What is your key to game Saturday against Denver?

[RavnFreek]

On defense collapse the pocket and stop the run. Peyton does not like to be hit at all and does not do well when he cannot step up into the pocket to avoid a sack. Our front big guys have to dominate the LOS.

[BiggSeth]

How about the reciever actually CATCH the winning-drive Touchdown this year??

That being said, I think the chess match between Ray Lewis and Manning is going to be the key.

the Broncos defense is a top-5 D, so the offensive opportunities are going to be limited. The Ravens' D needs to match the Broncos and play field position....

[SinceU]

A pass rush similar to last Sunday and a quick offense. Joe has to get the ball out of his hands in 3 seconds or less. Less is better. Go across the middle more times than Sunday, but, have the same balance.

[Flu]

In a word:
Tackling.

I didn't see all of the 2nd Steelers game, but during the Raljohn & Denver games, it seemed like everyone who touched the ball got lots of yards after contact, setting up short fields for those teams. Sure, half the defense was injured at the time, and the D has looked better the last 3 games. But against Indy (with an improved, healthier defense), it seemed like Ballard, Luck & others got a bunch of yards after breaking tackles.

If that happens against Denver, the Broncos will score TDs instead of FGs like Indy, and it's over by halftime.

This is another big one to me too. The Ravens tend to be piss poor on tackling. Backs continue to try and go left and bang into the line then bounce it to the outside and get a 9 or 10 yard run. Their run tackling needs to be spot on this week too.

[afan]

Let us not make the same mistake twice. The int before the half was a killer. Would have been 10-7 or at worse 10-3 instead it was 17 to ). Don't make those mistakes and I will take and like our chances.

[prairieaug]

Play like they did against the Giants & Colts.

Yes the Broncs are very good and it's in their house. Our Ravens are also good and are playing with an attitude. I sense an upset with the team playing for Ray.

[prairieaug]

Keep in mind going into this game that the Colts didn't lose because they had a bad day. The Colts lost because the Ravens defense was back in near full strength. On top of that the Caldwell run offense has improved in a short period of time. After going through a tough end of the season this Ravens team has come together and they are looking tough.

GO RAVENS!

[cprenegade]

Keep in mind going into this game that the Colts didn't lose because they had a bad day. The Colts lost because the Ravens defense was back in near full strength. On top of that the Caldwell run offense has improved in a short period of time. After going through a tough end of the season this Ravens team has come together and they are looking tough.

GO RAVENS!

Let's be honest here. The Colts lost partly because the Raven's offense was able to hit some big plays in the 2nd half against their 26th ranked defense. The other part was because their offense was able to move the ball against the Raven's defense, but several long drives ended with a fumble, missed fg, and three fg's. Denver has the 2nd ranked defense so those plays won't likely be there. And if the Raven's give up the same type of sustained drives to Denver's offense, they will result in some TD's. The Raven's did not play a great game last Sunday, they played well enough to beat a team that they should have beaten at home. If they want to win Saturday, they will need to be a lot better on defense, and able to sustain some drives on offense to keep the ball away from Manning. I'm not saying they can't do that, but they will need to be much sharper on most phases of their game than they were last Sunday to pull that off. Or hope that Denver suffers from that week off syndrome where they suddenly get out of sync. Denver went 7-1 at home this year. In those games they scored the following points: 31, 25, 37, 34, 30, 31, 34 and 38. Only once at home were they held under 30 points. In the last four games of the season, Denver's defense has held opposing teams to under 20 points. They are a very good team, and it will take a near perfect effort to beat them at their place.

[prairieaug]

Let's be honest here. The Colts lost partly because the Raven's offense was able to hit some big plays in the 2nd half against their 26th ranked defense. The other part was because their offense was able to move the ball against the Raven's defense, but several long drives ended with a fumble, missed fg, and three fg's. Denver has the 2nd ranked defense so those plays won't likely be there. And if the Raven's give up the same type of sustained drives to Denver's offense, they will result in some TD's. The Raven's did not play a great game last Sunday, they played well enough to beat a team that they should have beaten at home. If they want to win Saturday, they will need to be a lot better on defense, and able to sustain some drives on offense to keep the ball away from Manning. I'm not saying they can't do that, but they will need to be much sharper on most phases of their game than they were last Sunday to pull that off. Or hope that Denver suffers from that week off syndrome where they suddenly get out of sync. Denver went 7-1 at home this year. In those games they scored the following points: 31, 25, 37, 34, 30, 31, 34 and 38. Only once at home were they held under 30 points. In the last four games of the season, Denver's defense has held opposing teams to under 20 points. They are a very good team, and it will take a near perfect effort to beat them at their place.

Good points and no argument that Denver has a very good team. I'm hoping that the Ravens coaching staff is doing their homework to give the Ravens a fighting chance.

[jessup270]

The ONLY way the Ravens beat Denver is to get to Manning early and often.

No pressure on Manning game will be over mid way through the 3rd quarter.

The Ravens are not well equipped for pressuring the QB.

Ngata may be a pro bowl player, but he applies little pressure on the QB, on a regular basis.

Suggs and Kruger are good, but they need some help.

[44Defense]

Joe Flacco! He has to play well and not turn the ball over.

[Ravens2006]

O-line play

D-line play

QB play

Turnover margins

Special teams play

Scoring more points than the opponent

I think that covers it...

[Tollbooth Willie]

Mistake-free football. All it will take is 1-2 drive-killing penalties. That's all Manning needs to beat the Ravens.

Ravens played some very undisciplined ball this year, and the penalties reflect that. Gotta clean that up to have a legitimate shot at getting past Denver.

