Denver defense meets its match, Lamar and Ravens roll, 41-10

BALTIMORE — For most of the first half, there was a highly entertaining battle of dual-threat quarterbacks.

A case can even be made Broncos’ rookie Bo Nix displayed greater athleticism than the Ravens’ incomparable Lamar Jackson. Nix showed off a triple-threat game as he passed, ran and caught a 2-yard touchdown throw from receiver Courtland Sutton.

But Lamar only needed to show off one trick – his arm – and Derrick Henry was around to take care of the running game as the Ravens finished off their drives much better than the Broncos did.

The Ravens crushed the Broncos, 41-10 here Sunday on a bright, comfortable early November afternoon before 71,051 fans at M&T Stadium.

“We got our ass whooped,” said Denver defensive tackle D.J. Jones. “41-10. We got whooped.”

“Very frustrating because that score and the finish don’t represent our team,” said Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper. “It doesn’t represent who we are. Like, not even close. We knew they had a good red-zone offense. But they got big plays to get to the red zone and then their whole playbook would open up.’’

While the Broncos have mostly exceeded expectations as the season crosses the halfway point, it’s fair to say they were not quite ready for the big stage. CBS’ top television broadcast crew of Jim Nantz, Tony Romo and Tracy Wolfson were assigned to a Broncos’ game for the first time since Christmas Day, 2022. That game didn’t go so well for the Broncos, either, did it Nathaniel Hackett?

The Broncos are now 5-4 and play next Sunday at Kansas City against the undefeated Chiefs. The Ravens improved to 6-3 and have a Thursday night home game up next against the Bengals.

“There’s a reason why they’re the No. 1 offense,” said Denver defensive end Zach Allen.

Indeed, the Ravens entered the game scoring a league-best 30.3 points per game. The Denver D was ranked No. 3, allowing 15.0 points per. Not anymore.

“Look this is a tough league,” said Broncos’ head coach Sean Payton. “You work all week. I think the most important thing — and I finished telling them this — there’s going to be games when you have to go in on Monday and it’s not going to taste good for any of us. We’re not going to like it but that’s life.

“And then we got to bow up and get ready to play next week. That’s why it’s so important when we’re bringing in the right type of players and the mindset. Let’s not make any excuses, we got whupped today.”

The Broncos were in the game most of the first half thanks to Nix. He threw for 159 yards in the first half, rushed for 27 off three carries (before a end-of-half kneeldown), and had the 2-yard touchdown catch in which he went off the ground to out-position a defender and snag Sutton’s pass at the goal line.

“We called it at the right time,” Nix said. “Courtland looked pretty good again on that play.”

Sutton hit fullback Michael Burton for a 28-yard completion last week, giving him a perfect 158.3 rating. Speaking of which, there is Lamar Jackson. The league’s defending MVP had 208 yards passing and two touchdowns off a highly efficient 11 of 12 passing in the first half. Zay Flowers caught both touchdowns – one from 7 yards  and the other on  53-yard play with 16 seconds left in the first half as Denver’s secondary did a poor job of tackling and pursuing.

As a runner, Jackson was tackled by Nik Bonitto for an 8-yard loss on his only first-half run. And no, Lamar didn’t have a reception. But even with missing practices Wednesday and Thursday to rest his battered body, Jackson was sharp.

Jackson finished the game 16 of 19 for 280 yards and 3 touchdown passes for a perfect 158.3 passer rating. 

“He played really well again,” Nix said of his counterpart.” He’s a phenomenal football player, throws the ball really well. He used several arm angles today that’s just really good, and it’s hard to do what he does on a consistent basis. He missed some practice this week and came out looking very sharp, so props to him. He’s a phenomenal player. That’s why he’s got all the accolades that he does. I was able to see him for a brief time after the game. It’s just mutual respect. We’ve both been in each other’s shoes. We understand what it’s like to navigate the craziness. I think it’s special to be able to share a field with a guy like that. Hopefully, there’s many more.” 

The turning point came with 1:10 left in the first half. On third and 7 from the Baltimore 9 and the Broncos trailing, 17-7, Nix scrambled for a touchdown. That would have brought the Broncos to within, 17-14 most likely entering halftime. But left tackle Garett Bolles was called for holding, nullifying the touchdown and the Broncos had to settle for a short Wil Lutz field to make it, 17-10 with 58 seconds left in the half.

By the time Nix touched the ball again, the Broncos were down, 31-10. Jackson increduously threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Flowers with seconds left in the half, then opened the second half with a long, Henry-based drive that resulted in the Ravens’ running back scoring his second touchdown of the game, 13th of the season and 101st of his career.

“It got away from us real fast,” Cooper said. “Real fast. And then in the second half, we can’t let them run it up like that. We can’t let that stuff happen.”

What happened to the Denver defense that until this game was outstanding?

“I have to watch the tape,” Allen said. “But I think we’ve got to tackle better.’’

“They had some good schemes, especially in the first half they had good schemes, more in the pass game,” said Broncos’ inside linebacker Cody Barton. “We were sitting on the run and they were making explosive passes. And then in the second half it was the opposite — they ran the ball better.”

On the opening drive of the second half, the Ravens turned to Henry, their powerful running back who scored his second touchdown to up the score to 31-10. Henry is now over 1,000 yards rushing (1,052) just 9 games into the season.

So with Nix playing well in the first half, why was Baltimore up four touchdowns entering the fourth quarter? Nix did have a tough-luck interception on the first series and twice the Broncos’ turned the ball over on downs in Ravens’ territory. Baltimore turned those successful fourth-down stops into 10 points.

