Coming off a stunning 29-24 loss to the Cleveland Browns that ended a five-game winning streak, the Baltimore Ravens look to get back on the horse this week against the NFL’s actual horse team, the Denver Broncos.
Who would have thought entering the season these two teams would have the same record coming into this game? Sure enough, both teams entering Week 9 with a 5-3 record and tied for the top wild card in the AFC. Let’s dive into this matchup.
Baltimore Ravens vs. Denver Broncos series history
Sunday will be the 17th all-time meeting between the Ravens and Broncos. That includes two playoff games, one of which is the famous double-overtime matchup in the 2012-13 AFC Divisional game. That contest was won by the Ravens, 38-35, on their way to winning Super Bowl XLVII.
Denver is 10-6 all-time against Baltimore, though the Ravens are 2-0 in the playoffs, both times going on to win the Super Bowl. The Ravens won 21-3 in the 2000 AFC Wild Card en route to winning Super Bowl XXXV. Baltimore has won the last three meetings against the Broncos. Denver’s last win in this series came in 2015, the season they won Super Bowl 50.
Key players for Ravens
Quarterback Lamar Jackson enters Week 9 fifth in passing yards with 2,099. Only Geno Smith (2,197), Baker Mayfield (2,189), Kirk Cousins (2,106) and Brock Purdy (2,101) have more. Jackson also has an impressive 17-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio. At the halfway point, Jackson is on track for his second straight and third overall MVP award.
Derrick Henry is currently the king of running backs this season by a comfortable margin. He’s sitting at 946 yards through eight games. That’s 180 more than second-place Saquon Barkley (766). Other than those two, no other running back has more than 700 rushing yards.
Henry also leads the league with 6.5 yards per carry. Only three rushers are averaging more than six yards per carry and one of them is Henry’s quarterback. Henry also has 53 more rushing attempts than second-place Jahmyr Gibbs (6.4 yards per carry).
Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman have been the top two receivers for the Ravens so far. Jackson will now have a third option on the outside thanks to Baltimore’s acquisition of former Panthers wide receiver Diontae Johnson. Add those two to the pair of Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, and the Ravens’ passing offense now looks much more dangerous on paper.
Key players for Broncos
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix has so far proven to be a good fit with head coach Sean Payton. Certainly far from perfect, but Nix has been a key piece in getting the Broncos back on track and in a playoff position. He is second among rookie quarterbacks in passing yards, behind only Jayden Daniels, and is also fourth among rookie rushers.
Patrick Surtain leads the charge on defense, which is not surprising at all. Surtain leads the Broncos with six passes defended and also has three interceptions, one of which was returned 100 yards for a touchdown.
Keys to victory for Ravens
Force Bo Nix out of the pocket
Nix has done a lot well this season. However, one aspect where he struggles is while scrambling. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Nix is 9-of-25 passing when scrambling out of the pocket. And, he is scrambling at the 7th-highest rate in the league. If Baltimore can flush him out of the pocket, they can get Denver’s offense out of sync.
Keep Lamar Jackson upright
Jackson missed practice time this week so it will be interesting to see how the offense looks early on. But the key is protecting Jackson against an aggressive Denver defense with Vance Joseph running the show. Denver is blitzing at the highest rate in the NFL (43.4%) and generating a 42 percent pressure rate. Baltimore has had their issues up front. This is a good week to clean up those issues.
Don’t let Patrick Surtain beat you
The Broncos cornerback has been quite the shutdown corner this season, only allowing seven receptions this season on man coverage, per NFL Next Gen Stats. The Ravens will have to challenge him at times but they have the fortune of having plenty of targets that they don’t have to consistently look Surtain’s way. It remains to be seen if he will shadow any of the Ravens receivers.