[bt12483]

Denver went 7-1 at home this year. In those games they scored the following points: 31, 25, 37, 34, 30, 31, 34 and 38. Only once at home were they held under 30 points. In the last four games of the season, Denver's defense has held opposing teams to under 20 points. They are a very good team, and it will take a near perfect effort to beat them at their place.

Not a single one of the teams they beat at home made the playoffs. The best team was the 8-8 Steelers in the home opener. Their only home loss came to the Texans, a playoff team. I am not that impressed. They played in the worst division in football.

The last 4 games were against the Raiders (horrible), us (bad timing - we were in injury turmoil and fired our coor.), the Browns (horrible) and the Chiefs (horrible). Again, not that impressed.

We are no where near as bad as those teams, and we will not play like we did in December.

Denver is very good, but let's not forget their cupcake schedule.

[OriginalColtsFan]

Not a single one of the teams they beat at home made the playoffs. The best team was the 8-8 Steelers in the home opener. Their only home loss came to the Texans, a playoff team. I am not that impressed. They played in the worst division in football.

The last 4 games were against the Raiders (horrible), us (bad timing - we were in injury turmoil and fired our coor.), the Browns (horrible) and the Chiefs (horrible). Again, not that impressed.

We are no where near as bad as those teams, and we will not play like we did in December.

Denver is very good, but let's not forget their cupcake schedule.

And the Ravens are very good as well. People seem to be forgetting that point. Maybe more importantly, the Ravens FINALLY decided to put McKinnie at LT and Oher at RT. That's the best possible O-line given the current personnel. Also, Caldwell seems to be settled in as OC now. And as everyone knows, peaking at the right time is the key to any serious playoff run. And in the aforementioned areas, the Ravens do appear to be peaking at just the right time.

On D, Kruger also seems to be peaking, and if Ray Lewis plays on Saturday the way he did against the Colts, then I'd have to say that the D is showing some signs of peaking at the right time as well. Finally, Denver has all the pressure on them, and that sometimes results in an "upset" victory. In the final analysis, while I can't say that the Ravens will win, I can definitely say the Ravens very well COULD win.

[cprenegade]

Not a single one of the teams they beat at home made the playoffs. The best team was the 8-8 Steelers in the home opener. Their only home loss came to the Texans, a playoff team. I am not that impressed. They played in the worst division in football.

The last 4 games were against the Raiders (horrible), us (bad timing - we were in injury turmoil and fired our coor.), the Browns (horrible) and the Chiefs (horrible). Again, not that impressed.

We are no where near as bad as those teams, and we will not play like we did in December.

Denver is very good, but let's not forget their cupcake schedule.

I never buy into the cupcake schedule theory. You can't schedule teams with better records as you go along. Look at the Ravens schedule. After beating the Patriots to go to 2-1, the Ravens never won another game against a playoff team. On the way they beat Cleveland 2x, Pittsburgh, Oakland, KC, SD, NYG, and Dallas. None of those teams are playoff teams. The only playoff teams they faced were Washington, Houston, Cincinnati and Denver. They lost to all of them. One could easily make the assumption that the Ravens beat the cream puff non playoff teams, and when faced with teams making the playoffs they lost. I don't buy it either way. The schedule is what it is. In today's NFL, the difference between a playoff team and going home can often be one game.

[bt12483]

I never buy into the cupcake schedule theory. You can't schedule teams with better records as you go along. Look at the Ravens schedule. After beating the Patriots to go to 2-1, the Ravens never won another game against a playoff team. On the way they beat Cleveland 2x, Pittsburgh, Oakland, KC, SD, NYG, and Dallas. None of those teams are playoff teams. The only playoff teams they faced were Washington, Houston, Cincinnati and Denver. They lost to all of them. One could easily make the assumption that the Ravens beat the cream puff non playoff teams, and when faced with teams making the playoffs they lost. I don't buy it either way. The schedule is what it is. In today's NFL, the difference between a playoff team and going home can often be one game.

So the Falcons having the easiest schedule in the league had nothing to do with their season record and nothing to do with the doubt they are experiencing as to whether they really are that good? In Denver's case, playing in the worst division in football doesn't pad your team stats? Did you see how bad the Raiders and Chiefs were this year?

Even if you remove the playoff classifier the teams the Ravens beat had a better collective win record than the teams Denver beat. Overall, we played more quality opponents. Which is why our strength of schedule was harder than theirs.

And yes, we lost to Cincinnati in a week 17 scrimmage.

In the playoffs none of this really means anything, but when you start talking about how their offense/defense performed in certain games of the season, I have to go look at those opponents, and they were mostly not quality opponents. They are still a very good team, but I do think some of the hype is a little overblown due to their soft schedule.

[DJGreg1200]

I agree with much of what was said on this thread. My key is how well our linebackers cover the Broncos Tight End's. I think this is going to be the Broncos main plan of attack....go after Lewis and Ellerbe. If we can provide good coverage in the middle of the field, that will bode well for us.

[OriginalColtsFan]

I agree with much of what was said on this thread. My key is how well our linebackers cover the Broncos Tight End's. I think this is going to be the Broncos main plan of attack....go after Lewis and Ellerbe. If we can provide good coverage in the middle of the field, that will bode well for us.

Middle of the field coverage is definitely a key, no doubt about it.

[JasonM]

I agree with much of what was said on this thread. My key is how well our linebackers cover the Broncos Tight End's. I think this is going to be the Broncos main plan of attack....go after Lewis and Ellerbe. If we can provide good coverage in the middle of the field, that will bode well for us.

Yep, the TEs (Tamme & Dreissen) combined for 93 receptions & 7 TDs, stopping them is crucial.