Payton went for it five times on fourth down with the offense, saying the Ravens’ high-scoring nature was behind his reasoning.

“I think there are some games where your palate has to change,” Payton said. “Certainly, we felt this was one of those games that can vary based on the opponent.”

Three minutes into the second quarter, the Ravens led 10-0 thanks largely to missed opportunities by the Broncos’ offense. Nix’s first pass of the game, and the game’s second play, was a tad high on a shallow cross to receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey, who deflected the ball into the air for an interception.

The Ravens’ offense went backwards, though, thanks to an 11-yard sack by Denver defensive end John Franklin-Myers.

Still, early field position went to Baltimore, which pinned the Broncos back to their own 2-yard line on a punt. Nix moved the Broncos out to the Ravens’ side of the field with a nice 26-yard completion to Courtland Sutton, who ran a deep stop and turn around. But on third and 1 from the Baltimore 44, Nix was stopped short on a sneak and running back Javonte Williams on fourth down couldn’t get to the right edge and was tackled short on a pitch right.

From there, Jackson moved the Ravens downfield through the air until Henry, their 247-pound running back. finished off the drive with back-to-back, 7-yard runs. Henry’s touchdown was the 100th of his career, moving him past Barry Sanders and into 10th place on the NFL’s all-time list. 

On the Broncos’ next drive, again they turned the ball over on downs. On fourth and 4 from the Baltimore 33, Nix went deep to his rookie college teammate Troy Franklin, who was wide open down the left side. Touchdown? Nope. Nix overthrew him. Ravens ball at their own 33 and Jackson led them into easy field goal range for Justin Tucker, who converted from 33 yards for a 10-0 lead.

But Nix was just getting warmed up. He hit Franklin across the middle for 19 yards, then scrambled for 15. He hit Sutton for 10 yards to the Ravens’ 11, then threw a pylon pass to Sutton, who drew a pass-interference penalty on Brandon Stevens, setting up first and goal from the 1.

It became third and goal at the 2. Nix had Humphrey wide open in the back of the end zone but threw way too high. Incomplete.

Fourth and goal at the 2. Payton called for a reverse pass, Williams pitched to Sutton who came from left to right and threw to Nix, who made a contested catch at the goal line for a touchdown. Nix now has 8 touchdowns passing, 4 rushing and one receiving.

It was 10-7 Baltimore with 7:15 left in the first half.

But the Denver defense had met its match in the Baltimore offense. Jackson started the next drive with a 23-yard completion to Zay Flowers and finished it with a scrambling 7-yard touchdown to Flowers, who shook Broncos’ nickelback Ja’Quan McMillian on the play.

It was 17-7 Ravens with less than 4 minutes remaining in the first half.

Nix came back with two clutch plays. On third and 10 from his own 30, he sat back in a clean pocket and with all kinds of time, waited for Sutton to separate from the Ravens’ zone coverage. Complete for 33 yards. Then on second and 8, Nix scrambled ahead for 12 yards, setting up a first down at the Ravens’ 23.

But a chance to score was wiped out by a holding penalty on Broncos’ left tackle Garett Bolles and Payton had Lutz kick a short field goal to narrow the score to 17-10 with a less than a minute remaining in the first half.

Enough time for the Ravens to go on a 31-point run. Jackson and Henry started the blowout with a 14-point, two-touchdown sandwich between the halftime intermission.

“This is miserable; it’s no fun,” Nix said. “You never want to lose games like this. You never want to lose, period, but obviously, it’s inevitable sometimes. But you don’t want to lose like this, so it is miserable, and we do have to face it. You either sit there and point fingers at someone, someone else, or you sit there and take ownership of it. The only way to get over it and not be in the situation anymore and to continue to find ways to improve is to look internally. That’s what we’re going to do, starting with ourselves and starting with me. There are a few different things you can do, but it’s just a more important, more valuable, decision to say, ‘I, as an individual, have to get better,’ and it starts with each person, and then eventually, you start changing games like this.” 

The Ravens then turned to Henry, as they always do, in the second half. Entering the game, Henry had 334 yards on 5.2 yards per carry in first halves this season; 550 yards on 7.1 yards per carry in the second half. In this game, Henry had 32 rushing yards in the first half; 74 in the second half. 

 He rushed for 42 yards on the opening series of the second half, finishing off the drive with a 6-yard run for his 101st career touchdown.

In the fourth quarter, with the Ravens up 31 points, Nix drove down the Baltimore 2, first and goal. A 13-yard sack taken by Nix was one reason why the Broncos again turned it over on downs for the third time in the game.

Despite the lopsided nature of the second half, Nix competed, finishing 19 of 33 for 223 yards. Sutton had seven catches for 122 yards, his second consecutive 100-yard receiving game. However, in perhaps the most fitting play of the game, Sutton was stopped on the 1-yard line on a fourth-and-goal pass from Nix at the 10 just inside the 2-minute warning — the fourth time the Broncos’ offense turned it over on downs. The Broncos just couldn’t finish while the Ravens’ offense scored on 7 consecutive possessions.

“You know, football is a humbling game and that’s the beauty of it,” said Broncos cornerback Riley Moss who by his own admission had a tough day. “The highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows. Everyone in the locker room loves this game and, you know, we can’t forget that. Especially when you get your teeth beat in like this.

“It’s something that, ‘OK, it happened. Alright, how can we get better so that it doesn’t occur again?’ Because that’s what winning teams do, and I think we have the guys to be able to do that.”