Broncos at Ravens Line

The Baltimore Ravens will host the Denver Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday October 10,at 1pm ET.

When the teams met last year, the Ravens won the match 30-7, and the Broncos promptly went onto lose three more games in a row after that. The Broncos are 0-4 when playing the Ravens in Baltimore. The latest NFL odds show the Ravens -7 over the Broncos with a total set of 38 ½ points.

The Ravens are off to a good start with a 3-1 record and are tied for first in AFC North. They beat divisional rival Pittsburgh on their home field last week, 17-14, on an 18-yard touchdown pass with under a minute on the clock. Joe Flacco found T.J. Houshmandzadeh for a momentum-building win.

Baltimore continues their history of strong defense, and is ranked near the top of the NFL in many defensive categories. They lead the league by allowing only 119 passing yards per game; 235 ypg overall.

The Ravens offense has been middle of the road and has only scored just over 15 points per game. It ranks 22^nd with 306 YPG, and 24^th in rushing with 84 per game.

QB Joe Flacco has completed 83 passes on 145 attempts for 920 yards. That has been good for only five touchdowns, so as you can see scoring is a concern.

Receiver Anquan Boldin was brought in to give Flacco a target and improve the passing game, while providing some leadership. While he isn’t off to a blistering start, he does have 27 receptions, which ranks 6^th in the league, for 355 yards with three TD’s.

Finally, Baltimore’s leading Rusher Rice has 60 carries for 230 yards, but has yet to score a touchdown.

In the meantime, the Broncos are 2-2, tied for second in the AFC West, including 1-1 road record.

Last week they beat Tennessee 26-20 on the strength of a QB Kyle Orton’s pass to Correll Buckhalter for six yards in the fourth quarter to take a 23-20 lead. Matt Prater nailed a 36-yard field goal later in the quarter to seal the victory.

Orton finished the game with 341 yards and a pair of touchdowns and one interception. Receiver Lloyd contributed 11 receptions for 115 yards.

Orton leads a strong offensive attack built around the pass. The Broncos lead the league in passing yards with 340 ypg; the flip side is they don’t run much and rank 32^nd with 55 yards per game. Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal are tied for seventh in the league with 25 receptions; Lloyd has combined for 454 yards while Royal has 299- they have combined for three touchdowns.

Defensively the Broncos are a little better than middle of the pack. They have done a good job of limiting the run and rank 12^th in opponent rushing yards with 101. On pass protection they are a little worse at 222 yards per game to rank 17^th.

Matt’s Free Prediction: Baltimore Ravens (no play on the spread) – This will be a relatively close game, but I think Baltimore will get the win. Beating Pittsburgh was a huge morale boost and Denver has historically struggled in Baltimore. We know it will be a close one with the Ravens anemic offense, but their defensive style is the exact counter agent to Kyle Orton’s passing game.

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