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

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 had Derrick Henry to take care of the running game as the Ravens finished off their drives 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.

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, Jim Nantz and Tony Romo, were assigned to a Broncos’ game for the first time since Christmas Day, 2022. That game didn’t go so well, 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.

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.

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

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.

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. Entering the game, Vance Joseph’s defense was ranked No. 3 in scoring, allowing just 15.0 points per game. The Lamar Jackson-led Ravens’ offense, though, was No. 1 in scoring with 30.3 points per game. 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 Wil 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 21-point run. Jackson and Henry started the blowout with a 14-point, two-touchdown sandwich between the halftime intermission.

Baltimore needed just two plays, plus a holding penalty on Broncos’ cornerback Riley Moss, and 38 seconds to travel 70 yards for a tack-on score with seconds left in the half. Jackson hit Flowers deep across the middle, who broke one tackle, then got a terrific downfield block to dance into the end zone.

Flowers finished with five catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns.

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, Sutton was stopped on the 1-yard line on a fourth-and-goal pass from Nix at the 10 — the fourth time the Broncos’ offense turned it over on downs.