Manning, playing for a new coach in Gary Kubiak, completed 24 of 40 passes for 175 yards and an un-Manning-like 59.9 passer rating Sunday. It’s just $25 to enter and first place will win $1 million!
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The Oakland Raiders also saw their quarterback go down with an injury, this time a right hand injury that required a trip to the locker room before halftime of their game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Who’s not: 2013 No. 1 overall pick tackle Eric Fisher was active against the Texans, but did not play. Denver showed their depth and resiliency by highlighting how the team has improved their defensive and special teams play from last season.
“That’s part of this business”.
“You better be able to win this way in this league”, Kubiak said.
“We do a study in the offseason on our in-season opponents and particularly (the ones in) the AFC West, so we’ll dedicate a day during our offseason program for each team”, Reid said. I don’t get caught up in that.
Or, in the Broncos’ case, the next drive.
“It was probably a few things in concert with each other. He kind of floated it up, so I thought I could probably jump over and see if I could get it”, Smith said. “We’ll look at that and try to build off of that”.
While many Denver Broncos fans are pointing a finger at quarterback Peyton Manning, guard Evan Mathis is pointing at himself.
The reason that the Broncos won their game over the Ravens had nothing to do with Peyton Manning and their high powered offense, which was shooting blanks the entire game.
Manning gets the ball out quickly, knows how to read defenses, and will find the little seams underneath that seem to exist often in the Ravens defense.
They were held scoreless until midway through the fourth quarter. Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson combined for 43 yards on 11 carries during the Broncos’ 17-play, 81-yard march in the fourth quarter.
However, the struggles of the Broncos’ offense were very much in evidence from the get-go.
The Ravens ranked just 23rd against the pass in 2014, and they let Tom Brady throw for 367 yards and three touchdowns in their final game a year ago.
One key matchup to watch will be the Broncos’ linebackers and safeties against Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, who burned Houston for over 100 yards and two scores. The Ravens pass rush really drove Manning to throw early when he wasn’t sacked – he was taken down four times!
The Ravens defense shined on all levels Sunday afternoon against the Broncos, despite the painful loss of linebacker Terrell Suggs for the season. That run was the Ravens’ only carry that gained double-digit yardage.
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Said Harbaugh: “That’s what a team’s all about”. That will be a concern when they face Alex Smith on Thursday, but it was not against Flacco.
