Sunday’s AFC showdown between the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens will be a pivotal one for the conference and also for tiebreaker purposes down the stretch, but it will also be the toughest challenge the team has faced yet. In order for the Broncos to prove they belong in the playoff conversation, they’ll have to prove they can hang with the best.
Denver Broncos bracing for toughest test of the season vs. Baltimore Ravens
Lamar Jackson is a two-time NFL MVP, and any time you have to face him, the challenge is going to be difficult. Now add in a sprinkle of Derrick Henry, the NFL’s leading rusher with 966 yards, on a steady pace to run for 2k this season, a league-leading 11 touchdowns, and the recipe to stop them becomes even more challenging.
The Ravens have the NFL’s top overall offense, and the Broncos come into Sunday’s game with the NFL’s third-best overall defense. Stopping the run will be a pivotal key for them, but Baltimore’s offense is multi-dynamic. Between Jackson’s rushing ability and Henry’s rushing impact, Lamar can also air it out with his arm to some of his top weapons like Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and a tight-end duo of Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews. On top of that, they recently added former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Diontae Johnson to the mix, even though it’s uncertain whether or not he’ll play much this week as he gets acclimated to his new team.
With all that said, the challenge for Denver on Sunday is massive.
“Anytime the quarterback’s a run threat, you kind of get a man back offensively,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said. “It’s not 10 versus 11. When you have a really good running back, that makes it really difficult. These guys have been rushing it extremely well, throwing it extremely well and scoring. Then I would say from a complementary football standpoint, they’re defending the run well. They’ve gotten teams in a number of the games they’ve played this year into a one-dimensional game and that’s with scoring. This is one of those teams obviously that we’ve seen in the postseason and playing late in the postseason for a reason. [Ravens Head Coach] John [Harbaugh] does a great job. He has a for a number of years.”
Baltimore is coming off of a disappointing loss to their AFC North Rival, the Cleveland Browns, and they’ll be looking to bounce back. The Broncos will plan to travel to Baltimore on Friday following practice, which will allow them to settle in on Saturday and Sunday when the time change occurs for an 11:00 a.m. MT kickoff.
A win on Sunday could shake up the landscape of the AFC and shift the perspective on who the Broncos are going forward.