Week 1 Ravens Game Thread

[iknowftbll]

Broncos win it! That was a long minute, but the Ravens are done!

 

[Duffman]

Peyton owes this Defense something they saved his ass today.

 

[SpringStein]

Well no TD but it all comes down to the defense.

And that it did - although they bent enough to make it uncomfortable!

 

[SpringStein]

Lots of predictions that the D will have to carry the O early in the season. And that certainly played out today.

 

[Mondo Jay]

Love the Defense! O needs work, obviously. Hopefully the Ravens will be one of the better D's Denver faces this year and things will get easier for our offense.

 

[Duffman]

The good news is the Defense looks amazing, the bad news is the Offense looks awful and we have to play again in 4 days. Hopefully whatever "issues" Manning had today he sorts them out because we can't expect to win games by not scoring TD's on Offense all year.

 

[Malibu]

Love the Defense! O needs work, obviously. Hopefully the Ravens will be one of the better D's Denver faces this year and things will get easier for our offense.

Hope you are right but it doesn't get any easier at K.C. Thursday night.

 

[CEH]

That last drive by the offense and the goal line stand by the defense is playoff football.

Gotta to love Wade Phillips

Bring on the Chefs. Can't wait till Thursday

 

[Mondo Jay]

Hope you are right but it doesn't get any easier at K.C. Thursday night.

Especially in 4 days... It will be good to have Ward back on D. The strong get stronger.

Tough task to go into KC and beat them, but I certainly expect/hope our offense will be better than today.

 

[LGM]

And that it did - although they bent enough to make it uncomfortable!

Looked like cirque de soleil out there, but I'll take it.

 

[Mingo]

Close game, but I enjoyed every minute of that football game - well contested.

Hillman looked plenty better than CJ - but the play selection with Manning in was not committed to the run game - they have to fix that. Manning didn't hit long - so the Ravens crowded the short routes and Manning got sacked if he waited too long.

Great performances by: Hillman, Sanders - Von Miller - D. Ware - B. Marshall, Talib and Stewart.

Lot's of missed coverage calls against RAvens on the Bronco receivers.

Love the Defense!

 

[Malibu]

Can't live in the past but wish Denver has this defense (no J.D.R. Raiders looked sharp) over the last few years. Talent was always there. Hopefully the offense can be just decent and I think that would be good enough to win many games. McManus great game as well.

 

[CEH]

The book on Manning has been written last year. Press man and he can't make the deep throw any longer.
Once Baltimore went to that scheme they shut them down.

Can't say Manning preseason and Manning game one looked any different. The rollout was there and he couldn't;t make the throw both short cross and the intermediate route was opened on that play as well.

At least if we make the playoffs, we should be battle tested just like today.

In KC this week, should be the battle of Capt Checkdowns but two great defenses to watch.

 

[LGM]

I think its a bit early to throw in the towel on Manning. We have a young Oline with limited cohesion, Manning played sparingly in the preseason and without DT or Sanders, and it's a new offense.

It's nice to see you being consistent though Chris.

 

[Mingo]

Manning was overthrowing the long passes - that was not an arm problem - it was a touch problem - my analysis is that is correctable. I'd like to see more commitment to the run game with Manning at QB - than I saw today.

The 11 minute drive in the 4th quarter with Hillman doing most of the run damage - will set Manning up well.

 

[Malibu]

Manning was overthrowing the long passes - that was not an arm problem - it was a touch problem - my analysis is that is correctable. I'd like to see more commitment to the run game with Manning at QB - than I saw today.

The 11 minute drive in the 4th quarter with Hillman doing most of the run damage - will set Manning up well.

The one that looked like was really an arm problem was on his roll out throw to D.T. but agreed to many over throws and missed a few open guys. The o line has to get it together or Manning won't make it a full year.

 

[randymon]

CJ definitely struggled today and the O line didn't look sharpe in run game in front of him either. Hopefully Hilmans better success was do more to the line playing better and not CJ himself. Not going to get much easier vs Chiefs although their pass rush is better than their run stop. Have a feeling Manning and the passing gm might take awhile to get in good rhythm so they better step up in the run department.

 

[wingsauce7]

Offense looked as fresh as a week old banana

 

[wingsauce7]

I was hoping the few drives we saw PM struggle in during preseason was a smokescreen. So far it wasn't.

 

[DownSetHutch]

Ronnie Hillman looked like our best RB in Week 1. I'm expecting for different RBs to have success in different games this season, as in some recent seasons, but so far Hillman is the man. Overall, the offense got carried today. Props and thanks to the D.

There were a lot of big plays made by the D today. Ware, Miller, and Trevathan come to mind. I think it was Trevathan, (#59). I was watching in a bar, so my focus was a little divided. I think the game ball has to go to Talib. That pick-6 was a game-changer.

Overall, the game played out pretty much as expected. We got the win, and the D was the reason. The O-line was better than I thought they would be. The offense was a little more out of sync than I would have liked. The good news is that the schedule gets a little easier for the next several weeks.

We should be ok for the first half of the season while the offense works out the kinks. Then we'll be ready for the tougher part of the schedule.

BTW, I wore my Orange Crush t-shirt and throw-back "D" hat for the game. So far, so good.