21.
